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The Chinese Auto Empire Coming to the U.S. 中国的汽车帝国即将进入美国

Forget BYD: Geely is the Chinese car company Americans will see most of in the coming years, through brands such as Volvo, Polestar, Lotus and Zeekr 忘掉比亚迪：吉利是美国人在未来几年中看到最多的中国汽车公司，通过沃尔沃、Polestar、莲花和Zeekr等品牌。

July 8, 2023 10:00 am ET 美国东部时间2023年7月8日上午10:00

Chinese automotive tycoon Eric Li is letting more people into his $30 billion-plus private garage. It is full of old brands, new tech and potential conflicts of interest. 中国汽车大亨李书福正在让更多人进入他价值300多亿美元的私人车库。这里充满了老品牌、新技术和潜在的利益冲突。

Li Shufu, as he is known in China, is most closely associated with two brands: Geely and Volvo Car VOLCAR.B -1.41%decrease; red down pointing triangle. The first is the name of both his private holding company and a publicly listed Chinese automaker he founded in the late 1990s. The second, which Li bought from Ford F 0.00%increase; green up pointing triangle in 2010, took him global and is his single most valuable asset. 李书福，在中国被称为李书福，与两个品牌关系最为密切：$吉利汽车(00175)$   和沃尔沃汽车。前者是他的私人控股公司的名称，也是他在20世纪90年代末创立的一家公开上市的中国汽车制造商。第二个品牌是李书福在2010年从福特汽车公司购买的，它使李书福走向世界，是他唯一最宝贵的资产。

Yet his portfolio also includes opportunistically acquired stakes in Mercedes-Benz and Aston Martin Lagonda AML 0.18%increase; green up pointing triangle, as well as dominant interests in electric-vehicle startups such as Polestar, Zeekr and Lotus Technology. Li borrowed the Lotus name from the venerable British sports-car maker, in which he bought a majority stake in 2017. 然而，他的投资组合还包括伺机收购的梅赛德斯-奔驰和阿斯顿-马丁拉贡达的股份，以及在电动汽车初创公司如Polestar、Zeekr和Lotus Technology的主导权益。李书福从这家古老的英国跑车制造商那里借用了莲花的名字，他在2017年买下了这家公司的大部分股份。

More of the companies he has held privately have started to seek public capital lately. The process started with the 2021 minority initial public offering of Volvo Car. Then came last year’s merger of Polestar, previously a Volvo subbrand, with a U.S. special-purpose acquisition company. In January, Lotus Technology agreed to go public via another SPAC deal at a $5.4 billion valuation. In February, Zeekr, which was only founded in 2021 but has grown rapidly in China, raised $750 million at a $13 billion valuation ahead of a potential U.S. IPO. 最近，他私人持有的更多公司开始寻求公共资本。这个过程从2021年沃尔沃汽车的少数人首次公开募股开始。然后是去年Polestar（之前是沃尔沃的一个子品牌）与一家美国特殊目的收购公司的合并。1月，莲花科技同意通过另一项SPAC交易以54亿美元的估值上市。2月，2021年才成立但在中国发展迅速的Zeekr，在可能的美国IPO之前，以130亿美元的估值筹集了7.5亿美元。

Others could follow in time, such as London Electric Vehicle Company, the maker of London’s famous black cabs. Li bought the company out of distress a decade ago, rebranded it and is now considering raising capital from private investors, Bloomberg reported last month. 其他公司可能会及时跟进，比如伦敦著名的黑色出租车制造商--伦敦电动汽车公司。据彭博社上个月报道，李书福在十年前将该公司从困境中买下，并将其重新命名，现在正考虑从私人投资者那里筹集资金。

Shares in Volvo Car and Polestar are trading well below their peaks as investors worry about the profitability of EVs. Even so, the value of Li’s listed holdings alone comes to almost $30 billion. Factoring in the Geely holding company’s debt, Forbes estimates his net worth at $17.3 billion, behind only Elon Musk and BYD founder Wang Chuanfu in the ranks of automotive entrepreneurs. 由于投资者担心电动汽车的盈利能力，沃尔沃汽车和Polestar的股价远远低于其峰值。即便如此，仅李书福的上市控股价值就达到了近300亿美元。考虑到吉利控股公司的债务，福布斯估计他的净资产为173亿美元，在汽车企业家行列中仅次于埃隆-马斯克和比亚迪创始人王传福。

Although the hunt for external investors has afforded more glimpses into the value of the Geely empire, that was never its objective. Li probably wouldn’t be selling stakes if he didn’t need money to fund an unusually farsighted vision of the transition to EVs. Ratings firm S&P Global last November revised its outlook on the credit of the Geely holding company and the Geely auto business to negative from stable, citing the financial impact of the “push for higher EV production.” 尽管寻找外部投资者使人们对吉利帝国的价值有了更多的了解，但这从来不是其目的。如果李书福不需要钱来资助他向电动汽车过渡的异常有远见的愿景，他可能不会出售股权。去年11月，评级公司标普全球将吉利控股公司和吉利汽车业务的信用前景从稳定调整为负面，理由是 "推动更高的电动车生产 "的财务影响。

Li bet earlier and more aggressively on EVs than most old-school automakers. Volvo Car’s IPO pitch, which was more fashionable in 2021, presented the company as the industry’s most rapid transition story. Pure EVs accounted for 17% of its sales in the first half, with plug-in hybrids a further 23%—well ahead of the industry averages outside of China. 李书福比大多数老派汽车制造商更早、更积极地押注于电动汽车。沃尔沃汽车的上市宣传在2021年更为时髦，将该公司作为行业内最快速的转型故事。上半年，纯电动汽车占其销售额的17%，插电式混合动力汽车又占23%--远远领先于中国以外的行业平均水平。

Li also is ahead of peers in thinking about legacy assets. As part of its IPO process, Volvo sold a majority stake in its transmission business to Geely, which is now combining it with assets from French carmaker Renault—potentially with external capital from Saudi Aramco. Most carmakers talk about EV growth, but very few about managing the decline of combustion engines. 李书福在考虑遗留资产方面也走在了同行的前面。作为其上市进程的一部分，沃尔沃将其变速器业务的大部分股份出售给了吉利，吉利现在正将其与法国汽车制造商雷诺的资产结合起来--可能是利用沙特阿美石油公司的外部资本。大多数汽车制造商都在谈论电动车的增长，但很少有人谈论管理内燃机的衰退。

Sharing assets wherever possible across brands is the obvious path forward for Geely as it grapples with the task of increasing EV output while reducing traditional-car production. But the top-down management this requires runs counter to the old pattern. Geely made a success of Volvo in the 2010s by leaving it to steer its own course after years of meddling by Ford. Getting the right balance between entrepreneurialism and efficiency in a multibrand empire like Geely’s is getting harder. 当吉利在减少传统汽车产量的同时，努力提高电动车产量时，尽可能地在各品牌间共享资产显然是前进的道路。但这需要自上而下的管理，这与以往的模式背道而驰。2010年代，吉利在福特多年的干预下，让沃尔沃自己掌舵，取得了成功。在像吉利这样的多品牌帝国中，在企业家精神和效率之间取得适当的平衡是越来越难了。

One concrete example of the tension between brand and group interests is the competition between different Geely premium EVs. New products from Volvo, Polestar, Zeekr and Lotus, some of them built on common vehicle platforms, will be fighting for many of the same customers. 品牌和集团利益之间紧张关系的一个具体例子是不同的吉利高端电动车之间的竞争。来自沃尔沃、Polestar、Zeekr和莲花的新产品，其中一些建立在共同的车辆平台上，将为许多相同的客户而战。

Investors have long pointed to similar problems at Volkswagen, a company Li is said to admire. One difference between Volkswagen and Geely is that the Chinese company is listing its subsidiaries rather than the holding company. This could make the governance challenge of brand rivalries even thornier: Any hint that Li is favoring one child over another would be critical for minority shareholders. 投资者早就指出大众汽车存在类似问题，据说李书福很欣赏这家公司。大众汽车和吉利汽车的一个区别是，中国公司是将其子公司而不是控股公司上市。这可能使品牌竞争的治理挑战变得更加棘手：任何暗示李书福偏爱一个孩子的暗示，对小股东来说都是至关重要的。

In the U.S., Geely has geopolitical reasons to hide behind Volvo, whose plant in Charleston, S.C., assembles vehicles for the domestic market. But this approach is becoming more difficult as the Biden administration focuses on battery supply chains. Volvo isn’t on the list of brands that qualify for the new U.S. EV tax credits, which require local battery content. 在美国，吉利有地缘政治理由躲在沃尔沃背后，沃尔沃在南卡罗来纳州查尔斯顿的工厂为国内市场组装车辆。但随着拜登政府对电池供应链的关注，这种做法正变得越来越困难。沃尔沃并不在有资格获得美国新的电动汽车税收抵免的品牌名单上，该名单要求电池含量必须在当地。

And unlike Chinese EV giant BYD, which has ambitious plans in Europe but says the U.S. is off limits for now, Geely’s other premium brands want a piece of the American market too. Having made a splash with a Super Bowl ad, Polestar sold almost 10,000 Chinese-made cars in the U.S. last year, despite a 27.5% import duty. Starting next year, Polestars will be produced at Volvo’s Charleston factory to avoid the tariff. Lotus Tech and Zeekr also want to launch Chinese-built vehicles stateside. They too might find ways within the group to localize assembly. 与中国电动车巨头比亚迪不同，吉利的其他高端品牌也想在美国市场分一杯羹，比亚迪在欧洲有雄心勃勃的计划，但却说美国目前是禁区。尽管有27.5%的进口税，但去年Polestar在美国卖出了近10,000辆中国制造的汽车，通过超级碗广告引起了轰动。从明年开始，Polestar将在沃尔沃的查尔斯顿工厂生产，以避免关税。莲花科技和Zeekr也想在美国推出中国制造的汽车。他们也可能在集团内部找到使装配本地化的方法。

American car buyers and investors will hear a lot more about Geely in the coming years. How all the pieces of its empire fit together is a question it may need to get better at answering. 美国汽车买家和投资者在未来几年将听到更多关于吉利的消息。其帝国的所有部分如何结合在一起，是一个它可能需要更好地回答的问题。

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