Geely-owned Zeekr premium EV brand set for EU entry in 2023

Geely-owned premium electric vehicles (EV) brand Zeekr is reportedly set to enter the European market starting next year in 2023. It joins a growing list of Chinese-owned EV brands that seek to launch or expand their sales in the European Union (EU) alongside other names such as BYD, Xpeng and Great Wall Motors (GWM).

If you’ve never heard of the Zeekr brand before, here’s a quick history of it: The brand was established last year in China by parent company Geely. It’s positioned as the group’s other premium brand next to Volvo.

Zeekr 001.

For its foray into the EU, Zeekr is expected to kick things off with its striking and sharply designed 001 model unveiled last year. Though it’s built for sale primarily in China for now, Zeekr’s CEO An Conghui points out that the model conceived from the beginning to meet both EU and American standards in mind.

The Zeekr 001 underpins the Geely group’s Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) platform, which it shares with a number of other offerings sold by Geely-owned brands such as the Smart #1, as well as the recently unveiled Lotus Eletre 'hyper-SUV'. With this platform, Geely touts it to be superior over the rivalling Tesla by offerings more space greater NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) suppression levels.

Zeekr launched its 001 in China in late last year and sales for which has skyrocketed, hitting a total 39,474 units in just the first nine months. In the Chinese market, the Zeekr 001 carries a price tag that equates to US$41,000 – just US$1,000 more over the Tesla Model Y, of which 219,112 units were sold in the same nine-month period. For the EU, the model’s price remains unannounced at the time of writing.

Zeekr 009.

Besides this, Zeekr also debuted a new electric luxury MPV earlier this week with much fanfare. Dubbed as the Zeekr 009, this premium family-mover packs a dual-motor setup, all-wheel-drive, air suspension, as well as massage seats present in its spacious cabin.

Additionally, Zeekr also touts the 009 as the safest minivan in the world thanks to the 30 driver assistant functions primed as standard. This posh electric luxo-MPV is also equipped with 12 short-range ultrasonic radars, one ultra-long-range wave radar, four 2MP surround view cameras, and seven 8 MP HD cameras.

Besides its striking looks and electric powertrian, the high levels of luxury and tech incorporated into both the 001 and 009 could hold strong appeal amongst consumers in the EU. Could the Zeekr brand be the next big Chinese auto brand to leave a sizeable marque in the EU market in 2023? Only time would tell…