If you don’t know Geely yet, you definitely should. This Chinese giant currently owns a large number of car brands, including Volvo, Polestar, Lotus, Lynk & Co., Zikr, Geometry, London Electric Vehicle Company or Proton. It also owns half of Smart which it shares with Mercedes and holds 7.6% of Aston Martin to date.
And we say so far because Geely has now significantly increased its stake in the British company, in fact it has doubled it and now represents 17% of the shareholding after disbursing 234 million pounds, about 270 million euros. .
Stroke and the third largest shareholder after Saudi Arabia
This new investment in Aston Martin Lagonda now makes Geely the third largest shareholder in the British company after Lawrence Stroll and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, while it is already ahead of Mercedes-Benz, at least until we see That Star pledges to increase its stake to 20% by the end of this year 2023. As a result of the agreement being reached, Geely will have a seat on Aston Martin’s board of directors through the appointment of a non-executive director, and you will also have a second person as an observer. Furthermore, it pledges not to increase its participation until at least August 2024.
It looks like the positive trend is the result of good results in F1 with Fernando Alonso during this 2023 season and also the arrival and consolidation of important models like the Aston Martin DBX and the Valkyrie family of hypercars, which will be the successor to the Aston Martin DB11. will be added in the coming weeks, rekindling interest in an Aston Martin that had so far been through difficult years, with several CEO changes along the way.
a perennial Aston owner candidate
Lawrence Stroll himself has so far welcomed the new investment. “Geely can provide us with a deep understanding of an important and growing market in China, as well as the opportunity to access the limits of its technologies.” For its part, Geely, which had already tried to make a bid for Aston Martin in 2020 before presenting the highest offer for Aston Martin, has expressed its love for the brand and its commitment to the British company through its CEO Daniel Lee. announced its intention to coordinate with
Antonio Ramos Ochoa Specializing in the world of motoring, competition and technology, Antonio Ramos Ochoa is a writer for Car and Driver.
