Geely New Emgrand won’t take on Corolla in Australia, but new models are on the way

The New Emgrand was revealed in China late last week with overhauled exterior and interior styling and a new 1.3-litre turbocharged engine. It replaces the Emgrand EC7, which was one of China’s most popular cars in 2013.

Geely spokesman Ash Sutcliffe told CarAdvice the New Emgrand would “unlikely make it to Australian shores in its current guise”, but hinted at a bright future for the brand going forward.

“Our new range of vehicles, which is currently being developed by an international team in Sweden and Shanghai along with input from our California and Spanish design centres, will certainly be ready for mature markets such as Australia in the not so distant future,” Sutcliffe said.

“At this point it is impossible to give an exact timeline. I can say though that we are bringing products to market that will be at the very forefront of the global auto industry thanks to Geely's global resources.”

Geely, which purchased Volvo from Ford in 2010, will leverage know-how from the Swedish brand for its future vehicles.

The Chinese car maker currently offers seven passenger cars, crossovers and SUVs in its mainstream Geely range as well as four models in its more premium Geely Emgrand line-up.

The Geely MK was introduced to Australia in 2011 by independent Perth-based dealer John Hughes’ Chinese Automotive Distributors. The compact sedan, which has only ever been sold in Western Australia and lacks electronic stability control, is currently being offered from $8999 driveaway, making it Australia’s cheapest new car.