New Geely Galaxy Battleship 700 is an AI-powered behemoth aiming to sink the Land Rover Defender
Auto Express has confirmed the hulking hybrid 4x4 is coming to the UK
Ladies, gentlemen and Land Rover’s lawyers, allow us to introduce the all-new Geely Galaxy Battleship 700: China’s answer to the legendary Defender and the equally mighty Toyota Land Cruiser that Auto Express has confirmed will be coming to the UK in 2028.
A concept of the Chinese goliath’s square-jawed, flagship 4x4 was unveiled last year at the 2025 Shanghai Motor Show. As promised, the production version is almost identical, and as a result bears far more than a passing resemblance to those iconic all-terrain conquerors, plus others such as the Ford Bronco.
This car could be the illegitimate lovechild of the Land Cruiser and Defender, with its blocky, squared-off shape, which is a result of the bluff front and vertical rear ends, plus the big robust-looking bumper, tall roofline and bulging wheelarches. Even the design of the glasshouse is similar to the Toyota’s, while the round headlamps are obviously inspired by Land Rover’s.
However, to make up for the lack of originality in the design, the Battleship features a cutting-edge, tri-motor plug-in hybrid powertrain that should not only provide enormous grunt but may also use AI to determine how best to handle the tough terrain it’s up against.
Geely Galaxy Battleship 700 design inspiration
Speaking to Auto Express, Flavien Dachet – head of Geely’s design studio and the man who led the design of the concept model – acknowledged the parallels between Geely’s 4x4s and the ones we know and love: “There was, of course, some inspiration [from iconic 4x4s]. But if you look at classic off-roaders, they always follow the same recipe.
“Whether you’re looking at the Defender, [Mercedes] G-Wagen, Bronco, the classics, the codes are the same. So it’s a matter of how we interpret it in a way that is recognisable.”
Dachet also pointed out that no Chinese car brand has any off-road heritage of its own to draw from, so “they always look up to some of those international icons, to learn from them and generate their own, and add their own take on it”.
The designers wanted something that “looks muscular, but without being too aggressive. It looks tough, but it doesn’t look like it would be dangerous to your family. It was about finding the right compromise between something that is reassuring, and also looks powerful”.
The 3D daytime running lights that give the car its angry expression were almost certainly influenced by those on the new-age Defender – which you can currently save more than nearly £4,000 on with the Auto Express Buy A Car service – but Dachet says they were also inspired by the dancing dragons in Chinese culture.
Interior, technology and tri-motor powertrain
Geely has only released one image of the Battleship’s interior so far, revealing an array of physical switches for what appears to be various off-road functions such as locking differentials. There’s also a Lamborghini Urus-style ‘control island’ with the huge gear selector lever flanked by separate dials, most likely for the drive modes.
Dachet promised on the whole the Battleship’s interior will be more comfortable and premium-feeling than the cabin of the Defender, which the design boss described as “quite simple”.
Technical details remain under wraps for now as well, but we understand that the Battleship sits on the latest version of Geely’s SEA platform. This is already used by the Lotus Eletre and Zeekr 9X, and features a plug-in hybrid powertrain with three electric motors providing four-wheel drive.
The Zeekr is also available with three motors, which it pairs with a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and a 70kWh battery pack that provides nearly 200 miles of pure-electric driving. Meanwhile, a 900-volt architecture allows for ultra-rapid charging.
If the Geely gets the same set-up, it could produce the same 1,381bhp total output, which would make it more than twice as powerful as the almighty Defender OCTA.
Geely is proudly highlighting that the Battleship will utilise AI, most likely in the same way the concept did, which was to determine whether its plug-in hybrid powertrain should be in electric, range-extender or hybrid mode, based on the terrain it’s up against. The car’s platform can utilise other cutting-edge technology including steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire, plus four-wheel steering,
The company apparently has had to push its new architecture to its limits to give the 4x4 the off-road capabilities customers expect, “raising the ground clearance as much as we could, getting the biggest wheels we could”.
Prototypes of the Battleship have been tested in various environments, from the bitter cold of northern Sweden to the deserts in China. Dachet tells us he has pictures of them jumping in the dunes, where they’ve exceeded expectations when it comes to handling difficult terrain. The concept had a wading depth of 800mm (not far off the 900mm the equivalent Defender 110 can reach), and we assume the road-going version can match that too.
First of new 4x4 model range
Auto Express has confirmed the Geely Galaxy Battleship will be coming to the UK in 2028, although we don’t yet know if it will wear that not-so-subtle name over here.
Whatever it’s called in the UK, the hulking hybrid 4x4 will be Geely’s first foray into the world of off-roaders, but potentially not the only one. Dachet told us: “It’s opening doors to potentially more products that could be launched in the off-road space, so it’s the first of hopefully many more to come.”
Geely is already exploring some ideas for other off-road models, but whether or not they are taken forward will depend on the reaction to the Battleship. “This may be the start of something very cool,” Dachet hinted. “If the response is positive, we have a lot more coming. So it really will depend on how the public responds to it.”
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