ZEEKR created a "new species"

Author | Huang Yu

Editor | Zhou Zhiyu

Accompanied by controversy, ZEEKR's annual blockbuster finally made its debut.

On October 23, ZEEKR's full-scenario family-oriented five-seater ZEEKR MIX was officially launched, including the intelligent driving version and the long-endurance intelligent driving version, with official retail prices of 279,900 yuan and 299,900 yuan respectively.

For ZEEKR and the entire market, ZEEKR MIX is considered a new species. Therefore, Geely Holding Group CEO and ZEEKR CEO An Conghui did not have high expectations for the sales of ZEEKR MIX.

In An Conghui's view, the launch of ZEEKR MIX is a long-term strategic move aimed at exploring and laying out the future, enhancing ZEEKR's brand image, rather than leading a certain niche market in the short term.

In this context, An Conghui did not provide an accurate user profile. He mentioned, "It is very difficult to focus on a specific user group, as users in every field will be interested in MIX."

The public is already familiar with this car, as a promotional video of eating hotpot inside the ZEEKR MIX sparked a lot of discussion not long ago.

The "car hotpot" video was originally intended to promote the diverse scenarios of ZEEKR MIX, which was also the biggest selling point that ZEEKR MIX wanted to showcase at the official launch event.

An Conghui admitted that there was also a lot of internal controversy surrounding ZEEKR MIX. This is the most challenging project in Geely's car-making engineering research and development in nearly 30 years. The difficulty lies in how to implement some imaginative concepts, such as matching future living scenarios.

Furthermore, the research and development cost of ZEEKR MIX is very high, 2.8 times that of a medium to large SUV, with the development cost of just the electrically operated gull-wing doors exceeding 400 million yuan.

In other words, ZEEKR MIX is a product that is both innovative and controversial.

As the first product built on the vast-M architecture, ZEEKR MIX is the world's first to feature "hidden double B-pillar" electrically operated gull-wing doors as standard across the range, three sets of 2-meter-long electric sliding tracks, and main and co-driver 270° electrically adjustable rotating seats.

In addition, ZEEKR MIX also features a super low "fully flat" floor with no thresholds or steps, a ground clearance of 390mm, lower than most MPVs, allowing kindergarten children to step in and out easily, stand fully inside the car, and be called the "baby bus."

Through these technologies, ZEEKR aims to revolutionize space with MIX. ZEEKR claims that with a car length of nearly 4.7 meters, it has achieved a wheelbase of over 3 meters, with an effective seating space of up to 93%, making it the world's first mass-produced passenger car to exceed 90%. "Performance within 5 meters has no rivals, and it can also compete beyond 5 meters."

At the launch event, ZEEKR vigorously showcased the unique usage scenarios of MIX, such as playing cards, hosting parties, and having afternoon tea.

In addition to space, in terms of the three electric systems and intelligence, ZEEKR MIX comes standard with an 800V high-voltage system, 800V ultra-fast charging battery, as well as LiDAR and dual Orin-X chips, all equipped with the vast intelligent driving 2.0 system Against the background of setting a target of doubling deliveries to 230,000 vehicles in 2024, ZEEKR has been continuously enriching its product line this year. Currently, it has six main models: ZEEKR 001, ZEEKR 007, ZEEKR 009, ZEEKR X, ZEEKR 7X, and ZEEKR MIX. Among them, ZEEKR 001 and ZEEKR 007 remain the two main pillars.

From January to September this year, ZEEKR's cumulative deliveries reached 142,873 vehicles, an 81% year-on-year increase. However, the achievement rate of the annual target is only about 62%, indicating significant pressure to meet the full-year delivery target.

As 2024 approaches, with all the new models ZEEKR announced for this year already launched, the company must now accelerate its efforts and take favorable measures to have a chance of achieving the annual target