New spy shots from the facelifted Volvo S80L testing in China, the new car will debut at the Beijing Auto Show in April. The S80L is a China-only S80 stretched by 15 centimeters for more space in the back.

The Volvo S80L is made in China by the Chang’an-Volvo joint venture, dating from Volvo’s Ford days. When Geely bought Volvo many expected that Geely would kill the joint venture as soon as possible.

They didn’t and it loox like they won’t for a while. The current S80 will have to soldier on until 2015 when Geely will start building its replacement in the new Geely-Volvo factory in Chengdu which will also make the S60 sedan and XC60 SUV and two all-new Volvo’s.

Ugly pop-up screen finally gone. The S80L is facing stiff competition in the Chinese car market from the BMW 5Li, the Benz E-L and The Audi A6L. Competition from local Chinese brands is also heating up. Still, Volvo seems to do fine under Geely’s ownership, the company reported record sales in 2011 and seems to be working on an S100 to compete with the real big guys.

Pics via: Autohome.

Net sales of the Swedish Volvo group in 2011 reached a record high level of 310.3 billion Swedish kronor ($46 billion), up 17.2 percent compared to 2010, said the company in its annual fiscal report on Friday.

Volvo’s income after taxes last year rose to 18.1 billion Swedish kronor, up 61.6 percent from the year before, while the company registered the highest net sales, operating income and margin, said the report.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, the company’s net sales increased by 18 percent year on year to 86.5 billion Swedish kronor, higher than what analysts had earlier estimated.

Meanwhile, the income after taxes of the fourth quarter amounted to 4.8 billion Swedish kronor, a 40.5 percent rise from the same period in 2010, according to the report.

Volvo CEO Olof Persson highlighted increased profitability in the truck business as he commented on the fiscal report.

According to him, truck deliveries worldwide rose 21 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 year-on-year, and the truck brands of Volvo group has gained some 26 percent in the European market.

However, since autumn last year, there was a decline in demand for trucks in Europe. “With the uncertainty in the European economy, it is difficult to forecast demand for trucks in 2012,” said Persson.

Customers’ needs to replace old trucks with new ones and stricter emission standards which will come into force in 2014 will, however, contribute to a gradual improvement in 2012, Persson said.

Via: ChinaDaily.

The Volvo Concept Universe debuted at the Shanghai Auto Show in April. It was seen by the time as a sorta sweetener for Mr. Li Shifu, owner of Geely and thereby from Volvo. Li wanted a big Volvo badly to compete with the S-class, 7 and A8.

Volvo-boss Stefan Jacoby didn’t want a bigger car because he believed Volvo had to make their current line-up better first. According to new reports in Chinese media Mr. Li has won the argument, no big surprise since he is the Boss… Chinese media says the Concept Universe will make it to the market and that it will be called the Volvo S100.

When it will arrive, where it will be made and what engine will be used is for this moment very unclear. It is however very likely that we will see more of this S100 at the Beijing Auto Show in April. Surely Mr. Li wants to impress at the most important show in his own country, and what better way to do that than with a new Volvo? It won’t be the real thing yet but probably a further developed Concept Universe with S100-badges on the back.

Via: Sina.com.

The Geely Mybo was an updated and facelifted version of ‘China’s first sportscar’, the Geely Beauty Leopard. The Mybo was called Liliang in Chinese the Beauty Leopard was called Meirenbao. The Mybo got a redesigned front, new head lights, a new body kit, a new logo new rear lights and s slightly improved interior. Fake air-intake on this black example is after market.

‘Mybo’ was a sort of abbreviation for ‘Meirenbao’ the old Chinese name of the car. Confusingly, in a typical Geely-way, the official English name for the Mybo/Liliang was ‘Leading’, which sounds like Liliang and had a good meaning as well. It doesn’t mean the same though, Liliang means ‘pretty’.

Factory pic of the Mybo-Liliang-Leading. The original Meirenbao arrived in 2003, powered by a far too small 1.3 which was later replaced by a little bit stronger 1.5. The Mybo arrived in 2006 and finally got a decent engine with a 83kw/157nm 1.8, good for a 190km/h top speed. The 1.3 only had 63kw and 110nm, good for 150km/h.

The brand-new Mybo logo. I was a lion with a crown on its head, the Leopard was really gone indeed.

Factory pic shows how fashionable the Mybo was. Price in 2006 was 79.800 yuan. Now!, more confusion because in 2006 yet another Mybo arrived:

This is the Geely China Dragon, Zhongguo Long in Chinese. It debuted as a concept at the 2006 Beijing Auto Show. It had the same Mybo-badges and was listed in late 2007, it was for a while sold alongside the Mybo-Liliang. Exactly the same car, with again a new front and a new body kit. Power came from the old 1.5 or the 1.8. Price started higher at 86.800 yuan. It looked much cooler for sure, and that has a price… The Mybo-Liliang was cancelled in 2008, the Mybo-Zhongguo Long lasted until 2010.

Geely surprised at the 2007 Shanghai Auto Show with this mad ‘Meirenbao II’ concept car, again with Mybo-badges. A leopard and a lion on the same car indeed, such fierce animals, that had to go wrong… It did, the Mybo-Meirembao never made it to the market.

Factory pic from the one and only; the 2003 Geely Meirenbao.

Here we have a very funny car that was waiting for a story. Car in case is the Geely Pride SRV wagon, based on the Geely Pride hatchback. The Pride, called ‘Haoqing’ in China, was made from 1998 until 2007. The Pride SRV joined the party in 2002.

The lime-green paint job, roof-rack and spoilers all came as standard from the factory. The Pride SRV was one of the very first self-designed Geely’s. The standard Pride hatchback was no more than an Tianjin-Xiali knock-off, the Xiali was a licensed copy of the Daihatsu Charade.

There were two engines: a 1.0 3-cylinder with 53hp and a 1.3 4-cylinder with 86hp. Size: 3900/1650/1420, wheelbase was 2340. Luggage compartment could hold 520 liter, the roof-rack an additional 55kg.

Price for all this pretty: 39.000 yuan for the 1.0 and 43.000 for the 1.3. Not too much money indeed, for a real wagon..!

Note Geely logo on flootmat there; neat.

5-speed manual.

Target group: young ‘n cool people going to the fields to walk around.

This super-sporty Pride SRV arrived in late 2006. All extra bodywork was standard. Hello Kitty stickers were not. Price went up a few 100 yuan. It was also the last series Pride-SRV that was made. As you can see on pics, the lime-green color was already fading away…

Via: Autohome, Autofan.

The new Geely GLEagle GC7 was expected to hit the Chinese car market in December last year but it didn’t happen, the GC7 has now been delayed to an unspecific ‘first half’ of this year. Debut of the production version is scheduled for the Beijing Auto Show in April. Price will range from 70.000 yuan to 100.000 yuan.

There will be two engines: a 1.5 with 106hp and 135nm and a 1.8 with 139hp and 170nm, both mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox or a 6-speed automatic. Size: 4435x1759x1440, wheelbase is 2600.

The 1.5.

Via: Autohome.

Seen on a cold winter day in Beijing, this Geely Englon TX4 taxi. The TX4 is produced by Manganese Bronze Holdings / The London Taxi Company in Great Britain but since 2007 made in China as well, by Geely which sells it under the Englon-brand. Geely has a majority of shares in Manganese. Englon stands for ‘England-London’.

The first China-made TX4′s arrived in Beijing in 2008, just in time for the start of the Olympic Games where the TX4 served as the designated vehicle for transporting the disabled around town. These days anyone looking for a ride can try to catch it but compared with the zillions of Hyundai Elantra taxi’s there ain’t that many, at most some 5.000 all over Beijing.

A blue TX4 at a Geely dealer. Private buyers can get it as well, although not many do. Price starts at 208.000 yuan and ends at 228.000 yuan. Power comes from a 2.4 four-cylinder with 112kw and 212nm, mated to a 5-speed manual or 5-speed auto. Top speed is 150km/h.

Wheel moved to the left.

A very fine red example, makes one wonder why all the English TX4′s are always black. Black indeed, is boring.

The Geely Englon SC5 will finally hit the market in April, the production car will debut at the Beijing Auto show, in April as well. Geely already has a dozen small sedans almost the same size, Geely don’t care. The Englon SC5 debuted as a concept car on the 2010 Beijing Auto Show.

The SC5 will be powered by a rather interesting 1.0L three-cylinder engine, but there might be a four-cylinder 1.5 as well. The 1.0 will no doubt become extremely popular among taxi companies in da countryside. Price is expected to start around 60.000 yuan.

The Geely Englon concept car. Now, to show you how mad these people at Geely are:

This is the Geely GLEagle (aka Global Hawk) GC5. It exactly the same car as the Geely Englon SC5, just the badges are different. The GLEagle GC5 debuted as a concept at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show, the production car will also debut at the same show in April.

Geely says: more cars, more sales!

Via: Sohu.com.

These are the very first spy shots of the facelifted Volvo S80L in China, the new car will debut at the Beijing Auto Show in November. As usual with Volvo changes are small, mostly around the grille, head lights and bumper. Still, it does look freshed up a bit.

New alloys there. The Volvo S80L is made in China by the Chang’an-Volvo joint venture, dating from Volvo’s Ford days. When Geely bought Volvo many expected that Geely would kill the joint venture as soon as possible. They didn’t and it loox like the won’t for a while. The current S80 will have to soldier on until 2015 when Geely will start building its replacement in the new Geely-Volvo factory in Chengdu which will also make the S60 sedan and XC60 SUV and two all-new Volvo’s.

Enginewise no changes: 2.0 turbo with 203hp and 300nm and 3.0 turbo with 440nm. Geely by la ways, seems to be doing things very well with Volvo. Sales were up 20% in 2011 and new marketing techniques will likely prove effective in 2012 as well.

Via: Autohome.

These are the very first spy shots of the upcoming Geely Emgrand SX7 SUV, it will likely debut at the Beijing Auto Show in April. It is almost exactly the same car as the Geely GLEagle GX7 that debuted at the Guangzhou Auto Show in November last year, only the grille and badges are different.

Power will come from a 1.8 or a 2.0, mated to a 5-speed manual or 5-speed automatic. There will also be a 2.0 diesel for export. Size: 4544/1832/1720 mm, wheelbase is 2660 mm. Price will range from 80.000 yuan to 120.000 yuan. All exactly the same as the GLEagle GX7. Geely seems to think: the more identical SUV’s we offer, the more we will sell. I doubt this strategy…

Via: PlayersChina.com.