SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Zhejiang Geely Holding Group’s premium electric car business plans to sell the first electric vehicle produced under the Zeekr brand in Europe next year, the Zeekr CEO said.
Zeekr joins a growing list of Chinese automakers looking to launch or expand electric vehicle sales in Europe next year, including BYD, Xpeng and Great Wall Motors.
Geely, owner of Volvo, Polestar and investor in Mercedes Benz, launched Zeekr in 2021 as a premium brand aimed at young customers.
Geely Automobile, the publicly traded unit of Geely, said earlier this week that it planned to spin off from Zeekr and launch the business.
An Conghui, CEO of Zeekr and Chairman of Geely, told reporters at a roundtable on Tuesday in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, that Geely created Zeekr with the aim of meeting standards in Europe and the United States from the outset. United States.
An said Geely will release its 001 electric crossover in Europe next year. He did not give a sales target or discuss whether Zeekr might consider overseas production.
Geely provided a transcript of An’s remarks on Wednesday.
Zeekr launched the 001 in China at the end of 2021. Its sales reached 39,474 units in the first nine months, while Tesla sold 219,112 Model Y crossovers in China during the same period, according to the China Passenger Car Association.
The base model Zeekr 001 sells for the equivalent of $41,000 in China compared to $40,000 for the Tesla Model Y after a recent price drop. Zeekr has not announced pricing for overseas markets.
(Reporting by Zhang Yan, Brenda Goh. Editing by Jane Merriman)
