Zeekr targets growing to among Europe’s top three premium electric-vehicle brands by the end of this decade as the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. unit starts to expand outside China.
(Bloomberg) — Zeekr targets growing to among Europe’s top three premium electric-vehicle brands by the end of this decade as the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. unit starts to expand outside China.
The company said it’s now accepting preorders for its flagship Zeekr 001 crossover and a smaller sport utility vehicle, the Zeekr X, in Sweden and the Netherlands. The plan is to expand to more markets in the coming years, with the ambition to cover the bulk of western Europe by 2026.
In Sweden, the Zeekr 001 starts at 677,000 kronar ($62,838), with the Zeekr X costing from 550,000 kronar.
“Our intention is to by the end of the decade be on the podium for pure play premium EV makers,” Spiros Fotinos, who heads the brand’s European business, said in an interview. He named Tesla, Polestar, Nio and XPeng as competitors.
Geely, founded by billionaire Li Shufu, launched the all-electric Zeekr premium brand in 2021 and last year sold 71,000 vehicles in China. The company confidentially filed for a possible initial public offering in the US last year and in February said it raised $750 million from investors including battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. at a valuation of $13 billion.
An IPO “is something we’re looking at,” Fotinos said. “With any IPO — it needs to be done right. And that’s what we’re working on right now.”
Zeekr has a design and research center in Gothenburg and is setting up its European headquarters in the Netherlands. Fotinos said the company is considering expanding to other geographies and won’t exclude entering the US market.
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