{
  "id": 1473588,
  "title": "Billionaire Geely Auto head Li Shufu steps down as profit slips",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/billionaire-geely-auto-head-li-shufu-steps-down-as-profit-slips",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-17T11:32:39.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "SCMP Business",
    "slug": "scmp-business",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3364318/billionaire-geely-auto-head-li-shufu-steps-down-profit-slips"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Chinese billionaire Li Shufu resigned as chairman of Geely Auto, the country's second-largest carmaker, after the company reported record first-half revenue in China's competitive automotive market. Li, the 63-year-old founder, announced his resignation after Geely posted a 2% decline in net profit for the first six months of 2026, while revenue reached an all-time high of 173.6 billion yuan, up 15% year-on-year. Andy An Conghui, an executive director, would take over the chairman role on Tuesday. Li emphasized that the succession aimed to establish a foundation for Geely Auto's future sustainable growth and cultivate professional talent. Geely Auto's CEO would be Jerry Gan Jiayue, replacing Gui Shengyue, who had served as the car development and sales head. The company delivered 1.42 million vehicles in the first half of 2026, up 1% year-on-year, with exports surging 158% to 474,228 units. Dai Yong, Geely Auto's CFO, warned domestic rivals against engaging in price wars, which could lead to significant losses, as most players struggled to turn a profit. Geely Auto, which builds both electric and petrol cars under brands like Zeekr, Lynk, and Galaxy, trails only BYD, the world's largest EV assembler, in sales in mainland China. The company aims to sell 920,000 units overseas in 2026, more than double its previous year's total. Despite the profit decline, Geely Auto advocates coexistence with its competitors and refrains from falling into the price competition trap.",
  "summary": "Chinese billionaire Li Shufu has relinquished his role as chairman of Geely Auto, describing the planned succession as the foundation for the future sustainable growth of the country’s second-largest carmaker. Li, the 63-year-old founder of the automotive group, announced his resignation just after Hong Kong-listed Geely reported record first-half revenue in China’s cutthroat car market on…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}