Based on a concept car they showed last year, the GC9 promises to be every bit the flagship sedan that the Chinese market deserves. It's long, bold and yet still elegant enough to pass off as a luxury automobile. Geely hired ex Volvo chief designer Peter Horbury and this definitely shows in the look of their new car.
The Geely GC9 was designed and engineered by a global team from Gothenburg, Shanghai and Los Angeles. We're especially fond of the grille, which looks like infinitely reflecting series of shield emblems. There's a bit of Volvo here and there and a passing resemblance to the Ford Fusion at the side of the car, but the rear is very special, offering an uninterrupted flow of the roof line into the taillights.
Power will be provided by a choice of three engines. The base unit will be a naturally aspirated 2.4-liter, followed by a slightly more expensive 1.8-liter turbo and a 3.5-liter V6 for the range-topper model. All are coupled to a six-speed automatic gearbox with manual mode.
Perhaps that's not on par with a BMW M5, but Chinese customers normally don't care about power or performance. They will more likely be impressed by the tri-zone climate control, auto hold function, electronic parking brake and nav system.
Geely says the design of the cabin was inspired by "ancient Chinese stone bridges which were integrated into the dashboard and central area to define smooth clear lines to separate key content areas via gentle curving lines." That sounds like marketing gibberish, but Infiniti says its grille is inspired by the "reflection of a suspension bridge in water", so we'll let them off the hook for that.
And since Geely own Volvo, don't be surprised if the GC9 is the safest car yet offered by a Chinese brand. Engineers say they made a body strong enough for a five-star C-NCAP crash rating. More details about this and the precise specifications will be available on December 15.
Geely GC9 Is a Classy New Chinese Sedan - photo gallery
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