A small, all-electric sport utility vehicle was introduced by Chinese automaker Zeekr on Wednesday in CHENGDU, China( Reuters ) in an effort to tap into a large market in China that had previously been dominated by European manufacturers.
Without specifying when that would be, the Geely-owned company announced that it also intended to offer the SUV-styled Zeekr X as well as its ZEEr 01 Vehicle sedan in Western Europe.
According to Chief Executive Andy An, the Zeekr X has features like facial recognition to unlock the car and an option for an in-vehicle refrigerator and a starting price of 189, 800 yuan($ 27, 615.31 ) in China.
With a goal of delivering 40, 000 units this years, the industry will begin shipping the Zeekr X in China in June, according to An.
Prior to the Auto Shanghai show, which is expected to take place from April 18 to 27, automakers like the Chinese brand Nio( NYSENIO ) and Germany's's BMW are anticipated to display their newest models. Zeekr held an event to introduce the new model.
Zeekr promised to go into more detail about its plan for outside sales at that time. Zeekr will target Eastern markets outside of China after Europe, An said without offering any specifics.
The self-driving technology unit Waymo from Alphabet( NASDAQGOOGL ) has collaborated with the Geely-owned EV maker to develop a small electric vehicle( EV ) for use in robotaxi.
According to an, Zeekr does not currently intend to sell its Vehicles directly to American consumers.
European automakers like Mercedes Benz and BMW have lost market share to EV manufacturers like Zeekr and Nio in China as a result of the quicker introduction of new products.
Zeekr joins a group of Chinese automakers that are selling or intending to deliver EVs for that market, including BYD, Xpeng( NYSEXPEV ), and SAIC's's premium brand, in also targeting Europe.
According to French automatic consultancy Inovev, by 2030, Chinese manufacturers will account for up to 20 % of EV sales in Europe.
According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles made up 44 % of first-quarter sales of premium vehicles in China.
Zeekr lags EV competitors in China, despite Eric Li, the leader of Geely, having aspirations for it.
In the first quarter, it sold 15, 234 of its two current models — the 001 sedan and the 009 multi-purpose vehicle — accounting for just 2 % of battery electric vehicle sales in China. In contrast, Tesla( NASDAQTSLA ) sold 137, 429 vehicles during the same time period as Nio, who sold 31, 041 vehicles.
In 2023, Zeekr wants to double its yearly sales to almost 40,000 vehicles.
Chinese yuan renminbi( 1 6.8730 )
Zeeker launches an electrical Car in China and targets Europe.
