The new brand, Zeekr, will be managed by Lingling Technologies, an electric vehicle entity to be established by Geely.
Geely, the Chinese automobile manufacturing veteran, plans to launch a high-end offering, adopting different brands and sale strategies in order to compete with Tesla, according to people familiar with the matter.
Upon being asked, Geely Holdings said that the relevant information would be released in due course. This response is basically equivalent to a confirmation of the details mentioned.
Zeekr will follow Tesla's example by opening exhibition halls or centers in the city center and selling cars at a fixed price; Geely also plans to develop more extensive sales and marketing strategies for the new brand so as to establish a deeper relationship with consumers, including the introduction of clothing, accessories, other brand peripheral products and the establishment of owners' clubs.
In addition, Zeekr is considering a new equity plan that would allow consumers to become shareholders in Lingling. Management hopes to promote sales and deepen the relationship with customers. It is also worth noting that Zhiji Auto, which is jointly funded by SAIC Group and Alibaba, has put forward a similar idea.
Reuters also reported earlier that Geely plans to create Lingling Technologies within this year to manage the vehicles that are produced based on its Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA). The Department will also be responsible for marketing Lynk&Co brand electric vehicles and Geometry brand electric vehicles.
In the high-end market layout, Geely has acquired and successfully operated the Volvo brand and obtained 9.7% of Daimler. At the same time, the company has also launched the high-end brand Lynk&Co.
In terms of smart electric vehicles, the company released the world's first open-source electric vehicle architecture, 'Sustainable Experience Architecture' (SEA) that promises to transform the availability of zero-emission cars and trucks in the world's largest auto markets.
It is possible that Geely will win the corresponding market share in the field of high-end electric vehicles, a combination of two established product classes. The upcoming brand, Zeekr, will give the answer.
By entering the high-end EV segment Geely has challenged itself to compete with the likes of Tesla and local rivals such as NIO. We believe it is way too early to say if Geely's Zeekr will be able to grab the biggest chunk of the ever-growing EV market share, but with a huge presence and a growing brand name, it doesn't seem impossible.