China's Biggest Carmaker Isn't BYD — And It Bought Europe's Best Badges

Everyone's been watching BYD. They were watching the wrong company. Volvo. Lotus. Polestar. The London black cab. Proton. Half of smart. For a while, the largest shareholding in Mercedes-Benz. All of it belongs to one Chinese company — and it isn't BYD. While the world argued about batteries, Geely spent fifteen years quietly buying the pieces of the European car industry. In early 2026 it out-delivered BYD in China for two straight months and took the first quarter outright. This is how a man who started out selling refrigerator parts ended up owning the badges your parents already trusted — and why almost nobody noticed until it was finished. DESCRIPTION — SOURCES Sales & financial data Geely Holding 2025 full-year results (4.11m units, 56% NEV): https://autonews.gasgoo.com/articles/... Geely Auto official 2025 results & 2026 targets: https://www.geely.com/en/news/2026/ge... Geely Auto record 2025 revenue CNY 345.2bn, core net profit +36%: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/geely-... Geely Auto 2025 brand-by-brand breakdown & exports: https://autonews.gasgoo.com/articles/... Geely Holding H1 2026 (1.93m units, exports +158%): https://autonews.gasgoo.com/articles/... BYD 2025 full-year results — profit −19%, margin compression, "knockout stage": https://cnevpost.com/2026/03/27/byd-2... BYD 2025 workforce reduction and overseas revenue: https://english.news18a.com/news/engl... BYD 2025 global sales wrap-up: https://autonews.gasgoo.com/articles/... BYD sales & production statistics (updated): https://tridenstechnology.com/byd-sal... The 2026 leadership battle SCMP — Geely beats BYD in Jan–Feb 2026: https://www.scmp.com/business/china-e... Geely overtakes BYD in January 2026 (CPCA data): https://carnewschina.com/2026/02/14/g... NEV purchase-tax change and the January collapse: https://www.globalchinaev.com/post/ge... Geely takes Q1 2026: https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/geel... BYD reclaims the lead, April–May 2026: https://www.indexbox.io/blog/byd-recl... July 2026 deliveries, all major Chinese automakers: https://cnevpost.com/2026/08/01/jul-2... H1 2026 scorecards, SAIC volume, export completion rates: https://finance.biggo.com/news/48e460... Chengdu Auto Show — the BYD/Geely city-level dead heat: https://finance.biggo.com/news/06a0bf... Geely raises 2026 export target to 920,000; chairman handover: https://cnevpost.com/2026/08/17/geely... Reuters — Volkswagen drops to third in China as Geely overtakes: https://www.marketscreener.com/news/v... Geely's 2026 ambition to overtake BYD domestically: https://carnewschina.com/2026/03/19/g... Reuters — Geely targets 6.5m vehicles by 2030: https://www.marketscreener.com/news/c... Ownership, history & acquisitions Geely official brand & corporate timeline (Fortune 500 rank, Proton/Lotus stakes): https://www.geely.com/en/brand Zhejiang Geely Holding Group corporate history (Volvo deal, Daimler stake, LEVC): https://www.companieshistory.com/zhej... Who owns Geely — founder, brands, shareholdings, Lynk & Co structure: https://legalclarity.org/who-owns-gee... The Car Expert — Geely explained (LEVC, 2014 restructuring, Lotus): https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/who-or... Reuters — Li Shufu's Daimler stake and global acquisition push: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/geelys... #Geely #BYD #Volvo #Polestar #Lotus #ChineseCars #EV #ElectricVehicles #CarIndustry #Automotive