China's Geely Updates its GE Rolls Royce Lookalike for the Beijing Auto Show

Volvo's new owner and China's top private automaker, Geely Automobile, has revealed a reworked version of its GE limousine prototype that drew attention last year for its... passing resemblance to the Rolls Royce Phantom.

For whatever reasons, Geely decided to modify the design of the 5.29 meter or about 17.3-foot long executive limo making it look more Chinese and less British.

The car now features a more bloated front end and a redesigned rear end while the Chinese maker also replaced the single throne at the rear with a more plebian seat bench for two.

The revised Geely GE limo will make its world debut at this month's Beijing Auto Show.

Geely GE: Live Photos of China-Made Rolls-Royce Phantom Lookalike

They may say that imitation is the best form of flattery, but we wouldn't bet that the uptight chaps over at Rolls Royce are feeling any sort of flattery upon viewing Geely Motors' luxury GE sedan at the Shanghai Auto Show. To say that the GE's exterior design is inspired from the Rolls Royce Phantom would probably be an understatement. The 5.29 meter or about 208 inches long Chinese limo is a tad shorter than its uber luxurious British counterpart but whereas the Phantom gets a normal rear seat bench, the GE has a single rear chair fit for a king, queen or maybe even a member of the Chinese government...

Not surprisingly, the Geely GE Limo does not get a massive V12 engine but instead it goes by with an 'everyday' V6 gasoline engine that's good enough for an output of 278-horsepower and 340Nm of torque that is channeled to the rear whees via an automatic transmission.

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Pics copyright: UP

Geely at the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show: The Full Monty

Just as it did at last year's Beijing Auto Show, Chinese automaker Geely is preparing to exhibit a mind-boggling -for Western carmaker standards - 22 production cars and concept studies at the upcoming Shanghai Auto Show which runs from April 20 to 28. Aside from the closer-to-production GT concept and the Phantom-clone GE luxury limousine, the Chinese automaker's stand will host a variety of cars ranging from the all-electric EK2 and the IG mini to the Honda Ridegline-like ET925 four-door pickup truck and the GV515 minivan. Click through to check out the full gallery.