Last year was Zeekr Malaysia’s first full year of sales, and the Geely-owned brand achieved a respectable 2,560 units, powered by tax-free EVs like the 009 MPV and the 7X SUV. Zeekr also has the X compact crossover, which contributed fewer units to the cause. At the company’s Chinese New Year media event last week, Zeekr Malaysia GM Eddy Lu revealed that moving forward, the young premium brand’s growth target is to have 10,000 units of cumulative sales from 2025 to 2027, which averages to about 3,300 units a year. This points to stable growth from last year’s deliveries, which is good considering that the tax-free EV bonanza is over. However, Zeekr is forecasting a big jump to 10,000 units in 2028 alone. What might be the catalyst for this ‘next gear’ in the brand’s sales? It could be a new model that’s in the pipeline, or it could be the commencement of CKD local assembly in Malaysia. At last week’s CNY event, Lu reiterated that Zeekr has CKD plans for our market. In fact, Malaysia will be the first country outside of China to assemble Zeekr vehicles in a global expansion plan. The first Zeekr model to be locally assembled will be the 7X. No timeline was given, but seeing that the 7X is not one of the three new models planned for 2026, it should surface in 2027 at the earliest. End-2027 would mean that 2028 will be the first full year of Zeekr sales powered by a popular CKD product – combined with new models, this could be that ‘next gear’ to 10k units per annum. That’s our guess. At a test drive event for Malaysian media and owners in Harbin, China last month, Lu said that Zeekr – as part of the Geely Group – will leverage on the group’s investments in Malaysia. This confirms what we heard from Proton last year about Zeekr cars being locally assembled at the Automotive Hi-Tech Valley (AHTV) in Tanjong Malim, which is anchored by Proton. Alex Bao, head of Zeekr Southeast Asia, first broached the CKD subject in May 2025. “Don’t forget we are under a big group, which has a lot of facilities and manufacturing power here. So, we’ve been discussing this issue but it will take some time,” he said then. When asked if it will be at Proton’s new EV plant, he said “very possible, very possible. We are under the same mother!” In July 2023, prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim revealed that Geely will invest US$10 billion (RM39.5 billion) to turn Tanjong Malim into the region’s largest auto city. In October that same year, Geely and DRB-Hicom signed a master collaboration agreement for the AHTV project. Now that the tax-free window for CBU imported EVs has closed, local assembly becomes vital if a brand wants to sell EVs in meaningful numbers – it’s no longer a free for all thanks to a new regulation imposing a RM250k minimum price for CBU EVs. Originally, it was understood that the new floor price would be for brands that have yet to set up shop in Malaysia, but it has since been expanded to include new models from existing brands. The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) is trying to clarify this with Malaysia’s investment, trade and industry ministry (MITI). We might not see the new regulation’s full effect yet thanks to the availability of 2025 stock (thinning as we speak), but as things stand, CBU EV prices will eventually go up, and the RRP difference between the imports and CKD locally assembled EVs will widen, unless the OEM absorbs the difference – it will be pretty similar to what we’ve seen all these years with ICE cars. See Audi versus BMW and Mercedes-Benz as an example. AD: Drive the ZEEKR model of your dreams. Submit your details and Zeekr Carro (Bangsar, Mutiara Damansara, Penang, Seremban outlets) will get in touch with you. Compare prices between different insurer providers to save the most on your car insurance renewal compared to other competing services. Many payment method supported and you can pay with instalment using Atome, Grab PayLater or Shopee SPayLater.