The design division of Geely Auto Group, Geely Design Global, officially relocated to Gothenburg, Sweden, with the opening of Geely’s new design center. Hundreds of designers from across the globe will now be located in a giant black box of a building, where they will design Geely’s next-generation vehicles.
It resides alongside of a number of Geely brands, notably CEVT (China-Euro Vehicle Technology), Lynk & Co, Ecarx, and Geely Group Motorsports. All are housed in Geely’s Uni3 campus, which is part of the Lindholmen Science Park.
The Geely Design Center will officially open in August 2022, after the Swedish summer break.
Opening remarks
At the center’s recent opening celebration, Stefan Sielaff, head of global design at Geely, greeted attendees that included other designers from different industries as well as colleagues in the auto industry.
“Since acquiring Volvo Cars in 2010, Gothenburg has benefited greatly with the emergence of new brands and businesses belonging to the Geely family, turning the city itself into an innovation hub,” said Sielaff. “The Geely Design Centre reinforces us further in Northern Europe as a mecca for designers who are fixated at transforming the automotive sphere.”
Design Center to focus on two brands
The new design center will initially focus on urban-lifestyle brand Lynk & Co. and Geely’s luxury EV marque Zeekr. However, the automaker acknowledges that the five-floor design complex may accommodate many brands. The interior of the building has an open concept to facilitate collaboration between the Zeekr and Lynk & Co. design teams.
Geely’s Gothenburg design staff currently employs roughly 550 people who execute everything from exterior and interior design, to physical and digital modeling, color, material, finish, and human-machine interface. While the new Design Center was built to accommodate the current staff, the new facility also boasts a virtual and augmented reality unit. The company admits the mix of old and new design methods will involve an influx of fresh talent.
Currently, Lynk & Co. operates in China and a handful of European countries. Zeekr is only sold in China and further plans to introduce it to the U.S. market remain unclear.
Geely sells cars stateside
Geely, Volvo’s corporate parent, hasn’t been shy about international expansion beyond its legendary Swedish brand. Polestar, the other marque that Geely sells in the United States, is also headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, on the Volvo campus. Its research and development facilities are in Coventry, England, and other parts of Europe. Globally, Polestar employs 1,100 people.
Stateside, the brand offered two vehicles here, the Polestar 1 plug-in hybrid, built at its Chengdu, China plant, and which recently exited production. It currently offers the Polestar 2 all-electric crossover utility vehicle that’s manufactured at the company’s Luqiao, China facility.
It employs Geely’s CMA architecture used in the Volvo S40 sedan and XC40 crossover. Currently offered with dual electric motors and all-wheel drive, it generates 408 horsepower, 487 pound-feet of torque and a range of 249 miles.
Geely revealed the 2023 Polestar 3 last month, ahead of its October production launch. The new model competes with such high-line battery-electric vehicles as the BMW iX, Audi e-tron and Jaguar i-Pace. The initial version of the Polestar 3 will use twin motors, providing 372 miles per charge. But that’s based on the European WLTP standard, however, which is likely to mean a rating of about 300 miles based on the stricter EPA test cycle.
Two other models will follow, the Polestar 4 and Polestar 5.
Worldwide, consumers purchased 29,000 Polestars in 2021. The automaker hopes to boost that to 290,000 by 2025.
Not Geely’s only European outpost
Geely has also owned British sportscar maker Lotus since 2017. New products and platforms, a new headquarters, increased electrification and a digital sales strategy are all a part of Lotus’s future.
That is most apparent with the debut of the Lotus Emira, a mid-engine sports car that replaces both the Lotus Elise and Exige. The Emira will come with an AMG-sourced four-cylinder making 360 horsepower or a supercharged 400-hp Toyota 3.5-liter V-6 currently offered in the Evora. Manual, automatic and dual clutch transmissions will be available
Lotus is also planning to build the Eletre, an all-new, all-electric Hyper-SUV designed in Britain but built in China. Power output starts at 600 hp and has a 0-62 mph time of less than two seconds.
But the continued expansion of Geely and its many brands reveals a company that wants to be the next General Motors, Toyota or Volkswagen Group.