Chinese electric car maker goes public in the States: Zeekr gets serious about autonomous vehicles and global sales plan ahead of Australian launch in 2025 of Volvo EX30-related Zeekr X

You’d be forgiven if you’ve never heard of Zeekr but you’ve probably heard of another brand under the Geely umbrella such as Volvo and Polestar.

Geely’s own brand is well known in China and has just gone public in the United States ahead of its 2025 targeted branch launch. The brand's stock listing, ‘ZK’ performed strongly climbing 35 per cent over initial public offering price on Friday last week. 

Along with going public, Zeekr also detailed its new ‘SEA-M’ architecture aimed at self-driving products such as Robotaxis and more. 

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Electric vehicles and autonomous driving, does that sound familiar? Oh yeah, Elon Musk’s American company Tesla is also a specialist in the fields – no surprise Zeekr is coming after the household name for electric cars. 

“Zeekr’s listing on the world’s most active and influential capital market is an important milestone in the company’s global journey. Today, Zeekr becomes a truly global enterprise ready to accelerate its expansion and meet the growing global demands for smart electric mobility”, said CEO Andy AN.

The first model it’s shown on the new SEA-M architecture is the Mix people mover. At 4700mm long with a 3000mm wheelbase, the self-driving concept is a VW ID-Buzz-sized van designed to be a "living room on wheels".

The Zeekr Mix is a people mover concept.

Zeekr claims to have invested 7.0 billion RMB – about A$1.47 billion – in the platform that has all manner of sensors, cameras and a steer-by-wire system. The brand is bullish about its safety credentials. 

“All vehicles built on the SEA-M architecture will be able to meet five-star safety standards globally, and qualify for the Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)”, reads the press release. 

Geely’s modular Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) underpins everything from the Volvo EX30 and Smart #1 to the Zeekr 001 sedan. The brand (you may also know of another related name, Lynk & Co) has been selling vehicles since October 2021 and has six models under its belt.

Zeekr is slated to launch locally in 2025.

Keeping it relevant to Australia, the brand has promised up a pair of models for its launch Down Under. 

The Volvo EX30-related Zeekr X is a small electric SUV. Inside, there’s a 13-speaker Yamaha sound system, 14.6-inch multimedia touchscreen, ‘Ice Block’ ambient lighting and plenty of autonomous driving features. 

The Zeekr 009 is a 5.2-metre long six- or seven-seat people mover with its eyes set on the LDV Mifa 9 and Mercedes EQV. Zeekr’s van boasts a battery sized up to 140kWh for claimed 822km driving range.