Chinese electric vehicle maker Zeekr’s aggressive global expansion drive is putting it on track to achieve its annual delivery target of 230,000 units for this year, executives said on Tuesday at its first-quarter earnings call. The company is planning to expand its footprint from 25 to more than 50 global markets by the end of this year, said Andy An, chairman of Geely Auto Group and chief executive of Zeekr. This would include 6-8 mainstream European countries, as well as those in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Australia. The updated plan is an acceleration of the one revealed by An at this year’s EV100 forum in April for selling Zeekr EVs in six Western European countries and 38 markets on China’s south coast and in the Gulf region by year-end.
Financial chief Yuan Jing said the Geely affiliate still has a “very big ambition” for Europe but will spend more effort on other locations outside of China this year, adding that its parent company’s global manufacturing footprint would give it more flexibility than most competitors. The comments come as the European Commission is about to publish the results of a nine-month probe into Chinese EV subsidies. New York-listed Zeekr on Tuesday reported its first quarterly financial results as a public company. Revenue for the January-March quarter rose 71% year-on-year to RMB 14.74 billion ($2.04 billion), with a narrowed net loss of RMB 2.02 billion. Vehicle delivery more than doubled to 67,764 units for the first five months of this year. [Zeekr financial release]