Geely hands over the reins to professional managers as core profit rises 46% in the first half

On August 18, Geely Auto changed the person at the helm of its board. Li Shufu resigned as chairman and executive director, becoming lifetime honorary chairman; An Conghui succeeded him as chairman, while Gan Jiayue became chief executive officer. Li Shufu has not left the Geely group: he remains chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and continues to be Geely Auto’s major and controlling shareholder.

The most direct change concerns the governance and day-to-day operations of the listed company. After Li Shufu’s departure from Geely Auto’s board and his position as executive director, leadership of the board and company operations are being handed further to professional managers. Gui Shengyue stepped down as chief executive officer to become vice chairman, while continuing as an executive director. Geely said the move will help improve its mechanism for delegating operational authority to professional managers and establish long-term succession arrangements.

The handover comes alongside a set of results that offer a clearer picture. Geely Auto’s first-half revenue reached 173.6 billion yuan, up about 15% year on year; core net profit attributable to the parent was 9.68 billion yuan, up 46%; gross margin rose to 17.9%; and revenue per vehicle increased 16% year on year to 112,000 yuan. But sales totaled about 1.423 million vehicles, an increase of about 1% year on year, meaning profit growth outpaced sales.

These figures lay bare Geely’s growth model: improved profitability in the first half was driven less by selling more vehicles than by ZEEKR and overseas expansion. The ability of coordination among its four major brands, premiumization and globalization to continue generating higher revenue per vehicle and gross margins will be the practical metric for the new management arrangement.

So, what exactly is changing? In the short term, the reshuffle mainly changes Geely’s governance structure: the company is handing greater operational authority to professional managers while retaining strategic continuity at the controlling-shareholder level. The company must now prove that, as the industry remains under pressure and sales growth stands at about 1%, 46% growth in core profit can continue to be supported by its product mix and global business rather than by one-off expansion in scale.