Zeekr plotting off-road SUV

Aspiring luxury car brand Zeekr is set to launch in Australia later this year and has plans to aggressively grow its EV product portfolio to include a broad range of SUVs, passenger cars, sports cars, and even minivans.

And now you can add a large 4x4 off-road SUV to the list.

That’s the word according to Zeekr’s vice-president of international markets, Mars Chen, who said a vehicle one size larger than the Zeekr 7X mid-size SUV is in development.

“The car is on the way,” he stated but wouldn’t be drawn on whether it’ll be named the Zeekr 9X.

“We haven't declared the name for the car yet,” said Chen.

He implied the vehicle would be three-row capable – think six, seven, or even eight seats – and would have a reasonable towing capacity along with all-terrain capabilities.

“I think [the SUV] definitely needs some off-road [capability]. It depends on how deep or how professional [we decide to go],” he added, hinting that its off-road competence is still being worked on.

“We will have more information I can share with you later, like undergoing all its tests in the mountains and so on,” he noted, suggesting it could be a genuine rock-crusher.

He wouldn’t be drawn on when the big SUV will launch, but given the cadence of the brand’s current offerings, it could be a 2026 proposition.

When asked by carsales about the chances of a similarly-sized off-road pick-up truck, Zeekr’s international chief said it was unlikely.

“It's not in the short term, it's not in the plan yet, but we do have to create some off-road capable models for customers,” he said.

Zeekr’s parent company, Geely, builds the RD6 electric ute under the Radar and Riddara brand names, the latter almost certain to come to Australia following its right-hand drive deployment in Thailand later this year. Just as Zeekr leverages platform architectures of sister brands like the Volvo EX30 and others, it could technically appropriate the Chinese pick-up truck for its own premium electric ute.

However, Zeekr has made no secret that is courting premium car buyers and believes it is a rival to BMW and Audi and Chen questioned whether the buyers of luxury cars really need or want a ute.

“So we are a passenger vehicle company and we know that [Radar] is doing well. Australia really likes nice pick-up trucks, but how do we make a joint [RD6] vehicle?”

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