Geely EX2 Reviews

It's been a rough year for many in the car industry - from declining sales to the death of Holden - but one group is having a year to remember; Chinese car makers.It's becoming increasingly apparent that 2020 is shaping up as the year Australia's accepted

Chinese car maker Geely has set its sights on the Toyota LandCruiser, unveiling the new the Haoyue SUV for its home market.Geely, the Chinese auto giant that also owns Volvo, Lotus and Proton, has high hopes for the Haoyue SUV, which will also do bat

Geely, the Chinese brand that owns Volvo and Lotus, has reportedly taken an interest in under-fire Aston Martin.The British sports car brand is looking for investment after reporting a drop in sales in 2019 as well as extra expenditure on marketing which has seen its share price drop significantly since it floated in 2018. The Financial Times reports that Geely has begun talks and its due diligence to take a stake in Aston Martin. It's unclear how much Geely wants to invest in the brand, with a minority holding and technical partnership seemingly the most likely option.Geely has been on a spending spree in recent years, buying Volvo from Ford in 2010, investing 10 per cent into Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler and taking control of Lotus in 2017. It's worth noting that Mercedes-AMG already has a technical relationship with Aston Martin to provide engines and other powertrain components, so further Geely investment would only strengthen the connection between the brands.Geely isn't the only interested party in Aston Martin, however, with Canadian billionaire businessman Lawrence Stroll also in talks to take a stake in the company. Stroll, father of F1 driver Lance, has built his career investing in brands at a low point and rebuilding their value. He did it successfully with fashion labels Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors. Stroll is also no stranger to fast cars, aside from his investing in his son's career he lead a consortium to take control of the Racing Point F1 team. He also has a huge collection of Ferraris and other supercars and even owns the Mont-Tremblant circuit in Canada. According to the Financial Times report it's unclear if Geely will still want to invest in Aston Martin if Stroll's consortium takes its stake, rumoured to be 19.9 per cent. Regardless of who owns it Aston Martin is pushing ahead with its 'Second Century' plan in 2020 with the launch of its first SUV, the DBX, and its first mid-engine model, the Valkyrie hypercar.

Chinese automotive giant Geely Auto has revealed its new Xing Yue, claiming the title as the world’s first coupe SUV with a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain option.

Geely, the powerful Chinese conglomerate which currently owns Volvo and Lotus, has launched an all-new electric-only marque dubbed Geometry.

It's the fetching Chinese SUV with vaguely German looks, a Swedish heart, and Australian data dialled into its engineering.

Chinese-market brand will use Volvo platforms and engines.

China's automotive invasion appears to have faltered after a strong start.

WA-based Chinese Automotive Distributors, part of the John Hughes Group and the national distributor for both Geely and ZX Auto, says it demanded a minimum four-star crash rating for the Cruze-size Geely EC7 sedan before considering selling it in Australia.Geely's recent testing to ANCAP standards didn't meet its importer's demands, halting plans to introduce the car to Australia. A director of the group, Rod Gailey, says CAD wanted a minimum of a four-star ANCAP crash test rating for the Cruze-size sedan before considering it for sale in Australia.“The EC7, which had previously scored a Euro four-star rating, recorded a sub-four star rating despite additional safety equipment such as electronic stability control and six airbags,” he says.He says the decision to halt the import plans was one made both by CAD and Geely. “The minimum four-star crash rating was agreed by both Geely and ourselves before Geely conducted the tests,” he says.“We insisted, and Geely agreed, that we wouldn't import the car until it reached a four-star or above crash test rating and unfortunately it didn't meet our expectations.“So Geely and ourselves have put everything on hold.” Mr Gailey says it was possible that the body structure of the car is at fault. He says Geely indicates it isn't economically viable to re-engineer the car to meet higher safety standards for Australia's small volume market.He says it could take 18-24 months for Geely before a new range of models - now in the post-design stage - that satisfy Australian demands for safety and features would be available for Australia. “But Geely has told us that the new cars won't be cheap,” he says.“This will be a new generation of models that will be more competitive in terms of design, engineering and performance so I can't see them being available at the lower-end of the price market.” Mr Gailey says the EC7 was a “quantum leap” ahead of the first Australian-sold Geely, the MK1.5. “But even the EC7 is not engineered for the mature markets,” he says.“We continue to remain involved with Geely, working in partnership on their future model platforms whilst maintaining sales and service support for the Geely MK in Western Australia.” Geely has a range of sedans and SUVs that have potential in the Australian market. The company, which owns Volvo, now sells to 30 countries and exported 100,000 cars in 2012. 

Chinese cars were tipped to dominate the budget-car class and challenge established brands in half the time it took Japanese and South Korean companies - but the bubble has burst before it's properly inflated. After some early success since becoming the first Chinese brand to go on sale in Australia, Great Wall Motors has hit reverse and its Chinese peers are struggling to get into first gear.Official figures for the first five months of the year show Great Wall Motors deliveries are down by 35 per cent compared with the same period the previous year in a record market that is up by 4.5 per cent.Other Chinese brands such as Foton have also had a stalled start. After announcing big plans two years ago Foton has sold fewer than 300 pick-ups in that time.Budget brand Geely has still restricted its sales to Western Australia and Chery's small cars have been stymied by newer competition from established brands. Chery sales are also down by 35 per cent.The Chery J1 hatchback was the cheapest car in Australia in almost two decades when it went on sale with a $9990 drive-away price in 2011, and is now available with a "pay half now, half later'' deal.But it too has failed to rock the sales charts. ''Sales have slowed for now but they will recover,'' says Daniel Cotterill, the spokesman for Ateco, distributor of Great Wall Motors and Chery passenger cars and the Foton truck range.''It's been frustrating for us and the dealers to not have more new models available to us as quickly as we would like."'The other challenge for Chinese car brands is that mainstream marques such as Suzuki, Nissan and Volkswagen have all responded with quality cut-price contenders priced from $11,990 to $13,990 drive-away. "In some ways we are a victim of our initial success,'' said Cotterill. "Other mainstream brands have had to come down in price to compete with us.''Other hurdles: more than 20,000 Great Wall Motors and Chery vehicles were recalled in August 2012 for having asbestos components in their engines. Chinese cars tend to earn poor to scores in crash tests (between two and four stars when the modern industry norm is five stars).But the companies hope to have a reversal of fortunes with a number of new generation Chinese vehicles made to international standards due in local showrooms in the next two years.''There are new models in the pipeline,'' said Cotterill.''We are confident in the ability of the Chinese to respond the Australian car market and boost sales.''This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling