Do You Think Geely’s Strategy to Acquire an Extremely Well-Established Western Automobile Manufacturer Can Help the Company to Gain Competitive Advantages in the Global Car Market? and Why?

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Introduction
 In 2010, the Chinese automotive manufacturing company Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely) purchased Volvo Cars (Volvo) from the American automobile giant Ford for US$1.8 billion, putting both Volvo and Geely in the global spotlight - how could Geely, who only had 13 years of automobile manufacturing experience, think they were ready to become a major player in the global automotive business, particularly when outside of China, the brand was predominantly unknown. Since the acquisition of Volvo, Geely began making headlines and becoming recognised in new markets, but would this be beneficial or harmful to their brand, and will this lead to securing competitive advantage in the global market? Background Information 
 Geely was founded in 1986 as a refrigeration parts company and started producing motorcycles in 1994, small vans in 1998 and received approval to produce automobiles in 2001 (Geely Brand History 2014). Geely expressed interest in exporting to the European Union and the United States, and presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2005 and the Detroit Motor Show in 2006 - exporting was postponed after this. Pursuant of their desire to enter the global market, Geely approached Ford in 2008 to express interest in the takeover of Volvo cars, and a deal was reached in March 2010 that named Geely the owner of Volvo cars, although Geely and Volvo both continued to operate independently. Prior to 2010, Geely was not a global brand, with few consumers outside of China knowing about the brand (Geely Brand History 2014). Prior to 2010, Geely had become shareholders of Manganese Bronze holdings in Britain in 2006 and acquired Australia’s Drivetrain Systems International in 2009, which specialised in automobile transmissions, allowing Geely to produce cars with six-speed automatic transmissions. This manifests that acquiring Volvo was not their first

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