With an affordable pricing strategy and big ambitions, the Geely Group is entering the Hungarian automotive market. In an interview with the industry portal totalcar.hu, Allen Yang, Geely’s President for South Africa and Central and Eastern Europe, painted a clear picture of the future: Hungary is set to become not just a sales market, but a central pillar of European expansion.
While other Chinese manufacturers have been present in Europe for some time, Geely, China’s second-largest electric vehicle manufacturer, deliberately chose to enter the market later. “We had to prepare ourselves, because in Europe, the standards for comfort, safety, and the environment are the highest,” Allen Yang explained to Totalcar. However, in 2026, the brand is shifting into attack mode.
For its market launch, Geely is banking on a model that’s making the competition sit up and take notice: the Starray EM-i. The plug-in hybrid SUV, which competes in the same size class as a BMW X3, is being offered in Hungary at a starting price of 12 million forints (30,447 euros).
With this positioning, Geely is pursuing ambitious goals:
- 2026: Enter the top 10 best-selling brands in Hungary.
- 2027: Geely aims to become the most popular Chinese car brand in the country, thereby overtaking even its competitor BYD.
In light of looming import tariffs, Geely plans to establish at least two factories in Europe, according to Yang in an interview.
When asked whether Hungary is a potential location, he replied: “Absolutely!”
The close diplomatic ties between Budapest and Beijing, as well as competitive cost structures, speak in Hungary’s favor. However, since Geely does not have time for a multi-year new construction project (“greenfield project”), the group is actively seeking partners with existing plant capacities to launch local production within a year.
Hungary also serves as a springboard for other brands within the group.
Yang announced the launch of the premium electric brand Zeekr on the Hungarian market as early as 2026.
The compact Geely E2, which has already proven to be a bestseller in markets such as Brazil, is also set to arrive in Europe in the second half of 2026.
To dispel concerns about the durability of Chinese vehicles, Geely offers a warranty of eight years or 200,000 kilometers. The regional president is also transparent when it comes to battery degradation. After eight years, the batteries are expected to retain between 60 and 80% of their capacity. Yang also gives the all-clear on data protection. As a publicly traded global company, he explained, they strictly adhere to the EU’s stringent GDPR guidelines.
Geely has come not just to stay, but to dominate the Hungarian market. Backed by the expertise of subsidiary brands such as Volvo and Lotus, the group is poised to directly challenge established European and Japanese competitors.
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Via totalcar.hu; Featured image: Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
