The Geely Emgrand GS has now received a significant facelift to become what you see before you. The new look is accompanied by a new name too, as the model is now referred to as the Emgrand S. According to the company, the Emgrand S will go on sale in China from April 26, and the “S” in its name point towards three descriptive words: sexy, smart and surprise.

The first points to the crossover’s revamped styling, which ditches the familiar “expanding cosmos” grille for vertical slats like what is found on recent Geely models like the Xingyue L, the facelifted Borui and Preface. The new nose is accompanied by more angular LED headlamps, while the lower bumper has been redesigned to feature more prominent faux intakes that integrates a thin chrome strip. This extends to meet with a black trim piece spanning the car’s face, creating a visual divider between the lower and upper intakes.

 

Along the sides, the Emgrand S gains a distinctive character line that originates from the tip of the headlamps and ends just before the rear door handles, further highlighted by a creased section along it. The lower portion of the vehicle’s sides have also been made to look more aggressive to complement this change. Elsewhere, the lengthier chrome trim along the window line has been reprofiled to better emphasis the “floating roof” look, joined by blacked-out C-pillars. As for the rear, the LED taillights are slimmer in shape and are bridged by a trim piece bearing the Geely script. Minor tweaks to the rear bumper, with the number plate holder being mostly body coloured rather than being a black template as before.

The new body results in some minute changes to the dimensions, with the Emgrand S now measuring 4,430 mm long (-10 mm) and 1,573 mm high (+13 mm), while the 1,833 mm width and 2,700 mm wheelbase are unchanged. Like the exterior, the interior also gets some significant changes, with a new dashboard design that no longer incorporates the infotainment system. Instead, a 10.25-inch touchscreen is placed above the air vents, which themselves are located above the engine start/stop button and HVAC switches.

The upward-sloping centre console has also been made mostly flat, allowing for an additional storage cubby just ahead of the new gear lever. There’s still cupholders aft of this section, joined by the electronic parking brake. For the driver’s there’s now a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster set within a reshaped binnacle, along with a flat-bottom steering wheel. The base of the latter, along with various contact points inside the cabin, are upholstered in red leather for a sporty look that complements the bolder exterior, while metal-looking trim and ambient lighting provide a more upmarket feel.

 

To drive the premium point further, there’s a 10-speaker, 9.1-channel surround sound system that can tie into the ambient lighting system with 72 colours available – Geely claims this can be called the “industry’s first music car.” Auditory selling points aside, the Emgrand S features the company’s GKUI system that supports gesture control. Other features include a 540-degree “transparent chassis” system, a driving recorder, a CN95 air filter, an AQS air management system, automatic air-conditioning with a rear vent, and a negative ion air purifier. On the driver assistance front, the crossover gets lane keeping assist, full-speed adaptive cruise control, speed limit sign recognition, autonomous emergency braking, an intelligent navigation system and high beam assist, among others.

Under the bonnet, the Emgrand S is powered by a 1.4 litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine that makes 141 PS and 235 Nm of torque. This is paired with either a six-speed manual or a CVT, with the carmaker claiming a fuel consumption of as low as 5.9 l/100 km. The model will be sold in four variants, with base “Comfort” option packing the 1.4T and 6MT combo carrying a pre-sale price of 86,700 yuan. The remaining three variants all come with a CVT, with the “Luxury” trim going for 97,700 yuan, the “Noble” trim for 101,700 yuan, and the range-topping “Flagship” for 110,700 yuan.