An all-new Geely Boyue L compact SUV has been put into production.
The Geely Boyue, known as the Proton X70 in these parts, has been around since 2016. The original Boyue was quite a hit in South East Asia. In 2019, a year after Proton began to sell the X70 version here, Geely gave the Boyue a pretty major facelift and was called the Boyue Pro. Then in 2021, the car was given ANOTHER facelift and called the Boyue X. Last month, it was learnt that a second generation Boyue would be called the Boyue L and now that vehicle is in production.
As you can see, the Boyue L looks completely different from any of the Boyue models of the past. This new front lighting signature with 182 LEDs takes inspiration from the Geely Vision Starburst, which was shown last year, presenting an alternative interpretation of the ‘Expanding Cosmos’ design philosophy. The front badge is shown as part of the light signature above the grille rather than as a physical badge.
From the side, the design profile is quite dramatic. It features a 2-tone paint job with blacked out pillars and a blacked-out roof. Black is also applied to the bumpers, wheel arches and around the light housings. It also gets a set of unique 2-tone alloy wheels. We get conventional door handles on this model, which get an antibacterial coating. Inside, the 4-spoke squarish steering wheel also gets an antibacterial treatment. There are two huge screens – 13.2″ for the infotainment and a 10.25″ digital instrument cluster. The system is powered by a Qualcomm 8155 chip and gets Over-The-Air (OTA) software updates and runs Geely Galaxy OS Air.
‘L’ in most nomenclatures stands for either ‘large’, ‘long’ or ‘long wheelbase’. In this case, it stands for all three. The 2nd generation Boyue L measures 4670mm from bumper to bumper, which is over 150mm longer than the original Boyue. The wheelbase also climbs from 2670mm to 2777mm in the new model while the car’s width and height increase by 69mm and 9mm respectively. The new Boyue L also upgrades itself from the in-house Geely NL platform to the Volvo-Geely Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) which underpins vehicles like the Volvo XC40, the Polestar 2 and many more.
Geely is offering the Boyue L with four powertrain options. Two conventional turbocharged petrol options are the 2.0L 4-cylinder turbo with 218hp and 325Nm of torque and the 1.5L 3-cylinder turbo with 181hp and 290Nm of torque. These two engines get a 7-speed dual clutch transmission. The 1.5L 3-cylinder turbo is also used in two other powertrain options – a hybrid electric vehicle and a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. These electrified models get Geely’s DHT 3-speed hybrid electric drive transmission.
The Geely Boyue L is produced in Geely’s Chunxiao plant in Ningbo, Zhejiang. It will be available in the 4th quarter of 2022. Will it come to Malaysia? There are no indications that Proton have a deal with Geely for a second generation X70. Neither the Boyue Pro nor the Boyue X facelifts were brought to Malaysia. It’s also no clear if the first generation Boyue will continue to be sold in China and in other markets once the Boyue L comes into market.
