Chinese Car Maker Geely Partnering With Malaysian Auto Makers

Geely Holding Group and PROTON Holdings Extend Strategic Cooperation Under New Heads of Agreement Framework

Geely Holding and PROTON Holdings to extend strategic partnership globally

Chinese and Malaysian groups to focus on jointly developing new energy technologies

August 18th 2018, Hangzhou China. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely Holding), China’s largest privately owned automotive group, and PROTON Holdings Berhad (PROTON) of Malaysia have agreed terms to enable PROTON vehicles to fully utilize core technology platforms developed by Geely Auto, the Chinese domestic carmaker, and to explore further synergies to enable the Malaysian brand to become the leader in its home market and to increases its global competitiveness.

Under a heads of agreement framework signed between Geely Holding and PROTON, the partnership will also enable the Malaysian national brand to strengthen its position in the ASEAN region and to harness new energy technologies developed by Geely Auto. Other initiatives include supporting PROTON’s global expansion and its potential launch in the Chinese market.

Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, the Malaysian Prime Minister, attended the signing of heads of agreement alongside Li Shufu, Geely Holding Group Chairman, during a visit to Zhejiang Geely Holding Group’s headquarters in Hangzhou during the prime minister’s state visit to Beijing.

The deepening strategic agreement with PROTON follows the decision by Geely Holding Group in June 2017 to acquire a 49.9% stake in the Malaysian company from DRB-HICOM, the parent group of PROTON, with the goal of rebuilding its domestic market share and exploring international expansion opportunities in south east Asia and globally.

The latest heads of agreement – signed by Geely Holding Group President Mr. An Conghui and Dato’ Sri Syed Faisal Albar, DRB-HICOM Managing Director, and witnessed by Geely Holding Group Executive Vice President and CFO Daniel Donghui Li and Shaharul Farez Hassan DRB-HICOM Managing Director – will extend areas of cooperation in research and development, quality control and competitiveness.

Since Geely Holding Group acquired its stake in PROTON, the company has seen an improvement in sales that reached a 30-month record in July 2018.

In the fourth quarter of this year, PROTON will launch its first jointly developed sports utility vehicle to strengthen its position in the Malaysian market and ASEAN region.

Geely Holding Group Chairman Li Shufu said: “Today’s cooperation agreement is an extension of the existing partnership that we have established with DRB-HICOM. This new framework will help us to embark on the next stage of development for PROTON Cars and to assist the brand achieve its full potential in Malaysia and South East Asia, as well as globally by utilizing new energy technologies and boosting the core competencies of the Malaysian automotive industry.”

PROTON Chairman cum DRB-HICOM Group Managing Director Dato’ Sri Syed Faisal Albar commented: “Today is a very special day for us as we are here in Hangzhou to build the first plant outside Malaysia; in the biggest automotive market in the world. This strategic cooperation will have a focus on introducing electrification into our products via the extensive know how available with our partners and within ourselves at PROTON.”

Press contacts: China/International:

Ashley Sutcliffe

ash@geely.com

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About Zhejiang Geely Holding Group

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (ZGH) is a global automotive group that owns several well-known international automotive brands, with operations spanning the automotive value chain, from research, development and design to production, sales and servicing.

Founded in 1986 by Li Shufu, the company’s Chairman, in the city of Taizhou in China’s Zhejiang province, Geely Holding launched its automotive business in 1997 and is now headquartered in Hangzhou, China. The Group is comprised of three main businesses: Geely Auto Group, Volvo Car Group and Geely Commercial Vehicles Group. Its brands include Geely Auto, LYNK & CO, Volvo Car, Polestar, London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC), Yuan Cheng Auto, PROTON, Lotus, and Terrafugia.

ZGH sold over 1.8 million vehicles in 2017, with Volvo Car sales reaching historic highs of 571,577 cars globally and Geely Auto Group sales growing over 63% to reach 1,247,116 units in total.

ZGH has over 80,000 employees across the world, and has been listed in the Fortune 500 for the past six years. For more information regarding Zhejiang Geely Holdings please refer to the official website at www.zgh.com