We tested the Chinese Geely Coolray, which will be sold in Bulgaria – Technologies

F the “Chinese Invasion” era can easily rival the “Electric Revolution” in popularity. So far, neither Europe has been flooded by the “Chinese wave”, nor has the revolution happened, but I continue to follow both topics with particular interest, because the news and the processes surrounding them are many times superior to those that dictated the course of events 4-5 years ago .

But not only that, I think both will come true. I will leave the subject of AC/DC for the moment to say that I do not suffer from the many stereotypes that have taken over our society. My only internal brake is that there is not yet a large enough database in Europe to see what happens to these cars after a few years of operation.

On another point of view, after my first close contact with Geely Coolray, I can say that it overturned my low expectation for this car on all points. And the reason is my previous contact from 10 years ago with Chinese cars, those on which someone had put the false and misleading Made in BG. Because of them, I now expected the same horror: something that can’t walk, can’t turn, and most frighteningly, can’t stop.

Behind the wheel of a Geely Coolray

But in these 10 or so years, the leap that Chinese cars have made is dramatically greater than that made decades ago by first Japanese and then Korean cars. The latter two have developed at the rate of growth of a child, while the rate of development of Chinese cars is like that of animals, ahead of humans by times like time.

Source: CarMarket.bg

The reason is that the Chinese have absolutely everything that Western companies have because they willingly agreed to give it to them. Not to mention that on the electrical front they are ahead of the so-called legacy manufacturers. And should I mention the unlimited financial resources available to the Chinese?!

Two new Chinese brands debut in Bulgaria

Yes, the Chinese revolution hasn’t happened yet in Europe, even sales are ridiculously low, but the very fact that Carlos Tavares and Luca de Meo, heads of Stallantis and Renault Group respectively, get hives when they hear about Chinese brands in Europe, speaks eloquently that this is about to happen. They will soon start manufacturing here and sell products of comparable quality, but at a lower price. This is what I already believe. As much as I believe that the Bulgarian customer will remain highly skeptical of Chinese brands, as much as he continues to use the comparison of “wrestle, crush and *****” when he expresses a competent opinion about French brands at the table.

Source: CarMarket.bg

And I was skeptical, I admit. But after my close encounter with Geely Coolray, which from 2018 to date has more than 800,000 sales worldwide, I can safely say that the car impressed me immensely.

This is the model with which the Chinese giant is expected to officially enter the Bulgarian market in the coming months. Talks are currently underway with potential distributors. Who they will be, we have yet to find out, our Slovenian hosts did not want to reveal, but they have a Bulgarian in their team, who will be the transmission for the implementation of this process in our country.

Our host was the Slovenian group SEEAG, which is looking for partners for our country. A Geely showroom is already operating in the Republic of North Macedonia, in Romania they are starting with 7-9 dealerships, and their ambitions are to double this number next year.

SEEAG operates in 12 countries of South-Eastern Europe, and in 2023 the turnover is 600 million euros. The cars sold in the region are about 22,000. The group represents Volvo, Kia, SsangYong (KG Mobility), Geely and Link & Co, the latter brand is also interesting because we expect it to appear in the home market as well.

Source: CarMarket.bg

Geely Coolray has recently undergone a facelift, but the changes are such and so many that it can be called a completely new model. Here we are talking about a car from the B+ segment in the SUV class, expressed in a length of 4.38 m. As competitors, we can mark the Peugeot 2008 (4.3 m) with a 1.2-liter engine with 130 hp. and 230 Nm; Skoda Karoq (4.4 m) with a 1.5-liter engine with 150 hp. and 250 Nm; Seat Ateca (4.38 m) with a 1.5-liter unit with 150 hp. and 250 Nm. The advantage of Coolray is in the power, which reaches up to 172 hp. and as many as 290 Nm, parameters that direct competitors cannot boast of.

We should point out another fact, until now the model was offered with a 3-cylinder engine, but now the engine is a 4-cylinder, at least in this regard there should not be any insinuations that it will happen after 100,000 km, but who knows.

Source: CarMarket.bg

Otherwise, as far as external appearance is concerned, the Coolray looks quite nice. A hint of sportiness was sought here (which the model lacks), and the designers have indeed produced a very good-looking package. I admit, the rear spoiler and the four (active) exhausts are more to me, but in general Coolray exudes a cool air.

The giant grille in gloss black is something to get used to, the front splitter and rear diffuser don’t do an effective job, but there will be people who like them. I like the arrowhead shape of the LED headlights, which is complemented by a similarly shaped gray detail below them, along with fake wheel cooling vents, the whole cluster is quite attractive.

You can read details about the interior, drive and road behavior at CarMarket.bg