Geely slams door shut on Aussie tuning program

Geely won’t be following the route taken by Hyundai, Kia or GWM in making their cars more “Australian”.

Geely Auto Australia director of product planning and marketing, Andrew Tuitahi – who previously led the local ride and handling program for Hyundai Australia – said there are no plans to repeat the same strategy with the fast-growing Chinese brand.

“Not at this stage,” said Mr Tuitahi when asked if Geely had plans to rework its models for local driving tastes.

“Certainly when we look at Geely Holding Group relative to some of the other Chinese brands, I think we're in a unique position,” he said.

“Under our umbrella, we carry a lot of European brands that are well renowned for various disciplines, whether that be safety with Volvo, or things like ride and handling dynamics with Lotus.

“And so, I think we can lean more heavily on talent and know-how across our group rather than trying to focus it here in Australia.

“That's not saying that programs wouldn't take place here, but certainly, I think a lot of that engineering excellence could be deployed here and in other parts of the world to deliver a product that will perform well in Australia and wouldn't need to be done by us alone on-ground in full."

Geely has been quick to act on feedback from customers and media when it comes to software changes and adjustments, though.

Earlier in 2026, Geely introduced over-the-air (OTA) updates to improve the liveability of its driver assist features, giving customers the chance to select a number of preset favourites to enable each time they restart the car, rather than diving through myriad menu screens to make those changes.

And while the brand might not move to do wholesale suspension, steering and powertrain tuning in our market, Mr Tuitahi said the brand is committed to making sure that the research and development teams are getting it right on spec, tech and suitability for Australia’s local conditions.

The brand has only been on sale for 18 months, and has three models in its mix: the EX5 electric mid-size SUV, the Starray EM-i plug-in hybrid mid-size SUV, and the newly launched EX2 budget electric hatch.

Despite a small model lineup and fewer dealerships than the bigger competitors in the country, Geely has been in the top 10 for new vehicle registrations for both August and September, on the back of hot demand for all three of its current vehicles.

The brand was up 870.3 per cent compared to September 2025, registering a total of 4473 units for the month, with EX5 leading the way (2008), Starray strong with 1254, and the budget-friendly EX2 hitting a huge 1211 units to take the lead in the passenger car segment for the month.

Geely just opened its 100th Australian dealership and service location, and the brand has confirmed it plans to increase that number to 130 within six months – including a focus on regional and rural areas, where upcoming models like the Battleship 700 PHEV 4x4 may prove popular.

That model – which may be renamed locally – is due in 2027, alongside the Emgrand L EM-i plug-in hybrid sedan.

Before those, the Monjaro PHEV SUV – a larger model than the Starray, but still with five seats – is set to arrive late in 2026.

Mr Tuitahi confirmed that the model range expansion is set to be rapid before the end of 2028.

“We've got six [new models] in the next 12 months, a few more if we stretch that out to 18 [months].

“From today if we work through, I think from our perspective, medium SUVs, larger SUVs than Starray and EX5 is definitely a volume opportunity there. That's in comparison with Monjaro.

“Pickup truck is a big gap, and I can't speak to that right now,” he said, but clearly wanted to say more than he was allowed to.

“Outside of that, a few kinds of equal-sized segments – small SUV, you know, something a similar size to a Corolla Cross or a Kona, that's an opportunity for us.

“And then, of course, larger SUVs; things similar to a Toyota Kluger or Hyundai Santa Fe or Mitsubishi Outlander,” he said, clearly pointing to a future three-row family SUV that will fit in above the Monjaro, and could well be a localised version of the Geely M9 six-seater.

The brand has also expanded the existing model range, with the Starray EM-i now offered with an all-wheel drive variant, which undercuts big-name plug-in hybrid SUVs in its class by tens of thousands of dollars.

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