Geely’s Rolls Royce clone gets de-cloned

The Geely GE Facelift - no longer a RR Clone

It’s amazing how much things have moved on in the last twelve months.

A year ago we reported that China’s Geely had become the latest Chinese car maker to produce a complete rip-off clone of a Western car, in this case a clone of the Rolls Royce Phantom. The Geely ‘Phantom’ even sported a  single seat  ’Throne’ in the back so the owner could feel really important in his Chinese version of  a Western plutocrat’s carriage.

But the last year has seen Geely become much better known in the West – and move very much in to the mainstream. Geely are about to take control of Volvo and already control LTI (Black Cab makers). And despite denying that the Geely GE was a RR Clone they’ve obviously decided that they need to be seen to be doing the right thing.

So we will get a facelifted  Geely GE at the Beijing Motor Show, which will take the Rolls Royce out of its DNA and replace it with… well, not too sure, but it’s not a step forward.

Gone is the RR nose to be replaced by rounded lump with a Geely grill (which looks quite like the Englon TXN taxi grill – also by Geely) and a new set of headlights with LED running lights. The back has also had some changes and the ‘Throne’ gives way to a more traditional pair of seats.

The Geely GE has gone from being an amusing RR clone to something that looks like it could have been churned out by the worst Soviet era limo-makers in Russia.

They’d have been better off supersizing a Volvo next year to replace it.

By Cars UK