Who will buy a Zeekr?

Zeekr is an ambitious new EV-only brand from China that is launching in several export markets – including Australia in the fourth quarter of this year – and it has one mission: to upset the status quo in the premium car segment.

The upstart luxury auto brand from the Middle Kingdom is aiming high from the outset, explicitly targeting Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz with unique exterior designs, opulent cabin fit-outs and advanced technologies.

We asked Zeekr’s vice-president of international markets, Mars Chen, what kind of customers the Chinese challenger brand – one of several Geely Auto marques already here or coming Down Under soon, including Geely itself – hopes to target in Australia and his response was unequivocal.

“Our target is to convert the traditional premium segment customers,” he stated.

“If Geely is Volkswagen, then at least we need to be Audi.

“In China, we have customer data that shows most Zeekr customers have been driving ‘ABB’ cars previously, what we call Audi, BMW, Benz. So the premium segment is what we are targeting.”

But this will be easier said than done and will require more than just striking designs, massaging leather seats and all of the latest driver aids.

Many Asian luxury brands have tried to take on the German troika in the past – some successfully, such as Lexus, although it’s taken Toyota’s premium division 25 years – while others have failed miserably.

Think Nissan’s luxury brand, Infiniti.

Hyundai’s premium brand, Genesis, is faring better with a range of medium and large sedans and SUVs and a small electric SUV sold via a limited retail network.

But its sales are down almost 20 per cent this year and, even with the backing of Korea’s biggest car-maker, it still doesn’t have significant cut-through in Australia’s luxury auto landscape.

Zeekr has developed some impressive technologies for its EVs, such as 600kW charging capacity that can add around 500km of range in just 10 minutes using an ultra-fast charger.

How Zeekr will position its vehicles in Australia relative to equivalent models from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz remains to be seen, but they’re almost certain to offer a higher level of standard equipment and value, even if they won’t come cheap.

Zeekr will be among the first of several largely unfamiliar Chinese auto brands to launch in Australia by the end of 2025 and it’s expected to open dealerships in several capital cities ahead of the brand’s local launch in October 2024.

It will initially release a small electric SUV and a large electric people-mover by the end of this year, followed by at least one new model annually from 2025 – and all of them will need to go above and beyond to attract rusted-on German car buyers.

The Zeekr X will be the first model to launch by October and the small electric SUV is expected to ignite the most interest as it challenges the BMW iX1, Mercedes-Benz EQA and Volvo EX30, with which it shares its underpinnings.

The Zeekr 009 is due about a month later in November. It’s being touted as the world’s fastest, most luxurious and safest people-mover and should give prospective Lexus LM buyers pause for thought.

Following those two launch vehicles, the Zeekr 7X mid-size SUV is due to arrive Down Under ‘sometime’ in 2025.

It will compete with the Audi Q4, BMW iX3, Mercedes-Benz EQB, the upcoming Porsche Macan EV and Australia’s top-selling EV, the Tesla Model Y, as well as the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Kia EV6 and traditional medium luxury SUVs like the Q5, X3, GLC and Lexus NX.

The pioneering Zeekr 001 shooting brake is a Porsche Panamera rival, while the Zeekr 007 is a mid-size sedan similar in size to the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Tesla Model 3, but neither has been confirmed for Australia at this stage.

However, Zeekr’s export chief said there was no reason stopping the company from building right-hand drive versions of the sporty 001 and 007 if there is customer demand.

Chen said big sales volumes and ambitious market share targets are not a priority, at least not initially.

“For us we are a customer-centric company – we don't care that much about ranking. We care more about the acceptance and recognition from the customer.

“No doubt in any country [the headline] number is the market share, but in this moment for us we must be proud and humble. We are proud of our product, we are humble with our customer,” he said.

Zeekr Australia and New Zealand’s head of marketing, Andrew Haurissa, expounded on Chen’s comments, saying: “Ultimately we’re a commercial business but at the same time, as a premium player, you need to focus on what is premium and that encompasses not just the early stages of the buying journey, it’s also during and after.

“So that’s where we need to excel because if we do well there, we believe that our brand can gain momentum,” said Haurissa.

Zeekr has only been building cars since 2021 and is truly a newcomer to the auto industry in every sense. But it has an ace up its sleeve that few other Chinese car-makers possess – close European relations in sister brands Volvo and Polestar.

Convincing well-heeled customers that its cars are genuine luxury items will be helped by the fact they are based on the same dedicated-EV platform architecture (SEA) as its well-established Swedish-engineered siblings, which may create a halo effect for Zeekr.

The Hangzhou-based company’s design studio is located in Gothenburg, Sweden – not in mainland China – providing another indication of the type of buyer the company wants to target and how.

Indeed, Chen noted that Zeekr could even outsell Audi one day, saying: “That could happen in the future, because it’s a very long journey.”

But he also cautioned that Zeekr must remain respectful of the badge value established by the likes of Audi, Benz, BMW and others over many decades.

“First of all, to those [German] brands we have to show our respect. They have been in this industry for more than a century.

“And second, in the end, I believe the ICE [internal combustion engine] will still be there in future,” he observed, acknowledging that being an EV-only brand could reduce its target audience.

Stay tuned for more Zeekr news as the brand nears its local launch. And for the record, Zeekr stands for Zero Emission Evolving Krypton – the latter being a rare gas that can emit light when electrified.

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