Geely Says It Won’t Ditch ICE, Confirms ‘Two-Legs’ Strategy Too

Current wave of Geely products as seen recently during our post-Auto Shanghai 2025 visit to its headquarters in Hangzhou.

Geely Holding Group (Geely) Chairman Li Shufu has reportedly reaffirmed the company’s commitment towards the traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) tech recently.

The exec confirmed this direction in an internal company video address where he also iterated Geely’s “two-legs strategy” approach. This means the automaker will also continue to invest in electrification whilst still building both traditional ICE and hybrid vehicles.

In a recent interval video address, Geely Chairman Li Shufu says the group won't abandon ICE tech. It will instead adopt a 'two-legs' strategy.

Geely's 3GEP 3-cyl engine produced en-masse locally by partners Proton.

“We must persist in walking on two legs. While accelerating smart electrification, we will continue to lead in traditional and hybrid powertrains,” said Li in the internal video address mentioned.

Notably, it’s worth pointing out that this multi-path direction somewhat mirrors global automaking giants Toyota and its “multi-pathway approach” towards powertrains and decarbonisation – both automakers are not planning to lean solely on electric power.

Geely currently manufactuers the Geely Emgrand M100 Hybrid - the world's first methanol hybrid sedan. This is one proof of the group's continued belief in ICE tech.

Arguably, Geely’s refusal to let go of ICE tech is evident through its efforts developing engines that run on alternative fuels like methanol and hydrogen. In fact, Geely presently manufactures the Geely Emgrand M100 Hybrid – the world’s first methanol hybrid sedan.

Revealed back in 2022, said sedan – essentially a ‘twin’ of the Proton S70 – packs a naturally aspirated 1.8-litre 4-cyl combustion methanol-fuelled mill that’s paired with an e-motor unit, altogether outputting 264 PS and 495 NM.

Another example of Geely's continued belief in ICE tech can be seen through its Horse Powertrain JV, which now supplies base 1.5-litre 4-cyl engines for hybrid variants of the new Mercedes CLA.

Besides this, there’s the Horse Powertrain joint-venture Geely established with French counterparts Renault. This JV’s most recent effort sees it supply 1.5-litre 4-cyl petrol base engines for the hybrid variants of the new third-gen Mercedes-Benz CLA saloon.

Furthermore, Li also elected to further emphasise that Geely will not engage in price wars, choosing instead to focus on technological and quality-driven competition.