The all new Geely Emgrand GL, has been officially launched in China, and according to Chinese media, it’s one of the best Chinese car designs so far. The Emgrand GL is positioned in the hottest sedan segment of the Chinese car market. The Emgrand GL is the sedan version of the recently launched Geely Emgrand GS hatchback.
Engines are the same as in the Emgrand GS: a 1.3 turbo with 130hp and 185nm and a 1.8 naturally aspirated engine with 133hp and 170nm. Surprisingly the engines have very identical output figures. Both engines are mated to either a six-speed manual or a six-speed DCT.
Related: Volvo Influenced Geely Producing Some Stunning Vehicles
Interior is almost exactly as the one in GS hatchback, it too has a sporty steering wheel, fine materials, brown & black combination seats & dashboard with grey & silver trim. The speedometer has conventional dials with a small TFT info panel in between. Under the AC vents there is an 8 inch wide touch screen with touch sensitive buttons on each side of it.
The engine bay is very neatly covered yet the essentials can be reached with ease. Overall Geely designs have improved drastically and they now have their own unique styling, thanks to Volvo’s Ex Vice President of Design, Peter Horbury who is currently heading Geely’s design department as Senior Vice-President. Price of the Emgrand GL starts from 78,800 yuan (equivalent 12.21 lac PKR) and ends at 113,800 yuan (equivalent 17.64 lac PKR).
Geely CK in Pakistan
During the last decade SUS Motors brought the CK sedan here which had a striking resemblance to the Mercedes C class. Developed during the infancy of the Chinese automobile development period & early days of Geely as a car manufacturer, the CK sedan despite getting some success in certain markets was a sub-par product. Despite not-so-bad looks, the built quality was questionable and the interior was quite average to say the least. Although huge improvements were made to the facelift models, known as the CK-II, but those CK-II versions never arrived in Pakistan since by that time the company, SUS Motors had already packed up its operations in our country.
Geely CK Crash test- 0 stars
The crash test videos of the CK sedan went viral since the car was awarded ‘zero’ star for its occupant safety, however within just a couple of years the world was stunned when Geely’s Emgrand EC7 was awarded 4 stars in a Euro NCAP crash test. Today most of the Geely vehicles have 5 star CNCAP crash rating which is a huge achievement for a company which only started developing automobiles since 2002.
Geely Emgrand EC7 Crash test- 4 stars
Related: Geely GC9: The 2016 ‘Car Of The Year’ In China
The new auto policy and the CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) will open doors for many Chinese automobile companies. A vast number of Chinese automobile firms are interested in making Pakistan their development & export base for the RHD (Right Hand Driven) vehicles. The Chinese automobile manufacturers with their current range of products & quality does have the potential to create a stir in the market.
Browse the complete Emgrand GL gallery below:
A computer animation professional with over 23 years of industry experience having served in leading organizations, TV channels & production facilities in Pakistan. An avid car enthusiast and petrolhead with an affection to deliver quality content to help shape opinions. Formerly written for PakWheels as well as major publications including Dawn. Founder of CarSpiritPK.com