China’s Geely to bring Emgrand range to UK in 2013

The Chinese motoring press are reporting that Geely are planning to launch their ‘Premium’ Emgrand range to the UK in 2013.

We didn’t think Geely would venture to the West with any of their own brand cars, expecially as Geely is doing very well with its Swedish purchase – Volvo. But it seems that Geely is planning on bringing their cars – certainly the ‘Premium’ Emgrand range – to the UK by 2013.

Regular readers may remember the Rolls Royce Phantom ‘Homage’ built by Geely and, more recently and more convincingly, their take on the MINI and the London Taxi.

The London Taxi link is an interesting one, as Geely snapped up LTI (the makers of the London Cab) a while back, and the Englon SC7-RV (pictured above) is designed to be a ‘civilian’ version of the iconic Black Cab.

The Emgrand EC6-RV is the MINI lookalike in the photo and showed up at the Shanghai Motor Show in the Spring. It’s not yet – we don’t think – ready to hit the roads, and we have no idea how Geely would fare if they tried to bring it to the UK – but that seems to be the plan.

According to China Car Times, Geely plans on getting the Emgrand range througfh the European Whole Vehicle Type Approval later this year and are planning to build up a service and distribution operation in the UK using LTI as the starting point (which might not be the best way to go).

What exactly the Emgrand range will consist of by the time it hits the UK is anyone’s guess, but expect everything from a City Car to an SUV by way of a Mondeo-sized car. And you an also expect Geely engines too, as they’re in the process of dumping their current Mitsubishi lumps for home-grown alternatives.

It seems likely that Geely will look to occupy the more basic part of the market recently vacated by Hyundai and Kia, and at suitably ‘Budget’ prices. It’s a sensible entry path for any new volume car maker.

But don’t expect the Geely Emgrand to stay at the bottom of the heap for too long.

Source: China Car Times