Geely commercial vehicle Coventry base Ansti factory officially completed

The London Taxi Company, a subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (hereinafter referred to as “Geely”), held a new factory in Anstie today. Greg Clark, Minister of Commerce of the United Kingdom, Zhu Jing, Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Holding Group attended the ceremony.

The completion of the Ansti factory is an important milestone in the process of Geely’s global strategy and new energy strategy, and also demonstrates the firm implementation of the “One Belt and One Road” strategy by Chinese auto companies. The new factory integrates R&D and production into one, covering a total area of ​​100,000 square meters. The production base is located near the existing taxi plant in London and is expected to produce 30,000 vehicles per year. The Geely UK's leading research and development center in the UK will bring together top engineers from all over the world and focus on creating new lightweight electric commercial vehicles.

The London Taxi Ansti factory lasted two years from signing, laying the foundation to completing the project, which demonstrated the close business partnership between China and the United Kingdom. The completion of the new factory has created more than a thousand jobs for the local people. At the same time, it will also bring more than 500 other job opportunities to the United Kingdom by increasing the proportion of parts suppliers in the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Based on the demand for zero-emissions and ultra-low emission vehicles in modern cities, Geely Holding Group has increased its technological investment in new energy sources in various business aspects in recent years, and Ansti will become the new engine for the development and manufacturing of Geely new energy vehicles.

As the first new modern automobile production base built in the UK for more than a decade and the first factory in the UK to focus on electric vehicles, the Ansti plant leverages the internal synergies of Geely Holding Group and adopts the mature motorized powertrain system of Volvo Cars. , to create a new lightweight electric car platform. The factory will mainly develop and produce zero-emissions and ultra-low emission London taxis, as well as a series of zero-emissions light-duty electric commercial vehicles. The first off-line will be a new generation of London taxi TX5, focusing on leading the green of modern cities. Travel.

The TX5 model that will be officially launched this year will inherit the essence of the classic black taxi design for more than 70 years, maintain its iconic design style, and optimize and innovate on this basis. More importantly, the entire new generation of black taxis fully meets the needs of contemporary passengers and city development needs. It adopts a plug-in hybrid extended-range hybrid power system and fully meets the development trend of low-carbon economy through zero emission, highlighting London's lease. The forward-looking and leading position of the car in the field of energy conservation and environmental protection.

The Ansti factory not only researches and produces products that meet the needs of modern urban environmental protection, but also takes the green ecology as the guideline in the construction and production standards of the factory. The factory has built 850m2 of solar panels to provide power for the 20 electric vehicle charging piles in the plant and meet the highest environmental standards. At the same time, the factory was awarded the "Outstanding Architecture" by BREEAM (Environmental Assessment Methodology of the British Institute of Architecture) and received an A grade in energy performance.

Greg Clark, the British Minister of Commerce, said: “The completion of the new Ansti factory will bring unprecedented contribution to the development of the modern industry in the UK. Among the Chinese and foreign tourists and the British public, the image of the London taxi has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and will be lower in the future. The more efficient London taxis are more exciting. Electricization and electrification are the trend of future automobile development. We will also encourage more British taxi drivers to use this ultra-low emission new taxi in various ways. ."

The Chinese ambassador to the British Minister Zhu Rongqin said: “The London taxi brand new factory is an important testimony of the Sino-British gold cooperation era and a model of cooperation between the Chinese and British business communities. This factory has injected new life into British classic black cabs and will also help Geely's competitiveness in the international arena. We look forward to working together to jointly promote the broader cooperation between China and the United Kingdom."

Li Shufu, chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, said: “We are committed to the London taxi company and our commitment to the British government and continue to increase investment in technology research and development and production facilities. The continued development of the taxi business in London also proves that China and the United Kingdom have great The cooperation space of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation.Geely Holding Group hopes to continue to integrate global resources in the future, to give play to the UK’s R&D and talent advantages in the field of new energy vehicles, and to provide more diversified solutions for the future of global urban transportation. The British economy, trade, and technical cooperation will make due contributions."

Carl-Peter Foster, chairman of the London Taxi Company, said: “The establishment of the Ansti factory will open a new future for London taxi companies. The launch of a new generation of London taxis and lightweight new energy commercial vehicles will enhance our global presence. The status of the high-end industrial value chain. The R&D center of the new plant brings together the world's top R&D forces and will continue to promote the development of new energy vehicles in the world."

Geely Holding Group wholly acquired the London Taxi Company in February 2013 and has so far invested 300 million pounds to build the new Ansti plant and Geely's UK research and development center. The amount of future investment has been increased to 325 million pounds. This project is not only the first greenfield investment by Chinese automobile companies in the UK, but also the first new car production base built in the UK in more than a decade. The new plant broke ground in August 2015. The first batch of offline next-generation London taxis, the TX5, is expected to be launched in the UK at the end of 2017 and will enter the international market in 2018.