Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely Holding) seems to either create or take control of ever more brands every year. The latest list extends alphabetically from Farizon (CVs & LCVs) to Geely & Geely Galaxy, LEVC, Lotus, Lynk & Co, Polestar, Proton, Radar, smart, Volvo Cars and Zeekr. This report examines certain new and potentially next vehicles for many of these divisions.
Geely
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The group’s namesake brand continues to find a high level of success at home, though exports are limited. One of the latest additions is the Livan 7, a 4.7 m long electric SUV which, like every Nio model, has a swappable battery. The RWD vehicle comes with a single motor only but there are two choices of power and torque (120 kW/240 Nm or 180 kW/385 Nm), along with 50 or 68 kWh batteries.
Another recent arrival is the Xing Rui L (or Xingrui L), which translates as Preface. Strictly speaking, this is not an all-new vehicle and it uses the old-tech Geely-Volvo CMA (platform). The Preface is in fact a longer (4.8 m) hybrid version of the car launched back in 2020. It is powered by Geely and Volvo’s tried and tested 120 kW & 255 Nm 1.5-litre turbo engine plus a single motor.
Revealed just a few weeks ago, the latest new Geely is the Vision X6 Pro. However, as with the Preface, this is a tweaked existing model. Boasting more power than the Xingrui L, its 1.5-litre turbocharged engine produces a claimed 133 kW and 290 Nm.
Launched as the Haoyue Pro (codename: VX11) a few years back, the freshened vehicle also gains a new name. Whether or not the export version – sold in certain countries as the Geely Okavango – will switch to Geely Preface or something else entirely, is yet to be officially stated.
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By GlobalDataGeely Galaxy
The next Galaxy vehicle will be the E8 (to be also known as Yinhe E8), Chinese market deliveries of which should commence later this quarter. This 5,010 mm long electric fastback sedan will be the brand’s first model to use SEA (Sustainable Experience Architecture). Previewed at the Guangzhou motor show in November 2023, the production model will have 62 or 76 kWh batteries and up 475 kW for the fastest variant. There will also be less expensive 200 kW rear-wheel drive versions. One major USP will be a claimed drag coefficient of .0199.
The E8 will join the L7 and another new model, the L6. At 4,782 mm from end to end, this, like the E8, is a fastback sedan, just smaller. Its architecture is CMA and the hybrid powertrain consists of a 120 kW and 225 Nm 1.5-litre turbocharged engine plus a 107 kW and 338 Nm motor. Geely quotes combined power/torque of 287 kW/535 Nm. Unusually for an HEV, there is a choice of batteries, that being 9- or 18 kilowatt-hours.
LEVC
For years, many have wondered what Geely’s intentions for the London Electric Vehicle Company might be. The range-extender electric taxi has sold well but a van variant less so. Now comes a rethink, or at least a highly unusual expansion into the big MPV segment. Which makes sense in China at least, where demand for this class of models is expanding rapidly.
Production of the newly announced L380 (development code: XE08) has just commenced at a plant in Zhejiang. And that model name? LEVC wants to suggest comparisons with a giant Airbus plane, hoping buyers will equate this with roominess in abundance.
The L380 is certainly super-sized: 5,316 mm long with a 3,185 mm wheelbase. That’s 30 centimetres lengthier than a Volvo EX90 and explains how four rows of seating fit inside. An EV, the motor produces 200 kW and the 100 and 116 kWh batteries (there is a choice) are supplied by a Geely and CATL JV.
What makes the big new MPV especially interesting from an engineering point of view is the platform. Termed SOA for Space Oriented Architecture, this is a new, LCVs-specific version of SEA. The L380 is built in China, in fact in the same Zhejiang plant which produces the London taxi. Geely says there will soon be right-hand drive production too, with exports to the UK noted.
Lotus
It has been quite the transformation for Lotus these last few years. From a company selling relatively few cars, every one an aged design, to the here and now where the launches continue.
After the four-cylinder Emira debuted at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July 2023 came the first Evija deliveries one month later (after many delays). Then, mere weeks on from this, the Type 133 Emeya had its world premiere at a special event in NYC. The 5,139 mm long electric car perhaps best shows the changes for what had once been a tiny English firm, being built in a Geely plant in Wuhan.
The Emeya is now being produced for the Chinese market in the same factory as the Eletre and positioned above it. Exports to Europe are still some way off. Charging can take place at up to 350 kW, this so-called ‘hyper-GT’, having up to three motors for a combined 675 kW and 985 Nm. Two-motor and 102 kWh battery 450 kW RWD variants are also available. The platform is EMA. As for the life cycle, that should endure until 2032 with a facelift in early 2028.
While it might be a relatively quiet 2025 for Lotus, the pace picks up somewhat during the following year. Which is when Type 134 is set to debut, this being an electric SUV sized to go up against the Porsche Macan. As with the Emeya and Eletre, the architecture is EMA.
The main news for 2027 should be Type 135, which does not yet have a confirmed model name though it might reinvent the Elise badge. This is the on-again/off-again mid-motor(s) sports car which at one time was to be a joint venture with Alpine and Renault. Now, almost everything has been changed, though it will still be an EV and can be thought of as the successor for the Emira. The platform is called E-Sports or LEVA (Lightweight Electric Vehicle Architecture).
Lotus hopes to be selling 10,000-15,000 units a year of the Type 135 in 2028, plus 50,000 Eletres and 90,000 Type 134s. All of which seems ambitious though not impossible.
smart
Strictly speaking, not an actual Geely Holding Group division, just as Proton isn’t either, nonetheless, smart is effectively now controlled by the Chinese firm. So far, the relaunch has gone well, with the #1 (hashtag one) performing at a good level of sales in both of its main markets.
The #3, also an electric crossover, is right now being rolled out across Europe after a debut in China during 2023. The entry-level Pro+ trim has a 66 kW battery and a 200 kW motor while Brabus versions come with two motors. These produce a combined 315 kW with drive to both axles. Production should keep going until around 2031 with a facelift in 2027.
The Geely-Mercedes JV says it intends to launch at least one new model yearly. And that there will be six, possibly seven by 2027. After the #1 in 2022 and the #3 in 2022, next comes project HY11. Will this MPV-crossover be the smart #2 or #4? This, we do not yet know but the vehicle is set to debut fairly soon.
Volvo
Having some years ago taken the decision to axe engine production in Sweden and phase out all IC-powered vehicles, Volvo Cars is nonetheless pushing on with this strategy.
US sales continue to be led by the incredibly profitable XC90, hardly a fresh design, the same applying to the XC60. Will buyers in that country and other key markets really take to EVs? Eventually, that might happen but for now it remains a wise move to keep building petrol-powered SUVs until such time as electric-only goes mainstream. So, what does the immediate and medium term future hold for the Sweden marque?
Announced earlier on 20 February, the electric versions of the XC40 and C40 now have new names: EX40 and EC40. The petrol-powered examples remain as they were. Additionally, the Recharge badge has been discontinued. Which means that all Volvo PHEVs are denoted by either a T6 or a T8 marker. These suffixes are there to denote differing levels of power.
The fastest Volvo yet is also set to be the smallest SUV launched by the company. Revealed in June 2023, trial production of the electric-only EX30 started at the Zhangjiakou (China) plant in October 2023. Sales in Europe and North America follow later this year, although the ramp-up has been delayed until mid-2024, possibly longer due to issues with LiDAR.
North America should be a major destination for the model, US specs having been announced back in November. There will be three variants for the introductory 2025 model year: 300 kW & 769 Nm Twin Motor Plus/Twin Motor Ultra; and 370 kW & 909 Nm Twin Motor Performance. Each is to come with a 111 kWh standard battery. The EPA-rated range is 300 miles exactly.
Another additional vehicle is for the moment at least, restricted to the country in which it is manufactured. Twinned with the Zeekr 009, the new Volvo EM90 is a XL-sized electric MPV with pricing to match. There are six seats, a 116 kWh CATL battery and a 200 kW motor driving the back axle. It is a curious fact that a 400 kW AWD two-motor alternative (the 009 offers this) is conspicuous by its absence. Stranger still, the EM90 costs a lot more than the Zeekr. Production has just commenced at a Geely factory in Hangzhou Bay.
Coming next year is V551 (codename), the replacement for the S90. It might be given the same badge or instead be called ES90. The platform is SEA, which means rear- and all-wheel drive. According to an internal leak, the length is said to be 4,999 mm with a 3,100 mm wheelbase. The capacity of the battery is claimed to be 107 kWh (111 gross). Some sources however believe the architecture will instead be the older SPA2. Production is expected to start in January 2025.
The issue of how to export the EX30 out of Zhangjiakou (China) and into the USA will be solved with the addition of build in Europe. Ergo, no high duties. Ghent, a Volvo plant in Belgium, will add build of this model in 2025, cars from there being sent all across Europe and into North America.
The other big news within the next 12-18 months will be the debut of an XC60 successor some time in 2025. This will then be followed by an extra plant coming on line, that being Košice in Slovakia. Volvo is yet to identify which models will be built there, indeed they likely have not even been revealed yet. What we do know is that the initial annual capacity is 250,000 cars per annum and that it is an electric-only production line.
Zeekr
So rapidly – no pun intended – is the arms race of 0-100 km/h times moving that it isn’t clear whether a claim made last September still applies. Namely, that the Zeekr 001 FR (Future Roads) is the fastest accelerating car in the world.
This model (pictured) is about to be facelifted and given LiDAR as well as an 800-volt system. The 001 introduced SEA, a group platform, in 2021. The FR has two 155 kW motors on the front axle and two 310 kW silicon carbide ones at the rear, while the 100 kWh battery is supplied by CATL. And that zero to one hundred clicks number? A stated 2.07 seconds.
The upscale brand continues to be expanded, with the production version of project CS1E revealed at the Guangzhou motor show three months ago. Longer than the 001, the 4,865 mm 007 is also an electric car. It utilises Geely Group’s PMA2+, a native-electric architecture. There is no separate glass for rear window; instead a glass roof extends to the decklid. Another unusual feature is doors which have no exterior handles. To open, buttons on the B- and C pillars are pressed.
Zeekr has just launched the 007 in China, this 4.9 m long crossover coming with a choice of 76 kWh and 100 kWh batteries. There are also single and two-motor variants. Such is its early success that the 10,000th example has been built already. The 007 should be facelifted in 2027 and replaced in 2030/2031.
The next news for the brand should be a facelift for the 001, with a 95 kWh LFP chemistry battery replacing the existing pack. According to leaked specifications, the car will come as standard in 310 kW RWD form with the 95 kWh LFP battery or an optional 100 kWh ternary NMC alternative. There should also be a two-motors 480 kW (270+210) with 95 kWh battery AWD car. The top variant, also with standard all-wheel drive, is said to have 580 kW (270+310). Zeekr will likely include the 100 kWh battery for this car.
This year will be busier still for Zeekr, project CM2E being due for launch in H2. The platform for this luxury MPV is SEA and the vehicle will be closely linked to the Zeekr-Waymo M-Vision robo-taxi. That was a concept which debuted at the 2022 edition of AutoGuangzhou. While it remains unclear whether or not there will be an autonomous model, one without the robotic tech should be launched in China by year-end.
There will inevitably be further as yet unconfirmed cars and SUVs to fill out the line-up, with at least one coming in both 2025 and 2026. A second generation 001 should arrive in 2027.
