Geely Zeekr 2022.

Geely Zeekr 2022.

Geely Zeekr 2022.

Zeekr plans: the new premium brand Geely is preparing new products for Europe and the U.S.

The company has only one model — the electric liftback 001, but as with all newly minted Chinese brands it has ambitious plans to launch in the US through 2025.

The electric car brand Zeekr was created as a competitor to Tesla, but with a level of perception of quality, comfort and luxury like Mercedes-Benz — a very ambitious statement considering that Geely has Chinese brands Lynk & Co and Geometry, Swedish Volvo and Polestar, British Lotus and LEVC in its backbone besides Geely itself.

The Swedish Volvo and Polestar seem to be quite ready to compete with Mercedes-Benz and Tesla, but the Chinese holding needed its own, homegrown premium brand, which, however, very soon will become global.

Production of the first Zeekr model — the electric liftback 001, which was originally developed for the Lynk & Co brand — started last October.

The 001, like all future Zeekr models, is based on the SEA (Sustainable Experience Architecture) open-source modular platform, which means the platform is planned to be sold to third-party companies.

Geely Zeekr 2022.

The Zeekr 001 is a rather expensive and well-equipped model with a design in the spirit of Porsche Panamera and Taycan Cross Turismo, so it is unlikely to become an engine of the brand’s sales.

Only 6007 Zeekr 001 were sold in China for not full last three months of the last year — a drop in the ocean by the standards of the largest market of a planet.

Geely Zeekr 2022.

The sales plan for 2022 is 70,000 cars, and it is only in China.

In early 2023, Zeekr plans to enter the European market, while the date of entry into the U.S. market is more vaguely defined — «after 2022».

By 2025, Zeekr wants to sell 650,000 cars a year, of which 100,000 will be exported and its product line will expand to seven models.

Geely Zeekr 2022.

It is not yet known what these models will be, but there is no doubt that most of them will be crossovers.

The autonomous shuttle without steering wheel and pedals presented at the end of last year, developed by Zeekr together with Waymo, an unmanned division of the American IT giant Google, stands apart — its commercial prospects are still vague, as it is unclear where, when and under what conditions the SAE level 5 drone cars will be legalized on public roads.

Geely Zeekr 2022.

Meanwhile, in early January, Zeekr announced a strategic partnership with Israeli technology company Mobileye (engaged in the development of autonomous driving systems) to introduce a Level 4 drone in 2024 — another overly optimistic statement, as there are slightly fewer problems with legalizing Level 4 drones than with legalizing Level 5.

We should add that Zeekr has no plans to enter the Russian market yet, but it is never too late to change its mind, especially since the Russian government last year set a course to create its own production of electric cars in the country and the «open» Chinese SEA platform may be in demand on this difficult path.

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