Zeekr Vehicles

Zeekr Intelligent Technology Holding Limited, trading as Zeekr Group (), is a Chinese automobile company. It is majority owned by Geely Automobile Holdings, and publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Zeekr was founded in 2021 as a single brand specializing in premium electric cars. Since February 2025, the entity has become a holding company known as Zeekr Group consisting of two brands following the acquisition of Lynk & Co, another brand under Geely Holding.

The name of the brand is made up of "ZE" which stands for Zero, the starting point of infinite possibilities, E which stands for Evolving the Electric Era, and Kr which stands for the element Krypton, a rare gas that emits light when electrified.

History

Zeekr was founded in March 2021 as a premium electric mobility brand for battery-powered vehicles by the Geely Group to compete against Nio and Tesla, among others. Its first model, the Zeekr 001 was officially launched in April 2021. The Zeekr models are to be based on the SEA platform presented in autumn 2020. Zeekr started delivering the 001 model in October 2021 a vehicle originally planned to be launched by sister brand Lynk & Co. In 2022, Zeekr delivered 71,941 Zeekr 001 to customers across more than 330 cities in China. Its subsidiary Zeekr Power covers more than 110 cities with over 660 stations.

Zeekr developed Waymo's autonomous robotaxi. In December 2021, Geely announced that Zeekr would be collaborating with Waymo to develop and provide all-electric, autonomous ride-hailing vehicle for the Waymo One autonomous mobility service in the United States. The vehicle integrated with Waymo's technology was unveiled in Los Angeles in November 2022.

In January 2022, a cooperation between Zeekr and Mobileye was announced to expand their strategic technology partnership with a goal to deliver the world's first consumer autonomous vehicles with L4 capabilities by 2024.

In August 2022, Zeekr announced their cooperation with CATL, making them the first brand to use CATL's Qilin long range batteries for global mass production. The Zeekr 001 will be the first model to use the new batteries, enabling them to have a pure electric range exceeding .

Zeekr raised in its first external fundraising from five investors including Intel Capital, CATL, Bilibili in August 2021. On February 13, 2023, Zeekr is valued at after it raised from five investors. In May 2024, Zeekr filed its initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange. Zeekr raised around , making it the largest IPO of a Chinese company since 2021.

In August 2024, Zeekr has faced criticism for launching the 2025 model year of the Zeekr 001 in China just six months after releasing the previous version in February 2024. It led to protests among customers who recently purchased the earlier model, as their vehicles have quickly been superseded by a newer version. The 2024 model came equipped with Mobileye chips, which cannot be upgraded to the new Haohan Intelligent Driving 2.0 system from the 2025 model. In response, Zhejiang Geely Holding President and Zeekr CEO An Conghui (Andy An) acknowledged the issue, admitting that the company could have better communicated its product release plans.

Restructuring and privatization

In November 2024, the equity structures of Geely Auto, Zeekr, and Lynk & Co were modified in line with Geely Holding Group's restructuring strategy. Geely Holding Group transferred its 11.3% stake in Zeekr Intelligent Technology (Zeekr) to Geely Automobile Holdings (Geely Auto). As a result, Geely Auto's shareholding in Zeekr increased to 62.8%. Zeekr subsequently announced its acquisition of a 20% stake in Lynk & Co from Geely Auto for 3.6 billion yuan, along with Volvo Cars’ 30% stake in Lynk & Co for 5.4 billion yuan. This transaction raised Zeekr’s ownership in Lynk & Co to 51%, while the remaining 49% continues to be held by Geely Auto.

In December 2024, Lin Jinwen, vice president of Zeekr Intelligent Technology, stated on Chinese social media Weibo that following the integration of Zeekr and Lynk & Co, the company entity "Zhejiang Zeekr Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd." would remain unchanged but would operate under a new name, "Zeekr Technology Group". On 14 February 2025, Zeekr announced the completion of these transactions, and Lynk & Co became a subsidiary brand under Zeekr Intelligent Technology Holding Limited (Zeekr Group).

On 7 May 2025, Geely Auto announced that it plans to acquire 34.3% share of Zeekr. Zeekr will be delisted after transaction is completed.

On 16 June 2025, Zeekr announced that their 500,000th vehicle rolled off the production line, a 009 Brilliant Edition, 44 months after their first vehicle, the 001, rolled off the production line in October 2021.

Market availability

Zeekr first launched in China and started expanding into Europe. Its first European showroom opened in Stockholm, Sweden in 2023. Sweden, together with the Netherlands, were the first European markets which Zeekr entered in 2023.

In 2024, the brand will expand into Denmark, Germany, France, Norway, Israel, and Australia, and plans to enter the Singapore market by the end of the year. Additionally, the brand will begin constructing showrooms in Japan in the fourth quarter of 2024, with sales and deliveries expected to start in 2025. Zeekr is also set to enter the Brazilian market in September 2024 and is planning to officially launch in South Korea in 2025. Zeekr will also enter the Australian market in 2025.

Facility

In 2023, Zeekr had three R&D facilities in China – Ningbo, Hangzhou, Shanghai as well as Zeekr Technology Europe (previously China Euro Vehicle Technology or CEVT) in Gothenburg, Sweden. Its global design center is also located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Zeekr's European headquarters and sales office were moved from Gothenburg to Amsterdam due to higher concentration of experienced sales professionals.

Zeekr's factory has a manufacturing capacity of up to 300,000 vehicles per year and can be expanded further.

Products

Current Zeekr models

* Zeekr 001 (2021–present), full-size shooting brake, BEV
* Zeekr 007 (2023–present), mid-size sedan, BEV
** Zeekr 007 GT (2025–present), mid-size shooting brake, BEV
* Zeekr 009 (2023–present), full-size MPV, BEV
* Zeekr X (2023–present), subcompact SUV, BEV
* Zeekr 7X (2024–present), mid-size SUV, BEV
* Zeekr 9X (upcoming), full-size SUV, PHEV
* Zeekr Mix (2024–present), compact MPV, BEV

File:2021 Zeekr 001.jpg, Zeekr 001
File:Zeekr 007 006 (cropped).jpg, Zeekr 007
File:Zeekr 007 GT 001.jpg, Zeekr 007 GT
File:Zeekr 009 007.jpg, Zeekr 009
File:2023 Zеekr X (front).jpg, Zeekr X
File:Zeekr 7X 005 (cropped).jpg, Zeekr 7X
File:Zeekr 9X 001.jpg, Zeekr 9X
File:Zeekr Mix 005.jpg, Zeekr Mix

Upcoming models

* Zeekr RT, an autonomous vehicle for Waymo upon which the Mix is based.
* Zeekr 8X, codename "DX1E" (launch Q4 '25), mid-size SUV, BEV & PHEV

Concept models

* Zeekr M-Vision (Waymo Concept) (2021)

M-Vision is built on SEA-M architecture to showcase the architecture's fundamental features such as expansive interior, open seat choice, and placement option, no B-pillar, and robust electrical/electronic (E/E) backbone supporting autonomous drive and connected devices. M-Vision is a base model that can be developed for a range of future mobility products including robotaxis, multi-purpose vehicles, and logistics vehicles.
File:Zeekr Waymo autonomous ride-hailing MPV.jpg, Zeekr M-Vision

Lynk & Co

Lynk & Co () is a brand established in 2016. Before November 2024, it was owned 50% by Geely Auto, 30% by Volvo Cars, and 20% by Geely Holding Group, and currently 51% owned by Zeekr and 49% owned by Geely Auto.
File:Lynk_&_Co_Z10_001.jpg, Lynk & Co Z10
File:Lynk_&_Co_08_EM-P_006.jpg, Lynk & Co 08 EM-P
File:Lynk_&_Co_09_EM-P_001.jpg, Lynk & Co 09 EM-P

Sales

See also

* Zeekr Technology Europe
* Polestar
* Lynk & Co
* Volvo Cars
* Automobile manufacturers and brands of China
* List of automobile manufacturers of China

References

External links

*

{{Automotive industry in China

Geely brands
Car manufacturers of China
Chinese brands
Electric vehicle manufacturers of China
Chinese companies established in 2021
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2021
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
2024 initial public offerings