At 63 years old, the "automobile visionary" Li Shufu has chosen to step down, with the successor being neither his son Li Xingxing nor a family member. On the evening of August 17, GEELY AUTO (00175.HK) officially announced that Chairman and Executive Director Li Shufu had resigned, with An Conghui taking over the role. The market views this as GEELY AUTO officially entering the era of professional management.
In China's and even the global automotive industry, Li Shufu is a figure that cannot be ignored. Starting from scratch, he built GEELY AUTO into a world-class automotive enterprise. In 2025, Geely Holding Group surpassed Honda and Nissan to rank eighth among global automotive groups. With 40 years of entrepreneurship and 30 years of car manufacturing, Li Shufu has created countless surprises with his bold vision, with outsiders often describing his achievements as "remarkable miracles."
GEELY AUTO's operational performance has just hit record highs. In the first half of 2026, the company achieved revenue of RMB 173.6 billion, up 15% year-on-year, marking a new record for the period; core net profit attributable to shareholders reached RMB 9.684 billion, up 46% year-on-year. An Conghui, who is taking over, is a 30-year veteran of GEELY AUTO. He will continue to advance the "One Geely" strategy with a focus on overseas markets. Taking over at a time of peak performance, An Conghui will face multiple tests involving internal system integration, product portfolio restructuring, and global expansion.
Where the leadership transition stands
Li Shufu's handover does not follow the conventional model. According to GEELY AUTO's announcement, Li Shufu resigned as Chairman and Executive Director to devote more time to other business affairs and to support the company's succession planning. To recognize his outstanding contributions to GEELY AUTO's development over the years, the board has appointed him as Lifetime Honorary Chairman. Meanwhile, GEELY AUTO's senior management has undergone a major reshuffle. An Conghui has been appointed Chairman and Executive Director; Li Donghui resigned as Vice Chairman but remains an Executive Director; Gui Shengyue resigned as Chief Executive Officer and was appointed Vice Chairman while continuing as Executive Director; and Gan Jiayue was appointed CEO.
Regarding this large-scale personnel adjustment, Gui Shengyue stated, "This marks GEELY AUTO's transition from the 'founder-driven' entrepreneurial and development phase to a mature phase driven by 'systems and teams.' The company is moving from reliance on personal charisma and authority to dependence on organizational systems and talent pipelines, meaning more transparent governance, more professional decision-making, and more scientific management. For internal talent, this is also a signal that the ceiling has been broken."
At 63, Li Shufu is still in his prime as an entrepreneur, making his handover somewhat unexpected to the market. Currently, in the automotive industry, Chery Automobile Chairman Yin Tongyue is nearly 64, and Great Wall Motor's actual controller and Chairman Wei Jianjun is 62, both still fighting on the front lines. In terms of succession choices, "glass king" Cao Dewang handed over to his son Cao Hui, while Seres Chairman Zhang Xinghai passed management of core assets to his son. Public information shows Li Shufu has one son and one daughter. His son Li Xingxing, born in 1985, is now 41 years old. A graduate of Oxford University, Li Xingxing holds an 8.06% stake in Geely Holding and has served as Deputy General Manager of Sales at Geely Holding, Chairman of Geely Motorcycle Group, Supervisor of Geely Holding since 2012, and Executive General Manager of Lynk & Co's sales company since 2015. Additionally, Li Xingxing is the actual controller of A-share listed company Chengxing Co., Ltd. and has served as its Chairman since November 2022. Little public information is available about Li Shufu's daughter Li Yi.
Why did Li Shufu not hand over to his son Li Xingxing but instead choose a professional manager? In a recent media interview, Li Shufu explained, "Corporate succession is not simply a transfer of power; it is essentially the inheritance of systems, culture, and values. Geely's 40 years of development is a process of forming systems, culture, and values. If you hand the company to someone unfamiliar with Geely's 40 years of systems, culture, and values, there is significant uncertainty." Regarding family succession, Li Shufu's view is that the second generation should be sent out into society to gain experience; if they are capable, they will naturally grow, and once competent, they can return to take over at any time. If they have not developed the corresponding abilities, the risk of trying is very high.
The remarkable rise from humble beginnings
Li Shufu's entrepreneurial journey is a true rags-to-riches story. He seemed born with a business gene, herding cattle for the production team during summer vacations in elementary school. Before finishing high school, he began planning to participate in market economy activities. Initially, he went door-to-door taking photos, then opened a photo studio, earning his first pot of gold. Later, he launched successive ventures, extracting copper, silver, and gold from waste electrical appliances, researching and producing refrigerator parts before moving into refrigerators, producing decoration materials, and developing motorcycles. Despite many hardships, Li Shufu reaped substantial rewards from nearly every venture.
In 1997, at age 34, Li Shufu made a surprising decision: to build cars. Amid widespread skepticism, Li Shufu and two engineers studied automotive technology together, laying the foundation for Geely's business. GEELY AUTO was China's first private enterprise to obtain car production qualifications. Li Shufu's famous remark when applying for the automobile production license—"A car is nothing more than four wheels plus a sofa"—is still a popular anecdote today. Li Shufu's original intention was to "build good cars that ordinary people can afford," and as a Chinese independent brand, GEELY AUTO long focused on the low-price segment. It was not until 2007 that Li Shufu decided on strategic transformation, shifting to "technology warfare, quality warfare, brand warfare, service warfare, and corporate ethics warfare" while maintaining price advantages, discontinuing the Haoqing, Meiri, and Youliou models and launching Free Cruiser, King Kong, and Vision.
In 2008, Li Shufu made another bold move, planning the acquisition of world-renowned automotive brand Volvo, completed in 2010. The $1.8 billion acquisition once shook the global automotive industry. At the time, outsiders described Li Shufu as "betting recklessly beyond his means," but industry insiders praised his courage and vision. The "snake swallowing elephant" acquisition introduced the world to China's privately-owned independent brand automaker Geely. The gap between Geely and Volvo was enormous—how could Volvo's product line synergize with Geely's budget economy cars? In response to market skepticism, Li Shufu did not respond but quietly advanced his plans. In 2020, on the 10th anniversary of the acquisition, GEELY AUTO announced that Volvo had transformed from a small company reliant on a loyal but shrinking Nordic customer base into a global premium automotive brand manufacturing on three continents. In 2019, Volvo sold 705,500 vehicles globally, nearly double its 2010 figure. Later, Li Shufu also drove Geely's investments in Daimler and integration of Proton and Lotus.
It was these strategic moves that transformed Geely from a local automaker into a truly global automotive group. According to the official website, in 2025, Geely Holding sold 4.116 million vehicles, up 26% year-on-year, achieving rapid growth for five consecutive years. That year, the company ranked eighth globally, the fastest-growing automaker among the top ten automotive groups. With 40 years of entrepreneurship and 30 years of car manufacturing, Li Shufu used countless surprises and miracles to build Geely into a globally renowned automotive group with nearly 190,000 employees.
An Conghui's new challenges ahead
With Li Shufu's handover, the professional manager An Conghui now faces fresh tests. Entrepreneurship is never smooth sailing, and Li Shufu also endured hardships. GEELY AUTO's financial reports reflect the pressure Li Shufu bore. As early as 2017 and 2018, GEELY AUTO earned over RMB 10 billion annually, with revenue exceeding RMB 100 billion in 2018. Starting from 2019, GEELY AUTO's performance came under pressure, with annual profits hovering around RMB 5 billion for four consecutive years from 2020 to 2023. In 2021, Li Shufu upgraded the "Blue Geely Action," focusing on energy-saving and new energy vehicles as well as pure electric smart vehicles. Four years after the strategic transformation, in 2024, Li Shufu unveiled the "Taizhou Declaration," proposing five major initiatives—"strategic focus, strategic integration, strategic synergy, strategic stability, and strategic talent"—aimed at resolving resource dispersion and internal competition caused by multi-brand operations and enhancing the group's overall competitiveness.
This set Geely on a bold path back to "One Geely." The most prominent integration involved merging Geometry into Galaxy, and merging Lynk & Co into Zeekr to form the Zeekr Group. GEELY AUTO's operating performance has grown substantially. In 2024 and 2025, profitability improved significantly. In 2025, revenue approached RMB 350 billion with net profit attributable to shareholders nearing RMB 17 billion, setting new records. In the first half of 2026, core net profit attributable to shareholders reached RMB 9.684 billion, up 46% year-on-year, continuing the high growth trajectory.
Handing over at peak performance, Li Shufu has given An Conghui full authority. However, Geely in the professional management era still faces significant challenges. Industry analysts suggest An Conghui will face at least three major tests: product matrix breakthrough, internal system integration, and global deepening with overseas risk management. An Conghui will continue advancing the "One Geely" strategy, with internal system integration involving asset disposal, personnel placement, and channel reshuffling—each step a major operation. Currently, Geely's product layout shows a "strong at both ends, weak in the middle" characteristic, requiring the filling of the structural gap in the middle segment. As An Conghui himself put it: "If the waist is not strong, no matter how good it looks, it is just bloated."
Exports have been identified as Geely's second growth curve. In the first half of 2026, GEELY AUTO exported 474,000 vehicles, up 158% year-on-year. The new management has set a new target—two-thirds of sales from overseas markets. Overseas markets face uncertainties such as policy and exchange rate fluctuations, and whether this goal can be achieved remains to be seen. Facing new goals and new challenges, how will An Conghui, now holding the wheel, answer the call?
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