Phoenix rising

“Phoenix”, a well-knowned mythical bird, has lived for five or six centuries in the Arabian desert, only to find itself dying or perhaps burning itself on a funeral pyre. Yet, despite this tragedy, the iconic creature chose to rise again from the ashes with renewed energy and vigor.

This is how this writer would like to picture the relentless Chinese brand, Geely, here in the Philippines.

Geely Motor Philippines Corp. (GMP), the newly-formed subsidiary of Geely Automotive International Corporation (GAIC), began its relaunching in February this 2025.

For the uninitiated, it was quite challenging for the Chinese brand in recent years as it had to navigate through issues regarding its customer and aftersales services, negatively impacting sales and patronage of its products.

The brand relaunch in February signified its commitment to the Philippine market, pledging to again gain back the trust it once had through better overall services and products.

Now, several months have passed and the company has been consistently working, tooth and nail, to better things, a testament to the commitment it has pledged since its relaunch early this year.

Successful initial years

Back when Geely first started, the carmaker then was able to increase local sales by 52 percent from 2021, churning out 9,302 units in 2022.

Surprisingly, in just four years in the country, its overall total sales reached more than 24,600 units.

“Back then, sales were off the roof,” shared Wayne Tee Ten, son of the “famous” Willy Tee Ten, the president and CEO of Autohub Group of Companies, during a recent interview at GMP’s office in Makati City. The former now stands as the general manager of the Geely brand under their 26-year-old multi-brand company.

“We didn’t expect it would be that good. We were selling 80 to 100 units per month during that time,” the younger Tee Ten further divulged.

However, despite initial success, Geely’s sales started declining by 2023 due to service issues, negative publicity, and transmission problems.

In good hands with Autohub

The Autohub Group of Companies, a prominent multi-brand automotive conglomerate in the country, has been specializing in vehicle distributorship, dealerships and comprehensive car car services since its inception in 1999.

As of 2025, the group operates over 85 dealerships nationwide and is considered as one of the leading players in the local automotive market, thus, according to reports, churning an estimated annual revenue of approximately $340 million.

Renowned global brands under it are, namely: Rolls-Royce, MINI, Lotus, Zeekr, Shelby, Vespa, Triumph Motorcycles and many others.

It likewise has its one-stop shops like the Autohub Car Care Services, Nexthub Auto Care, Painthub and V-Kool Philippines, just to name a few.

For Geely, the company has two successful dealerships in Butuan and along Quezon Avenue in the metro.

In fact, it was even revealed to us that the Quezon Avenue dealership has been one of the successful Geely hubs in recent years among the brand’s 38-strong dealership network nationwide.

“Quezon Avenue is the number one dealership in the entire country in 2025. We’re very proud and happy,” imparted the older Tee Ten.

“What we do is that we choose the best practices from the other brands and apply those that are effective with newer brands. We even enhance,” Willy replied when asked how they are able to make a thriving dealership.

“Everybody’s already intelligent. And so, we think two or even three steps ahead. We do something out of the box. We innovate and do something new,” he then continued.

The company is even set to open two new Geely dealerships come 2026–in Calamba, Laguna and Davao City in Mindanao.

“We’re very excited about these two dealerships since they’re in very prime locations,” he added.

“We plan to be very aggressive.”

Putting their bets

Geely Holding, a Chinese multinational automotive conglomerate headquartered in Hangzhou, China, has produced a total of 3.33 millions vehicles in 2024, including 1.48 million plug-in electric vehicles.

As of 2023, the company ranks 225 in the 2023 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest companies and is included in the Top 3 car brands in China.

Under its wing are famous nameplates, such as: Volvo Cars, Polestar, Smart, Lotus, Benelli, Proton, just to name a few, not to mention holding a 17-percent stake in Aston Martin.

“First of all, for Autohub Group, Geely is a very important brand,” then shared Willy.

“Not only do we believe in the product itself, we also believe in the management and the direction,” he continued.

He further believed in the brand not only globally but also here in the Philippines.

“We believe they produce beautiful products. We are willing to put our bets on the table. I am optimistic about the brand here in the country.”

The Geely Coolray experience

Willy even attested to why he was “already sold” to the idea of bringing Geely in the country after test driving this brand’s bestselling flagship model.

“I remember the Coolray,” he elated.

“I was surprised about the features and the finish. Everything was very, very premium for a mass market brand. The price was very competitive during that time,” he added.

“After test driving it, I personally felt that this is going to be a good brand in the Philippines. From then on, we immediately jumped into the brand because the products were really amazing!”

Direct to China

The Tee Tens also averred that now with the GMP subsidiary, the dealerships can now directly address their concerns to the headquarters in China.

“In terms of profitability, it depends actually on the one managing the distributorship.

From a distributorship, it’s now a subsidiary,” Willy explained.

“It has its ups and downs.”

He added: “Initially, there will be trial and error, then will try to communicate with them.

So far, they’ve been listening, which is good for us.”

He then reiterated that it’s always going to be a balancing act on how one does business in the Philippines. And that flexibility and adjusting with one another are needed.

“Now, they’re listening to the dealers. That’s also the reason why we decided to expand.”

With this, he even sincerely believes that they (the Geely company both here and in China) will adjust according to the business scenario in the country.

“I hope they continue to listen to us.”

Rising from the ashes

After recent years of challenges, GMP now, with the help of committed and strong dealer partners, such as the Auto Hub Group of Companies, is confident that it can go back to its feet.

In fact, according to sources, the company aims to sell about 7,000 vehicles by the end of 2026.

There are actually eight to 10 vehicles that are set to be unveiled in the pipeline, promising a bigger and better lineup of Geely vehicles.

“Last year, with a change in distributorship, together with problems with services and all, it was heavily damaged,” Wayne, for his part, communicated.

He then further explained that they know the customers love the vehicles already.

“No question about it. It’s just that the trust is the one that has to be gained back,” the younger Tee Ten added.

“But now, with the new management, which is committed to really rebuilding the brand, we’re confident the Geely brand will rise again.”