Zeekr is preparing to launch two new models this year, aiming to make them popular once they hit the market, its CEO said.
(Image credit: Zeekr)
Geely's electric vehicle (EV) brand Zeekr plans to see sales double in 2023 compared to last year and will launch two new models, its CEO said in an internal letter.
Competition in China's EV market will be brutal in 2023 and the industry will face its biggest ever extreme challenge, Zeekr CEO Andy An said in the internal letter, dated January 27 and seen by CnEVPost.
The Chinese New Year holiday, which ran from January 21 to January 27, just ended, and the helmsmen of several car companies kicked off a new year for their companies with internal staff letters after the holiday, including Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) and Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI).
2023 will be a pivotal year for proving Zeekr's development model, and the company will need to continue to run at a 100-meter sprint pace to achieve an endgame victory, An said.
To that end, An identified five key tasks for Zeekr in 2023 to employees, the first of which is to achieve 140,000 vehicle deliveries for the year.
"The 140,000-unit delivery goal will be a hard battle, and we have to accomplish that mission," An said.
Zeekr delivered a record 11,337 vehicles in December, bringing its 2022 deliveries to 71,941 vehicles, meeting its goal of 70,000 vehicles for the year.
The company's latest goal means it will double its deliveries in 2023 compared to 2022.
Zeekr was officially launched as a standalone company in March 2021, with its first model, the Zeekr 001, launched on April 15, 2021, and deliveries began in October 2021.
On November 1, 2022, Zeekr's second model, the Zeekr 009 MPV, was launched, and its deliveries began on January 15.
Zeekr is preparing to launch two new models this year with the goal of making them popular when they hit the market, An said in his internal letter.
"It's a big product year for Zeekr in 2023, and we need to build popular products, and more importantly, we need to continue to build popular products with system strength," An said.
Yesterday, CnEVPost obtained several images of a new Zeekr model, which has the internal code name BX1E and may be named Zeekr 003.
An believes that intelligence will be the focus of the electric vehicle industry's competition in the future, so Zeekr's third task in 2023 is to make its level of intelligence a benchmark for the industry.
In 2023, Zeekr aims to achieve all-around leadership in vehicle intelligence, including smart cockpit as well as smart driving, he said.
"This year, our continued high investment in R&D will enter a period of bearing fruit and teams will have to accelerate to get the technology into application," he said.
Zeekr's fourth task for the year is to begin executing its European strategy, thus kicking off its expansion into global markets.
"Since its inception, Zeekr has been a global technology company, and we are bound to compete in the global marketplace," An said.
In 2023, Zeekr will first enter Europe to create value in the world's most mature automotive markets, An added.
An cites optimizing internal management as Zeekr's fifth goal for 2023, saying that at the heart of competition is the competition for efficiency, and that inefficiency is the biggest waste.
In 2023, Zeekr needs to enhance efficiency and transform from sloppy growth to high-quality development, he said.
