Geely FY11 SUV Coupe emerges

Chinese car giant Geely, parent company of Volvo, has revealed its latest vehicle and it is not a compact hatch.

In a sign of the times, Geely's latest magnum opus is a curvy coupe-like SUV along the lines of the Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe and BMW X4.

Dubbed the Geely FY11 Coupe, a single photo of the new SUV was teased along with a smattering of information, namely the Swedish-based CMA (compact modular architecture) it will be based on.

Sharing its underpinnings with the Volvo XC40, which was crowned the 2018 Carsales Car of the Year, the new model is aimed principally at the Chinese domestic market.

Not 10-years' ago Chinese cars were the laughing stock of the automotive industry, with copycat designs, sub-par quality and crashworthiness chief among the criticisms.

Geely sold cars in Australia briefly from 2010 but the brand never took off due to concerns over the safety levels of its cars.

As the first Geely model to be based on the CMA platform co-developed by Volvo, safety levels are expected to improve dramatically but there's no word on whether the brand with return to Australia.

Another Geely-owned car marque, Lynk & Co, is a more likely candidate for the Australian market, although its subscription-based ownership model may create hurdles.

Geely is also tipped to invest more than $2billion to revitalise British sports car icon Lotus, with a second factory and a dedicated design centre on the cards.

The new Geely FY11 Coupe is expected to be packing many of the techno-goodies found in the Volvo XC40, such as a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, semi-autonomous steering, a full complement of airbags plus autonomous emergency braking, a strong passenger safety cell and a range of modern engines.

Although Geely has not confirmed powertrains at this stage, the CMA platform has been engineered to be compatible with all-wheel drive and front-drive layouts, propelled by either EV, hybrid or regular three- and four-cylinder combustion engines.

If it follows the XC40's development, the new Geely FY11 Coupe SUV will pack anywhere between 115kW and 185kW of power, depending on the engine choice.

Geely says the new SUV coupe will have "true sporting credentials as the most driver focused car to date" and will be a "strong statement in the next steps of Geely Auto’s design language".

The Chinese brand talks up the SUV's "wide and confident stance" and waxes lyrical about its dynamic daylight running lights that "give the Coupe SUV a strong predator cat appearance".

Designed in Shanghai and overseen by Geely's global design director Peter Horbury, who is also in charge of the automotive giant's sister brands Lotus, Proton and Lynk & Co, the new SUV represents what the company says is the next step in its design language.