"It's faster than you, it's smarter than you, it's younger than you, and it's more affordable than you," a Zeekr executive told Cadillac.
Zeekr (NYSE: ZK) launched the 2025 Zeekr 007 sedan and the 2025 Zeekr 001 shooting brake 2 days ago, offering significant upgrades to its two main selling models.
The move has sparked discontent among some existing owners, as the upgrades to both models come only about six months after the launch of their predecessors, causing recent owners to experience a rapid decline in the potential residual value of their vehicles.
The negative publicity Zeekr has faced has been seen by some as an opportunity for competitors to poach potential Zeekr users, even though few car companies have done so. Now, Cadillac was the first to act, but instead drew embarrassment for itself.
The General Motors-owned premium brand posted a Weibo poster last night suggesting that there were three generations of the same Zeekr model available in the same year, implying a significant devaluation of older models.
Meanwhile, Cadillac hinted that its Optiq SUV (sport utility vehicle), the second model based on GM's Ultium platform, still has an 80 percent residual value after three years. Cadillac's first model based on the Ultium platform is the Lyriq SUV.
Cadillac's poster reads “ZEEKER REPLACEMNET” in both English and Chinese, implying that potential Zeekr customers should opt for its model to get a better vehicle retention rate.
The poster reads “ZEEKER” instead of Zeekr's correct English name, “ZEEKR,” perhaps to avoid being too direct.
This quickly drew the ire of Zeekr and its supporters.
Zeekr vice president Zhu Ling hinted that Cadillac was a classic of the past, but ultimately outdated, when he retweeted Cadillac's Weibo post last night.
“The electric age, the rise of China, the glory of Detroit is no more,” Zhu wrote in Chinese.
The entry-level version of the Zeekr 007 sells for just RMB 209,900 ($29,400) and has a peak power of 310 kW from a single motor, Zhu said, adding that the model is powered by two Nvidia Orin chips, LiDAR, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 chip.
"It's faster than you, it's smarter than you, it's younger than you, and it's more affordable than you," Zhu wrote.
"Time doesn't go back, history doesn't go back, see you in my mirror," he wrote, with "see you in my mirror" written in English.
Cadillac quickly deleted the Weibo post, perhaps realizing it was inappropriate, but the poster was still widely circulated on Weibo, with "Cadillac vs Zeekr" becoming one of the trending topics.
The increased appeal of the updated Zeekr 001 and Zeekr 007, which come with faster charging speeds and enhanced driver assistance, has led to greater discontent among recent owners, despite Zeekr's announcement at the launch event that existing owners will receive an additional RMB 10,000 discount if they continue to purchase a Zeekr vehicle.
Images and videos circulating on social media showed that some owners have come to Zeekr's headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, over the past two days to protest in hopes of getting compensation.
($1 = RMB 7.1387)
Zeekr launches updated 001 and 007 with faster charging and enhanced driver assist capabilities
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