Zeekr Set To Enter Malaysia After smart?

An official visit by Minister of International Trade & Industry YB Tengku Zafrul to Geely’s facility in China recently has yielded some interesting images and ensuing news.

This visit saw the Minister led a delegation, consisting of representatives from MITI, MIDA, Matrade, DRB-Hicom and national carmaker Proton, to visit the Smart manufacturing plant located in Ningbo City. Whilst there, both the Minister and the delegation sized up the Smart #1 first hand, as well as a few other vehicles.

Amongst the latter were both the Zeekr 001 and the Lotus Eletre. The ensuing Facebook posts by both Tengku Zafrul, as well smart Malaysia, has confirmed at least one of those brands and products will enter the Malaysian market officially.

Firstly, the Zeekr brand’s entry into the Malaysian market was confirmed through a post published by the Smart Malaysia Facebook page that read: “The delegation test-drove various EV models, including the smart #1 and were thoroughly impressed by the premium design and advanced technology of the EV cars from Geely and Zeekr, heightening the anticipation of their arrival to Malaysia, with the smart #1 expected to be the first on the road.”

Though the post somewhat confirms the brand’s incoming entry into Malaysia, it doesn’t specify exactly when or how this will take place. Based on plans detailed during its first official announcement, the smart brand is set to charge up in Malaysia around the third quarter (Q3) of this year, and it seems Geely may apply a similar approach with time comes to introduce Zeekr officially into Malaysia.

Debuting in March last year, Zeekr stands as a premium EV brand that operates separately from Geely’s mainstream EV brand Geometry. Entry into Malaysia is set to happen around the same time or just after the brand’s initially announced bid to enter the European market this year. Additionally, Zeekr’s latest offering, called the Zeekr X, underpins the same SEA (Scalable Electric Platform) chassis as the smart #1.

Besides Zeekr, it appears YB Tengku Zafrul was also given the opportunity to sample the upcoming new Lotus Eletre EV SUV model. Though this was not mentioned, we can clearly see the Lotus steering wheel emblem in the image above. Neither the minister nor Geely commented on this, but the fact that the Minister test-drove a right-hand-drive (RHD) version is a very telling sign indeed.