Shanghai (ZXZC)- Zhejiang Haoqing Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (“Haoqing”), an automobile manufacturing company wholly owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, has signed an agreement with the government of Linhai, a county-level city in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, to develop a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) manufacturing project, according to “Taizhou Fabu”, an official WeChat account of Taizhou’s government.

Geely's Linhai manufacturing base; photo credit: Taizhou Fabu

With a current annual production capacity of 300,000 cars, Geely's industrial park in Linhai previously focused on manufacturing traditional oil-fueled vehicles. In 2018, it became the first manufacturing enterprise in Taizhou to hit a full-year production value exceeding 30 billion yuan ($4.71 billion).

As the market demands for oil-fueled vehicles were gradually shrinking in recent years, Geely Auto and local authorities are making joint efforts to promote the industrial transition and upgrade for the industrial park. Upon completion of the aforesaid PHEV project, the Linhai industrial park's annual production value is expected to grow by 20% YoY on average.

To conduct the PHEV project, Geely has already updated the production qualification of its Linhan branch, and will dispatch a technician group to offer technical supports, according to an executive at Geely Auto Linhai branch's assembly factory.