Geely continues to boom

Free-spending Chinese carmaker Geely has seen its first-half profits rocket 54 percent this year as it chases a full-year sales target of 1.58 million cars.

Its 44-percent rise in sales, to 766,730, has seen Geely rocket past three Japanese carmakers to become the third-biggest seller in China, behind only the Volkswagen Group and General Motors joint-venture operations.

Its profits jumped to 6.7 billion Yuan (a tick under a billion US$) by appealing to China’s youth market, flying past Nissan, Honda and Toyota.

Geely is a cornerstone in the strategy of its founder, Li Shufu, to expand globally and to move into electrification and self-driving cars.

It also owns Volvo, Lotus and Proton, along with firing out a three-model range of Lynk & Co models from its new brand.

Shufu also owns the largest single stake, 9.7 percent, in rival premium brand Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz.

"In view of an even stronger new products pipeline ahead, the Group should be in a good position to secure higher market share in China's passenger vehicle market in the near future," Geely first-half filing documents said.

Geely has increased its share of the world’s biggest car market, China, to 6.4 percent (up from five).