Zeekr X to be priced below $60K as newcomer Chinese brand thinks big

Zeekr has opened the Australian order books on its first electric car as it looks to carve itself a slice of the EV market.

The newcomer Chinese brand has promised a sub-$60,000 starting price for the Zeekr X compact SUV that has performance and tech at the heart of its sales pitch.

Deliveries of the Zeekr X will kick off in October 2024, the first of at least three models due by the end of 2025, with the 009 people mover due late 2024 and the 7X mid-sized SUV some time in 2025.

“We are here - this signals the official entry of Zeekr into the Australian market,” says Connal Yan, managing director of Zeekr Australia and New Zealand.

“What really differentiates us is we’ve got a very strong infrastructure, we’ve got a very strong commitment in R and D,” he adds, pointing to the focus on styling, technology, performance and safety.

Zeekr is one of about a dozen new Chinese brands planning to establish themselves on the Australian market, with some already forecasting not all will survive.

But Yan says: “We are here to stay, we are a sustainable business model”.

Part of the Geely Group, Zeekr was only founded in 2021 and now has a footprint spanning more than 30 countries.

The brand won’t outline local sales aspirations except to say it is holding more than 1000 expressions of interest, some of whom have put down deposits before knowing the exact price of the compact five-seat electric SUV.

The Zeekr X – which shares its SEA architecture with the Volvo EX30 and upcoming Smart #3 – will be offered as a single motor Rear-Wheel Drive or better equipped and more powerful dual motor All-Wheel Drive, the latter to be priced below $70,000.

Each comes with a panoramic sunroof, wireless phone charging, over-the-air software updates, powered driver’s seat, digital key and fake leather.

There’s the choice of five colours - white, beige, silver, grey and green - all of which get a contrasting black roof.

The RWD is powered by a 200kW/343Nm electric motor claimed to take it to 100km/h in 5.6 seconds.

A 66kWh battery provides a claimed 540km of range when using the Australian Design Rule measurement; the more realistic WLTP standard drops that to more like 450km.

There’s also an optional Convenience pack that adds memory function for the driver’s seat, a power adjustable front passenger seat, heated steering wheel, heated and ventilated front seats, ambient lighting and a 13-speaker Yamaha sound system.

That Convenience pack comes standard on the AWD, which also gets 20-inch wheels, a head-up display and 20-inch alloy wheels.

The 20-inch Continental tyres also have an innovative self-repairing system that can heal minor punctures.

The Zeekr X AWD also gets an Intelligent B-Pillar Display. It’s a small circular screen incorporated in the driver’s door pillar to give basic information about charging and the vehicle status; it can inform those outside of the charging level, for example, and even display two dog paws to signify it’s running the air-conditioning as part of the Tesla-inspired pet mode.

Another Tesla-esque feature is Sentry mode, which can record other vehicles or people touching or damaging the car when parked.

Zeekr isn’t talking sales figures for now, instead saying it will “let the market decide”.

Local executives insist the focus is not on raw sales numbers but on establishing the brand and “delivering the ultimate mobility experience” and trying to carve a slice of the EV market that’s about to get a fresh injection of new brands.

”We’re not really directly competing with anyone. With Zeekr we are more adopting the attitude that we want everyone to do well, we want to learn from the established players,” said the executive.

Rather than an agency sales model favoured by some new arrivals – whereby prices are fixed and the purchase is made directly with head office rather than a dealer – Zeekr has opted for a more traditional franchise dealer set-up in Australia.

Zeekr will kick off with about nine dealer locations and first deliveries in October 2024 as part of a partnership with Sydney SXSW.

Zeekr will cover its cars with a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty. The high voltage battery pack is covered by a separate eight-year, 160,000km warranty.

Servicing is required every two years or 40,000km.

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