One brand strategy to return to Geely

Visitors look at an Emgrand KC Concept of Geely during an automobile exhibition in Shanghai, China, 21 April 2013. [Photo/dfic.cn]

Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, whose parent owns Volvo Cars, said on Tuesday that it will go back to a single-brand strategy, meaning that all of its sub-brands - including Emgrand, Gleagle and Englon - may vanish from the market.

Chairman Li Shufu said that "there will be one and only one Geely" in the future.

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"At the same time, we will further reinforce and integrate our distribution networks, with higher requirements for the dealerships, to enhance the competitiveness of our products," said Li, who's also a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

He spoke on the sidelines of the ongoing annual two sessions.

Experts said that after the three brands fade into the company's history, China's private vehicle producer is likely to adopt a new logo for the only remaining brand (Geely), which will cut costs, especially for brand management and marketing.

To meet its annual sales target of 2 million vehicles by 2015, Geely promoted a multi-brand strategy in 2009 under which it launched three new marques - the Emgrand, Gleagle and Englon - to target different groups of consumers.

With an eye-catching exterior, the Gleagle targets young consumers, while the Emgrand is more tailored for middle-class people.

The Englon is for those drivers who value tradition.

But the market feedback hasn't been what the carmaker expected. It turns out that consumers have hardly noticed the differentiation strategy and where they have, the reaction hasn't been positive for sales.