The 800,000th Lynk & Co vehicle rolls off the assembly line in November 2022 in Ningbo, Zhejiang province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Chinese carmaker Geely Auto Group saw its revenue and free cash flow hit new highs in 2022 despite lingering chip shortages and the COVID-19 pandemic, said the Hong Kong-listed company on Tuesday.

Geely Auto Group, which manages brands ranging from the namesake Geely to Lynk & Co as well as Zeekr, sold 1.43 million vehicles last year, which brought its revenue to 148 billion yuan ($21.51 billion), up 45.6 percent year-on-year.

Its profit attributable to stockholders in the year grew 8.5 percent to 5.26 billion yuan and its free cash flow soared 20.4 percent to a record level of 33.7 billion yuan.

Geely Auto Group said high-end models helped drove the growth. In 2022, their sales reached 252,787 units, accounting for 23 percent of the total.

Lynk & Co, a premium joint venture between Geely and Volvo, sold 180,127 vehicles in 2022, with exports reaching a new high. By February 2023, its cumulative sales exceeded 850,000 units.

Geely Auto's premium electric car brand Zeekr sold 71,941 vehicles in 2022, exceeding its target of 70,000 units.

The brand’s second model, which is also the world’s first pure electric luxury MPV, Zeekr 009, started deliveries in January 2023 with an average order price of 527,000 yuan.

NEVs were another highlight of Geely Auto Group's performance. In 2022, their sales reached 328,727 units, up over 300 percent year-on-year.

The car group's exports reached 194,242 units last year, up 72.4 percent year-on-year, higher than the industry's average of 56.7 percent year-on-year.

Geely Auto Group has set an annual sales target of 1.65 million units for 2023, with the proportion of new energy and electrified vehicle sales doubling the 2022 level.