4. Geely’s Zeekr is just 2 years old, but it already has international ambitions
Zeekr
Zeekr is an electric vehicle brand under the privately held Chinese auto giant Geely — which bought the Swedish brand Volvo in 2010.
Founded only in 2021, Zeeker already has international ambitions.
In April this year, Zeekr said it plans to sell its newly launched SUV-style Zeekr X and Zeekr 001 EV sedan in Western Europe, Reuters reported. The EV maker did not indicate a timeline for its plans.
The $27,000 Zeekr X even has facial recognition software to unlock the car and owners can also opt to install a refrigerator in the car, Andy An, the CEO of Zeekr, said at an event, Reuters further reported.
The company aims to deliver 40,000 Zeekr X cars to the China market this year, with its first domestic deliveries starting in June, An said per Reuters.
And even though Zeekr is backed by a major auto player, it still trails its EV peers in the domestic Chinese markets.
Zeekr sold just 15,234 of its existing models in the first quarter of 2023 — this is half of the 31,000 vehicles Nio sold and just 10{1652eb1ffa4184925f6a63a9c04ea6b421acb7a78117241e7d4325cdca8339fa} of what Tesla sold in the same period, per Reuters.