Chery and Geely are expanding in Opel’s shadow

Raunheim
Chery and Geely are expanding in Opel’s shadow

14.12.2020

By Michael Kirchberger/Ampnet

Topic providers

Car manufacturers Chery and Geely are moving to Raunheim. This place has access to highly qualified experts, for example from Opel.

After Chery, the car giant Geely has now also moved to Raunheim.

(Photo: Auto-Medienportal.Net/Michael Kirchberger)

My friend is from Raunheim. Anyone who says this sentence in Rüsselsheim is inciting. At least a few years ago, there was an almost love-hate relationship between the two neighboring cities on the Lower Main, similar to that between Frankfurt and Offenbach. As the economy in Opel City stagnates, not least because of the ongoing car crisis, Things are going well in Raunheim. Not only freight and logistics companies appreciate the location because of its excellent transport connections and proximity to Rhine-Main Airport, the automotive industry has now also discovered the location.

Raunheim becomes a development area

Chinese automakers have recently moved to Lower Main. After Chery, the car giant Geely, which, in addition to its car brands, also has Volvo and Lotus in its portfolio, has now moved to Raunheim. The reasons are clear. If Opel cuts jobs in the neighborhood, China’s development and design centers can rely on highly qualified professionals. In addition, the proximity to Frankfurt Airport is an important point for the area.

The airport makes it easy and comfortable to travel between China and Europe, at least in normal times, and its infrastructure with hotels and conference centers perfectly matches the profile of the needs of a manufacturer that wants to find a place in the country of the old car model. The two Korean companies Hyundai and Kia, which located their headquarters and development centers in the Rhine-Main region years ago, have already used all this.

Chinese OEMs have not been successful so far

So far, the Chinese dreams of conquering the European market have yet to come true. Landwind, Brilliance and Qoros failed, and women and men from the Middle Kingdom in the Old World also failed to score with the original German brand name Borgward. A bouquet of European flowers can’t be beat with a flash; this diagnosis is now established. So other methods are taken.

Chery, for example, opened a European design center in Raunheim two years ago. Chief designer Kevin Rice said in an interview at the time that they wanted to study the market in peace and develop the car in Europe for Europe. Geely seems to be faster. After a temporary accommodation in the Prime Park commercial complex, the multi-person group is building a new development center, which will act as a snapshot in the company’s extensive research and development department and contribute influences and flavors from the Old World. .

The spokesperson for the brand is a well-known veteran in the industry. Frank Klaas, former editor at Hessischer Rundfunk, then PR director at Opel and Jaguar, knows how painful words must be that the Geely brand, which is largely unknown to us, can sound. “I like to quote Frank Sinatra from his song New York. ‘If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere’ he sings. And that’s why we’re here.”

Cooperation with Daimler continues

300 engineers will work under the Geely roof in Raunheim when the new building in the Airport Garden area is occupied in mid-2021. Your work will include, among other things, the modification of driving safety systems in electric vehicles. They are also working on a company platform that Geely not only wants to use for itself, but will also make available to other car manufacturers, explains Frank Klaas. The Chinese have also realized that cooperation can definitely improve things. It has just been reported that Daimler wants to move large parts of its internal combustion engine production to China. In collaboration with Geely. The company’s boss, Li Shufu, already owns ten percent of Daimler’s shares.

Mao’s sons and daughters are not as concerned about immigration as is often claimed. We know that charging infrastructure will reach its limits, especially in metropolitan areas, says Frank Klaas. So, the focus is on CO₂-neutral drives, and these can also be internal combustion engines that work with synthetic fuel. Or fuel cells that run on green hydrogen. They say they are completely open to other technologies.

By April 15, 2021

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There is no car factory near Frankfurt

At the same time, Frank Klaas relates the news that the establishment of the production center in Raunheim has not been completely given to a misunderstanding. A well-equipped workshop will be set up, but there will be no production. However, prototypes can certainly be built that can be completed on the German highway, but especially on the winding track of the Nürburgring Nordschleife. There is still only one car factory on the Main in Rüsselsheim. At least for now.

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