- Zeekr has just announced a new U.S. office in Arizona set to open soon.
- The U.S. is expected to announce its finalized rules effectively banning Chinese software and hardware on American roads, including its own self-driving car programs.
- Zeekr plans on being a global brand, and expanding its models to more markets in 2025.
It was standing room only in Mandalay Bay, one of CES’s satellite locations away from the main Las Vegas Convention Center area. I was late, not realizing just how far it was from my hotel, but CES’ takeover of the entire city can make travel daunting. But I should have gotten there sooner because everyone—journalists, engineers, tech and auto industry figures and other exhibitors—wanted to hear what China’s Zeekr had to say.
Maybe they had heard about Zeekr before this. It’s a cousin to fellow Geely Group brands Volvo and Polestar, it’s listed on the New York Stock Exchange and it even inked a deal to provide autonomous cars to Google’s Waymo robotaxi service. But for much of America, Zeekr’s Jan. 6 CES press conference with CEO Giovanni Lanfranchi felt like a proper introduction.
Zeekr also brought a triad of its newest models at its own stand to go with some new plans to grow the brand’s global presence and increase its sales. That included its new SoC (system-on-a-chip) called Thor, by Nvidia, a piece of tech that should help the brand reach its autonomous driving goals outside of its Waymo deal. It showed off a production-intent version of the Waymo taxi, officially now called the Zeekr RT, and announced that a new U.S. office in Arizona will open soon.
This is a lot of exciting movement for Zeekr, a startup brand that’s just four years old. Arguably it’s the most successful brand of Geely’s startups; it’s outselling its sister Sino-Swedish brand Polestar at a ratio of nearly 3-to-1, and it claims that it’s the best-selling homegrown premium EV manufacturer in China. (That “premium” distinction is important because it separates it from BYD and others.) It has a full lineup of sedans, SUVs, wagons and luxury minivans, some of which have mind-bending performance. And it’s expanding ever-upward, doing in many ways what Polestar has struggled to do since the start.
Photo by: Patrick George
Normally, it’d seem like an imminent global success story for a promising new car brand, but for one problem: where Zeekr is from.
Many of its engineers and some of its design work are done at the Zeekr Intelligent Factory and Campus in Hangzhou, China. So, as achievable as its global aspirations feel, as technologically advanced and ready for the road its new RT self-driving car is, or as seemingly U.S. market-ready as its impressive line vehicles appear, the looming geopolitical tensions and tariff challenges between China and the U.S. (hell, between China and the rest of the world), is unignorable. Zeekr was clearly at CES to court investors, partners and suppliers as well.
Why invest in a place where everyone considers you a threat, and the rug could be pulled from under you at any moment in time?
Photo by: Zeekr
But when I spoke to Lanfranchi and Zhu Ling, Vice President of Zeekr Intelligent Technology—the place responsible for Zeekr’s technological development—neither seemed all that worried. By the end of my separate conversations, both agreed on the same thing: the U.S., Europe and China all need each other.
“In Europe, there is a level of strategic innovation that China does not have,” Lanfranchi said. “Some of the things we discussed [at Zeekr] are coming from Europe. But, these complements work well. China is not very strong in finding strategic things to move forward on. But, once we define them, they are really [good].”
Lanfranchi would know a thing or two about that. He started his career with a brief stint at Ferrari, before spending decades at IBM in the U.S. and Europe and then serving as Chief Technology Officer at the Dutch multinational tech firm Here Technologies. That sort of background for its CEO speaks volumes about where this car company is headed.
Photo by: Patrick George
Zeekr Mix and 001 FR at CES 2025
Lanfranchi said that some of Zeekr’s bigger ideas actually come from Europe. For example, much of Zeekr’s main design work is done in Sweden; pop open the door of the Zeekr 007 sedan and you’ll see a “designed in Gothenburg” placard on the car’s door sills.
Lanfranchi described China as an “execution machine,” and that if you “give them a target, they will hit it.” But companies like Zeekr still benefit from the experience that other automotive sectors have.
Lanfranchi’s comments go beyond just seeing its parent company Geely, and by extension China, as a simple gun-for-hire, where all it does is serve to manufacture ideas generated in Europe for cheap. Lanfranchi said that part of Zeekr’s success also comes from the way it is able to marry its Chinese-market clientele and tastes with what Europeans are in search of in a premium product. During the press conference, he talked about the “new immersive AI infotainment experience,” that will be developed in part from yet another SoC, this one developed by Qualcomm. “In China, it’s all about gaming. It’s all about entertainment. I’m not saying that in Europe, it isn’t appreciated, but European customers want more productivity apps.”
Photo by: Zeekr
In China, being in the car is a rare respite from one of the world’s most grueling work cultures. In Europe, it can be a place to get stuff done. “Now that I have some time back, I want to be more productive… I want to catch up on e-mail,” Lanfranchi said. “We had some candid, healthy debate internally about which team we should have work on this.”
But, as much as Zeekr sees its collaboration and talent from China as a strength, it’s clear that many governments see any Chinese influence or incursion as a threat to both national security and economic strength. Just check out the United States, both the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump presidency are openly antagonistic toward most anything Chinese, just ask TikTok. Both have plans to implement pointed legislation blocking a surprisingly wide range of tech and connected software. Both Ling and Lanfranchi see these roadblocks in the U.S. (and similar ones in Europe) as “food for thought,” but neither is too concerned about the sentiments on several levels.
Photo by: Zeekr
“Clearly there are geopolitical differences,” Lanfranchi said. “I think that if I look at Geely and Zeekr—even if there is no manufacturing [in Europe], the fact we have almost 1,000 engineers, super top talent in Europe gives us some differentiation. Compared to say, BYD which is mostly importing vehicles.”
In other words, Zeekr’s goal is to draw on local strength where it can. “It’s not the big manufacturing facilities that say, Trump or others would like, but it’s still a big investment and opportunity for European citizens,” he said. Lanfranchi says that Zeekr (and by extension other brands) should be more vocal with speaking up about how many high-skilled jobs they’re creating in Europe.
Comparatively, meeting regulations didn’t seem like too pressing of concern for Zeekr’s executives. “Data, data privacy. This is an important, unqueness of Europe…for us, it’s a mindset,” said Lanfranchi. Even when it came to meeting any sort of crash, or federalization standards, Ling was clear that roadblocks aren’t the cars themselves. “As far as products themselves, technically, our products are ready. When we designed our products, talking about the [vehicle] architecture when we designed from scratch it [all meets] the requirements globally. Technically, I don’t think we’d have an issue to export the vehicle here.” Ling said.
But, aside from the purpose-built Waymo-Zeekr RT car, will Zeekr come to the U.S.? The jury is still out. Zeekr has been clear that it’s very much in a “not now, we’ll play things by ear” situation, but Ling and Lanfranchi both understand how well-suited the Zeekr cars feel for American buyers. Ling said that Chinese roads and Chinese preferences for big vehicles are similar to the United States, and these cars would likely be very suitable for U.S. consumers.
“In the long term, I think [China and the U.S.] need each other. For most Chinese customers, they have a very friendly attitude toward America,” Ling said. “I think as long as we cooperate it will benefit both sides… We can share a lot of resources and a lot of technology. We can benefit the American customer and the Chinese customer, especially since the car industry has a very long supply chain. You can’t just build a car, you need a lot of cooperation with a lot of players,” he said.
As optimistic as those sentiments from Ling and Lafranchi are, it’s underscored by the reality of the U.S. (and the globe) having very real concerns about Chinese cars and tech when it comes to national security and economic development. The Biden administration is expected to release its rules that outline a new ban on key software and hardware in modern connected vehicles. Reuters says that the move would “effectively bar Chinese cars and trucks from the U.S. market,” but it’s not clear if Zeekr would be compliant—or if it can be compliant.
Only time will tell. But I don’t think this will be the last we see of Zeekr in the U.S.
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