Head to Head: Geely Emgrand vs Nissan Almera

The Geely Emgrand and the Nissan Almera are two of the newer entries in the subcompact sedan segment that are ready to take on the established players. The Almera was dormant for a while in the market, but it was brought back with a vengeance sporting the brand’s latest tech and a new turbocharged engine. The Emgrand, on the other hand, is building on the momentum of Geely in the Philippines as its first locally available sedan as the brand slowly expands its reach in the country. 

With these vehicles being key players for both automakers in the subcompact sedan segment and with both of them having close price points, we couldn't resist pitting them against each other spec for spec to see which one will come out on top and see which one will give you the better value for money proposition.

When it comes to their exterior features, both vehicles are on par with each other especially when it comes to the LED lighting department. While the exterior looks of a car are subjective for every person, we can’t deny the fact that the Geely Emgrand is the bigger of the two vehicles. It measures 4,638 mm long, 1,822 mm wide, and stands 1,460 mm tall. This makes it longer than the Almera by 103mm and wider by 82mm. This extra space accounts for interior room for passengers inside the Emgrand. One thing to note is that the Emgrand has a lower ground clearance compared to the Almera which can be a point of contention for buyers who need that extra clearance.

As the Emgrand has the bigger dimensions, it gets the win for this first category of the comparison. 

Winner: Geely Emgrand

Once you get inside the Geely Emgrand you are met with a low dashboard and floating infotainment system. Soft-touch materials are present inside the cabin along with a unique white and blue color scheme for its Premium variant. You get a T-shaped shifter at the center along with a long center console giving you a great amount of space to put your arm down. It also comes with straightforward controls for the climate controls along with storage spaces under the dashboard.

In the case of the Nissan Almera, it comes with a much higher set dashboard with the infotainment system found in the middle. Like its Geely rival, it too sports a two-tone interior with beige and black being the primary colors. Its climate controls are straightforward to use. However, for much larger passengers, the Almera can feel a little bit claustrophobic as interior space can be limiting as the vehicle is narrower than its Emgrand counterpart. 

That being said, for this category, we give the win to the Geely Emgrand as it comes with more interior space and a unique color combination that helps brighten up the cabin. It also helps that the Emgrand comes with more trunk space at 500 liters versus the 475 liters that are available in the Almera.

Winner: Geely Emgrand

In terms of technology, there is a clear split between these two sedans. The Geely Coolray comes with an 8-inch infotainment system that also controls the sunroof, while the Nissan Almera also gets an 8-inch system as well but it comes with Apple CarPlay. It is important to note that the Emgrand does come with a wireless screen mirroring application but this is a third-party app that isn’t integrated with the iOS and Android operating systems. The Nissan Almera, on the other hand, comes with more advanced features such as access to the automaker’s Intelligent Mobility Suite that comes with an intelligent around-view monitor, intelligent forward collision warning, intelligent emergency braking, and hill start assist. All together these features give the sedan an edge over its competitors.

For this category, we give the Nissan Almera the win as it comes with more tech than its Geely sedan rival. 

Winner: Nissan Almera

As far as safety features are concerned, both the Geely Emgrand and Nissan Almera have similar specifications. Both vehicles come with front airbags for the driver and passenger, side airbags, curtain airbags, and come with the standard complement of ABS with EBD. However, as previously mentioned the Almera does come with the Nissan Intelligent Mobility Suite which gives it more active and passive safety features. 

For this category, the win goes to the Nissan Almera as it comes with better safety features.

Winner: Nissan Almera

Under the hood is where these two sedans differ greatly. The Geely Emgrand comes with a 1.5-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder gasoline engine mated to a CVT, while the Nissan Almera comes with a 1.0-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine that is also mated to a CVT. The Geely sedan makes 102 hp and 142 Nm of torque, while the Nissan sedan makes 99 hp and 152 Nm of torque. Deciding between the two becomes a complicated task as the Nissan Almera has a much smaller gas tank at 35 liters versus the 50 liters that is available with the Geely Emgrand. 

As for their driveability, the Nissan sedan gives you more usable torque earlier thanks to its turbocharged. This gives the vehicle a peppier drive and a quicker off-the-line performance despite the CVT. With that said, this category is a tie as both vehicles come with their own unique use cases for their powerplants. 

Winner: Tie

Pricing is where both vehicles are at odds with each other. The bigger Geely Emgrand actually costs less at P908,000 for its top-of-the-line model, while Nissan Almera is priced at P1,098,000. This represents a P190,000 difference between the two cars making choosing between both a harder choice. 

Ultimately this boils down to your personal preference, if you need to strictly adhere to a budget of below P1,000,000 then the Emgrand is your best bet. However, if you are willing to spend a little more money then the Almera is also a good choice. With that said, we will give the win for this category to the Emgrand as it is the more affordable option out of the two.

Here is the thing, the Emgrand is a great naturally aspirated city car that is big on space and is affordable as well. Its feature set is decent and is one of the only vehicles in its class that comes with a sunroof. Its engine may not be the most powerful out there but it's a balanced powerplant that also helps you save on fuel thanks to the CVT.

In the case of the Nissan Almera, it's a smaller car that will cost you more. However, this difference in price is justified by the amount of tech that it brings to the table along with the 1.0-liter turbo motor that it has. It may only have 35-liters of fuel capacity, but its motor is frugal enough to give you great fuel efficiency figures while not in boost thanks to the CVT. It comes with more usable torque which drivers will appreciate in the city and on twisty roads.

That being said, we award the winner of this comparison to the Geely Emgrand as it gives you more for a lot less in terms of price. We can’t deny the strong turbocharged motor that the Almera has along with its advanced set of safety features.

However, as far as pricing is concerned, the Emgrand is the better deal out of the two since it costs less and can easily fit within those who only have P1,000,000 to spend on a car. If your budget can reach the P1.1million peso mark then the Almera is the better one to get. Either way, you can't go wrong with any of these two vehicles.

Overall winner: Geely Emgrand