GEELY Auto Group (Geely Auto) this week announced the formation of a new company, Zeekr Company Limited, which will be a new premium electric vehicle brand. This news comes as a surprise to the motoring world as Geely already has premium brands in their portfolio.
Geely wants this new electric vehicle (EV) brand to compete head on with Tesla in China as Tesla’s dominance in the Chinese market is growing very fast and Geely wants a larger slice of Elon’s market dominance.
Geely already owns Volvo Cars which is moving to an all electric range of vehicles (Recharge) in the coming years, and Volvo is a premium name. Geely also has electric car brand Polestar, which is producing sleek premium looking EV’s.
For sports car lovers, Geely owns Lotus Cars and has the Lotus Evija hyper-electric car ready for sale very soon with more full electric models in the pipeline.
Then there is Lynk & Co which has shown some rather good looking family vehicles that are also on ‘subscription’ or lease in selected European cities.
It looks like Geely is creating brand names with shared platforms and engineering to keep electric car buyers from going to rival showrooms.
The first Zeekr vehicles are expected to be delivered in the third quarter of 2021, with production being undertaken by parent company Geely Holding under a light asset strategy. Zeekr aims to deliver a new electric vehicle to market each year in the coming five years.
The Chinese name of Zeeker has been confirmed as Ji Ke.
Under the plans, Zeekr will use Geely Holding Group’s leading Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) and will include its own battery technologies, battery management systems, electric motor technologies and electric vehicle supply chain support. By utilizing SEA technologies, Zeekr vehicles will be able to offer software upgrades throughout the lifetime of every vehicle through Over the Air Upgrades as well as offering an unrivaled luxury vehicle experience in terms of comfort and performance.
Zeekr will become the latest electrification initiative within the wider Geely Holding Group, in which other companies such as Volvo have recently announced ambitious zero-emission strategies. Other electrified vehicle brands within Geely Holding, including Lynk & Co, Polestar, LEVC, Geometry and Lotus Cars are also continuing to expand in different market segments, providing consumers with a wide range of electrified products and unique business offerings.
The initial market strategy for Zeekr will be focused on the Chinese market as part of Geely but will also explore export opportunities to satisfy global market demand for premium electric vehicles.
Zeekr is part of Geely Holding’s accelerating adoption of sustainable transport technology and mobility services under which the Group has adopted an aggressive plan to electrify all of its subsidiary brands in due course. – The Vibes, March 25, 2021
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