The regional head of Zeekr shares some of the brand’s plans in Malaysia.
We’re currently in Penang as part of a short test drive of the Zeekr 009 electric MPV. During the trip, which was hosted by Zeekr Malaysia, we got a chance to speak to Zeekr’s Head of South East Asia Region, Alex Bao. He was extremely candid with his sharing of information and we thought our readers would benefit from what he had to say.
On The EV Price Wars
One of the first topics he addressed was on the price wars that were heating up in the EV market, particularly in China, Hong Kong and Thailand. According to Mr. Bao, once new passenger car sales in a market get to about 40% electric vehicles, things get very saturated and there’s very little room for growth at that point. This is where price wars start to come in.
In Thailand and in Hong Kong, this point has been reached already, and the new tech-luxury brand Zeekr strategy is to not participate in the price wars but to add value to the customer experience as well. In Malaysia, this is their approach as well, find ways that they can make their customer journey more meaningful, add services that their rivals cannot. The pricing of Zeekr products will remain where they are despite cheaper rivals coming in.
On CKD Planning
The Malaysian government has given until the end of the year before the tax structure for EVs will be revised. However it has not clearly indicated what that new structure will be, and the fact that President Xi is coming to town shows that China may be pushing hard for another round of tax breaks on EVs and they may even get an extension. So, while it’s unclear what will happen when 2026 rolls around, product planners must already have a strategy in place. For Zeekr, local-assembly is a very real possibility. When quizzed on how this may happen, the answer to Alex Bao seemed very straightforward.
“We’re already part of a much bigger mother company, so we will try to work with other Geely brands in Malaysia for CKD,” he said. Alex is of course referring to Proton and their Tanjung Malim plant and of course this also alludes to Geely’s greater investment into the supplier network and the Tanjung Malim vendor and manufacturing ecosystem, known as the Automotive Hi-Tech Valley (AHTV).
In Ningbo, China, Zeekr’s Smart factory already produces other Geely products on the same line, so this is a very feasible plan. Zeekr products like the X and 009 are based on the Geely Group’s Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) just like the Volvo EX30, smart #1, and smart #3.
On Competition With Other Geely Brands
We also were curious to know what Zeekr’s relationship was with its ‘sister’ brands in Malaysia, as most seem to have complete different distributors and heads. The Zeekr and Lotus brands have some distributor ties, but not on all levels. smart is distributed by PRO-NET, a Proton subsidiary. Volvo Car Malaysia has been doing its own thing with its own assembly partner years before Geely acquired the brand.
According to Mr. Bao, Geely Malaysia has been set-up with the express purpose of looking after each of these brands interests, finding synergies between the brands and ensuring a balance is achieved for each brand.
He also commented about the possibility of cannibalization of sales. He said so far, it hasn’t quite happened in Malaysia between Geely products. However, he did concede that the group was in a new phase where instead of expanding with new brands attacking new niches, they were consolidating. Hence, Zeekr and Lynk & Co are now parked under the same structure.
On Lynk & Co & Future Plans
Back when Proton was first in talks with Geely, we were taken to China for the Beijing Motor Show 2018. There we got our first taste of the new Lynk & Co brand. The thinking was that Proton would eventually bring this brand to our market. However, that plan never materialised and instead we got the smart brand under Proton’s wing. Now though, with Zeekr and Lynk & Co effectively merged, Alex Bao says there’s a very real possibility that Malaysia will see some Lynk & Co products sold under the same umbrella. One of those products has been confirmed to be a PHEV model. But no details were shared.
