Geely plans to launch a new brand of electric cars, Zeekr, to take on tesla with a more high-end model.
Sources familiar with the matter say that mainland auto major Geely plans to launch a new brand of electric car, Zeekr, with a different branding and sales strategy to take on its main rival Tesla with a higher-end model. Geely currently owns the car brand Regal Motors.
Reuters reported that three people familiar with the matter said the new brand, which is aimed at the high-end market, will be owned by Geely’s upcoming electric car company Lingling Technologies. The sources did not want to be named because the plan has not been made public.
Geely is understood to own Volvo, which also holds about 9.7 percent of Daimler.
Geely will also launch new models under a new brand based on its open-source electric vehicle architecture, the sources added. The architecture is an open electric vehicle chassis structure developed by the company last September, called the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA).
This will be Geely’s new attempt to enter the premium market and will support Geely founder and chairman Li Shufu’s long-held ambition to build a premium car like Mercedes-Benz and compete with electric car leader Tesla.
Geely will open showrooms in major mainland city centers to sell cars at a fixed price, unlike the traditional practice of selling through dealerships.
In addition, Geely plans a broader marketing strategy that has already enhanced the EV user experience, sources said, adding that the company will design related apparel products, create an EV club and consider an equity program that would allow its customers to become shareholders in Lingling Technologies.
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