Geely Auto's premium EV brand Zeekr reportedly plans to enter select European markets in 2023, with an official announcement to be made at the end of this month.
Zeekr CEO An Conghui, who is also president of Geely Holding and chairman of Geely Auto, confirmed the plans at the Chinese launch of the new Zeekr 009 electric minivan last week.
Geely plans to make Zeekr a global brand, and Europe will be the first step in that direction. An said the EV brand will make its plans official and announce more details about its European strategy at the end of November. The executive confirmed Zeekr will start selling the 001 liftback in select European markets next year.
According to sources at Geely's headquarters in Hangzhou cited by Autocar, Zeekr also plans to sell a new four-door sedan and midsize SUV in Europe, both engineered to meet European safety regulations. Two other Zeekr models will reportedly follow in 2024, but there's no information about them at the moment. The EV brand previously said it plans to extend its Chinese lineup to at least six models within the next two years.
Gallery: Zeekr 001
Zeekr has not revealed which European markets it is planning to enter or whether it considers offering right-hand-drive versions of the its models for the UK market and other right-hand-drive markets in Europe.
Parent company Geely seeks to spin off and list Zeekr as an independent company. On October 31, Geely Holding proposed to list Zeekr on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and the proposal has been accepted. Details of the timing have not yet been confirmed, though.
Launched in 2021, Zeekr had a single model on sale before the launch of the 009 minivan—the 001 liftback. The brand recorded 10,109 sales of the $41,000 EV in China in October, a record result for the nameplate and the company so far. According to its CEO, Zeekr remains on track to hit 70,000 sales this year. He also said the brand maintains an earlier target of selling up to 650,000 vehicles per year by 2025.
Zeekr is one of several brands controlled by Geely Holding and Geely Auto, including Volvo Cars, Polestar, Lotus, Lynk&Co, Geometry, Proton, LEVC and more. Geely also controls 50 percent of Smart and is a minority stakeholder in Aston Martin and Mercedes-Benz.
