Geely Binrui update shown with ‘F-Type Sport’ variant

About two and a half years on from its initial appearance, the Geely Binrui has now been revealed in a sportier exterior. The C-segment sedan is denoted for its sportier slant here by ‘F’ badging on its grille, and is said to be an ‘F-Type Sport’ variant, according to various reports.

As before, the Binrui is built on Geely’s B-Segment Modular Architecture (BMA) platform, and the F-Type Sport appears to have surfaced with changes that also come as part of a set of updates to the base Binrui model. Visual updates here include a honeycomb grille and lower intakes that replace the concentric and slatted items of the outgoing style, respectively, while the front bumper corners trading intakes for revised sculpting and chrome brightwork.

The sportier, F-badged variant is distinguished by a black finish for its honeycomb grille, lower front bumper intake, bumper trim, rear spoiler and diffuser trim, window trim and side mirror covers, along with a set of darkened, double-five-spoke alloys.

Geely Binrui ‘F-Type Sport’ variant

This update sees the Binrui drop the 1.0 litre power unit from its line-up, leaving the 1.4 litre turbo petrol inline-four that has been revised and now produces 141 PS and 235 Nm of torque, mated to a CVT as the sole gearbox option, according to FormaCar. At the sedan’s pre-update debut in 2018, the 1.4 litre engine was rated for 131 hp and 215 Nm of torque.

Inside, the 2021 Binrui’s floating infotainment unit appears to be carried over from the outgoing model, here depicted with carbon-fibre-look dashboard trim in place of the previous metal-look finish. The dashboard layout appears to be carried over, with the air-conditioning vents situated in a curved housing above the display.

The Binrui’s C-segment positioning makes it a probable candidate in providing a basis for a future Proton Preve replacement. Though Proton has not explicitly named the car as such, a new sedan model is expected from the national carmaker in 2021.

Beyond the updated 1.4 litre engine that features in the 2021 Binrui, the BMA platform used here can also accommodate other powerplants from the brand, including the 1.5 litre turbo three-cylinder and seven-speed DCT in the Proton X50, which in turn is the same pairing as the base engine in the Volvo XC40 Recharge T5 PHEV. Which will it be for the next C-segment Proton? We’ll find out soon.