Geely Holding Group Co. and Volvo have just commenced the development of a subcompact vehicle platform in their R&D center in Sweden. Geely will exclusively use the subcompact to compete against global rivals like the Ford Fiesta, Volkswagen Polo, Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris. This subcompact car may be rolled out to the market in several years. A vital goal of the project is to develop a subcompact car that complies with safety and quality standards in Western markets where Chinese carmakers have been struggling to penetrate.
The subcompact would be the second joint project undertaken by the R&D center and both parties want this all new compact car to be rolled out in three or four years. Geely acquired Volvo in 2010 from Ford Motor Co.
The Brose Group disclosed on Jan. 22 that it would be supplying components for the compact car that Geely and Volvo are developing. The German supplier said the compact car will be introduced in China and Europe. Brose also will supply a number of mechanical components like door, seat and latch systems, power tailgates and electric drives for Geely’s other models.
