Geely has not only put a price-tag on its highly anticipated Battleship 700 4WD, but says it sold 43,900 units within an hour of the books opening in China.
The over-five-meter long plug-in hybrid (PHEV) off-roader starts from the equivalent of $41,754 in its Chinese home market, with prices stretching to nearly double that - $81,460 for the flagship 'Land Yacht' edition.
There are a total of six variants available, across three powertrains and three main trim levels.
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Stand-out specs for Geely 4WD flagship
The entry-level powertrain is a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol unit (120kW/255Nm) available in either single-motor front-wheel drive (350kW/605Nm) or tri-motor all-wheel drive (690kW/1165Nm), while the top-spec powertrain is tri-motor all-wheel drive only with a larger 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine producing a total of 830kW/1330Nm.
All versions come with a 47.14kWh CATL LFP battery pack, allowing a driving range of up to 305km on the 2WD cars, or up to 280km for the tri-motor all-wheel drive versions, although this is to the more lenient CLTC measuring standard.
The three trim levels are dubbed Explorer, Peak and Land Yacht. All versions also get adaptive dampers, while 2.0-litre tri-motor versions score height-adjustable air suspension and a low-range driving mode with a rear differential lock.
The big 4WD has no driveshaft connection between the front and rear axles, with that space taken up by the large battery. This makes it closer in layout to rivals like the Denza B5 rather than the GWM Tank 500, with the rear axle being purely electrically driven.
This means the Galaxy 700 needs to rely more heavily on its software terrain modes for its off-road prowess.
Every variant scores features like LED lights all-round and massive 20-inch alloy wheels, while the large internal screens run Geely's latest and more high-end Flyme 2 software suite which features some similar features to the system featured in Zeekr models.
How would the Battleship 700 stack up in Australia?
The Battleship 700 is yet to be confirmed for the Australian market, but Geely choose to bring it here; it would be a no-brainer for it to go with the all-wheel drive versions only.
With the usual 15 - 20 per cent premium added to Chinese vehicles by the time they are converted to right-hand drive, compiled and shipped to Australia, we could expect pricing to land in the realm of $70,000-$98,000 if the brand sticks to the higher trim levels.
This would easily make it Geely's flagship, whilst still leaving breathing space above for its Zeekr premium arm and its more road-focused 8X and 9X luxury plug-in hybrids.
It would also place it in similar pricing territory to the GWM Tank 500 Hi4-T plug-in hybrid (from $75,990), whilst undercutting the Denza B8 (from $91,000).
Chinese market inundated by new hybrid 'boxy' SUVs
The Battleship 700 is part of a wave of new box-style off-roaders buying into the Chinese market trend.
GAC has also recently priced its similar Yue 7 off-roader in China. It is significantly less powerful and not quite as nicely appointed but is also significantly more affordable than the Geely, starting with a predicted price of A$52,000 to around $65,000 for 4WD versions once the usual conversion is added from its Chinese price.
Other options which are expected for an Australian debut in the near future include those from Chery's iCaur and Jetour brands, as well as from its Freelander joint-venture with Land Rover.
Stay tuned for more on the Geely Battleship 700 as the brand is expected to confirm more of its plans for 2027 imminently.
