China’s Zeekr has entered Europe with a lineup of four EVs. Its European chief says the brand matches German premium rivals. Zeekr wants showrooms in five German metro areas by year’s end. Zeekr, the upmarket arm of the Geely Group, genuinely believes its cars stand shoulder to shoulder with the best from Germany’s premium brands. The man running Zeekr in Europe staked that claim in a recent interview, even though the company’s European operations have been up and running for barely six month, That executive is Lothar Schupet, who logged 23 years at BMW before crossing over. Under him, Zeekr has rolled out a handful of models on European roads: the entry-level Zeekr X, the larger 7X SUV, the 001 estate, and the new 7GT. The brand is courting fleet buyers ahead of private ones for the moment, mostly because it currently has no dealership network anywhere in the region yet. “I am firmly convinced that our products impress with quality and performance,” Schupet told Car-Editors. “In my opinion, we are on par with all premium manufacturers. That’s the basic premise.” Read: Zeekr’s New SUV Looks Like A Rolls, Hits Like A Hypercar, And Still Burns Gas Based on our experience with the Zeekr 7X earlier this year, we can understand Schupet’s confidence. Jacked-packed with technology, the 7X feels every bit as premium as something from BMW or Audi, and yet costs significantly less. Dealerships Are Coming During the same interview, Schupet added that Zeekr’s initial goal in Europe was to reach as many business customers as possible, particularly those who had used vehicles from other premium brands in their fleets. As this has happened, interest from private customers has steadily grown. Although Zeekr doesn’t have a dealership network, it has established several test-drive centers and has begun accepting “a few hundred” orders from private buyers. Zeekr hopes to have sales locations across five metropolitan areas in Germany by the end of this year, including Hamburg, Düsseldorf/Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich, and perhaps also Berlin. These will join the 10 existing test-drive centers across the country. Asked which existing dealers Zeekr hopes to bring into its network, Schupet said they’re aiming directly at the premium segment. “Of course, we are specifically targeting dealers in the premium segment. These include the traditional German brands BMW, Audi, and Mercedes. But also Jaguar and Maserati dealerships that may currently have spare capacity and are open to something new. As a Geely Group brand, we are naturally also looking at Volvo and Polestar dealerships too,” he said. No European Production, For Now Asked if Zeekr is interested in building its electric cars in Europe, Schupet acknowledged it’s an option, but said there’s no need to do so at this stage. “Strategically, there is the option of producing locally,” he said. “This has certain advantages, but also carries risks. The speed, flexibility, and agility with which things are done in China are not easy to implement in Europe. Bureaucracy also hinders many decision-making processes. While the punitive tariffs make it challenging to implement a sustainable business model with manufacturing in China… we have now found a business case that works.”
