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Fuel filler on the passenger side is unusual for an Asian brand vehicle |
Geely is primed to add to recent sales gains in the Chinese market by adding the Haoyue, an SUV around the same size as the Hyundai Santa Fe, to its line-up. Exports are planned.
There are both five and seven-seat layouts for the 4,835 mm long Haoyue while engine choice is between turbocharged 130 kW and 255 Nm 1.5-litre three-cylinder and 135 kW and 300 Nm 1.8-litre four-cylinder units. A seven-speed dual clutch transmission features.
No plant has been named, and just-auto.com has contacted the company seeking the identity of this as well as the architecture. That could be Volvo Cars’ SPA or CMA.
Q2 sales surge, and for Geely in particular?
China Passenger Car Association claimed recently that retail sales had improved markedly from the second week of April. Official data is awaited but ten days ago CPCA said deliveries were down by only 12 per cent year-on-year during the first 12 days of this month.
If the brand has been able to maintain the momentum it built up before sales took a dive, Geely may emerge as one of the big winners of the post-COVID period in China. Certainly dealers are well placed for new models and several production plants were restarted earlier than those of some rivals.
The company also has much goodwill behind it, some of that stemming from An Conghui’s 30 March statement that no employee would be fired or suffer a pay cut. Geely’s CEO made the claim as he reported Group financials for 2019 via an online presentation.
Also as at one month ago, Geely Automobile Holdings’ chief executive said he sees combined sales for CY2020 rising by 3.5 per cent to 1.41 million vehicles.
As at the end of March, retail sales for Geely passenger vehicles in China tallied 188,546 giving it third place ahead of Nissan (166,585) with only Toyota (217,024) and of course Volkswagen (398,316) ahead. The brand also ended last month in the same position, with Nissan close behind (Geely: 58,946, -25% versus Nissan: 58,686, -31%). In Q1 2019, Geely had been down in fifth behind Nissan and Honda.
Other Geely models due to arrive this year include the Emgrand GL PHEV as well as a C segment fastback sedan based on the Preface concept from April 2019’s AutoShanghai. The Icon is also newly launched and should perform well over the remainder of 2020. Production of this 4,350 mm long crossover commenced in February and was being ramped up during March and April.