Zeekr's (NYSE: ZK) Zeekr X, a compact SUV (sport utility vehicle), has been spotted on the streets of Japan, as the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker plans to enter the country's auto market this year.
Zeekr vice president Zhao Chunlin shared several images on Weibo on Wednesday showing a Zeekr X spotted on the streets of Japan.
"Who sent the car to Japan quietly?" Zhao wrote.
He also shared a screenshot of a portion of a story from Autocar Japan, which was published in September 2024 and mentions that the Zeekr, which plans to enter Japan in 2025, will be the second Chinese company after BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) to sell passenger battery electric vehicles ( BEVs) in Japan.
Zeekr plans to launch the Zeekr X as well as the Zeekr 009 MPV (multi-purpose vehicle) in Japan, the report noted.
On August 12, 2024, CnEVPost learned from a Zeekr spokesperson that the company planned to officially enter the Japanese market and begin delivering vehicles there in 2025.
Last September, Zeekr said on its social media accounts that the company would officially start selling vehicles in Japan in 2025, with the first available models being the right-hand-drive Zeekr X and Zeekr 009.
The biggest difference between the models for the Japanese market and the Chinese market is that right-hand drive models are used there, while left-hand drive models are used in China.
Zeekr has already created right-hand drive versions of the Zeekr X and Zeekr 009, which are already available in markets including Thailand.
BYD officially announced its entry into the Japanese passenger car market on July 21, 2022, and began exploring the home turf of international auto giants including Toyota and Honda.
It launched the Atto 3 -- known as the Yuan Plus in China -- in January 2023 as its first passenger car in Japan.
More on Zeekr
