Aiming to increase annual sales to 2 million in 2015, Geely embraced a multi-brand strategy, launching three new marques in the past few years, Gleagle, Emgrand, and Englon (previously called Shanghai Maple and Shanghai LTI). According to official descriptions, the three brands emphasize three different qualities of Geely cars, those of being "stylish, luxurious, and classic." Accordingly, Gleagle targets the young, Emgrand the middle-aged and rich, Englon those valuing tradition and reliability.

However, the market has proved all this purely theoretical, hardly echoed by any consumers. Admittedly, Geely sales increased steadily in recent years (although the 2015 goal is in no way reachable), but that had little to do with its explicit branding intentions. While popular, the Emgrand cars, for example, were deemed invariably as bargain cars by their owners, most of them living in less developed areas of China.

And the Englon line has become a collection of odd models which Geely apparently does not know where to park. What exactly does the London Taxi (Englon TX4) has in common with the Geely King Kong?

To make things worse, Geely now brings out the Englon SX7, a replica of Gleage GX7 under a new nameplate. Yes, there are a few minor styling changes. But how do they reflect the difference between a "stylish" Gleagle and "classic" Englon? And, is it really wise to release twins battling each other in the same price range?

Below: Englon SX7 vs. Gleagle GX7

Below: Englon SX7