Antonov Signs Gearbox Production Licence With Geely

The board of Antonov plc is delighted to announce that it has signed a production licence agreement with Zhejiang Geely Automobile Gearbox Co., the transmission manufacturing subsidiary of Geely Automotive (‘Geely’). This follows the announcement on 27 November 2006 that Geely and Antonov had signed heads of agreement for the licence, which is for the production of the company’s TX6 six-speed automatic transmission.

Under the licence, Geely will have the non-exclusive worldwide rights to manufacture and sell transmissions covered by the Antonov 6-speed automatic patents and will also receive design support from Antonov.

Antonov will receive licence fees totalling Euro 900,000 payable over the next nine months and then a production royalty on each transmission produced.

Geely is one of China’s leading automotive companies and is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange and currently produces around 200,000 cars per annum and continues to grow strongly. Both companies will be working together to incorporate the TX6 into a number of models with production commencing in 2008.

Geely has already taken two models of conventional automatic transmission to production and the Antonov TX6 will be an addition to this model line-up. The transmission will also be available to other vehicle makers worldwide.

John Moore, CEO of Antonov plc, said: “I am very pleased to be able to confirm this licence agreement. Geely has a strong track record in developing transmissions and their experience and established infrastructure will allow us to bring our technology to production rapidly. China is a key market for our technology and Geely provides an excellent customer reference site, which will underpin our commercialisation strategy in the region.”

Mr An Conghui, vice president of Geely Automotive, said: “Geely is delighted to have secured the Antonov TX6 licence which in turn has strengthened our transmission product range and enabled us to bring to market a vehicle which will incorporate Antonov technology delivering a compact and cost effective solution. We look forward to working with the Company closely as we move towards volume production in 2008.”