Author: Zhang Wen | Editor: Jiang Jiao

Cover: "Let the Bullets Fly"

China's fastest-growing pure electric vehicle brand to reach 300,000 deliveries is now facing the anger of 80,000 car owners. Across social media platforms, automotive forums, and numerous car enthusiast groups, Zeekr has become the target of criticism after recently announcing its 2025 model year lineup.

Yesterday (August 13), just 167 days after the release of the 2024 Zeekr 001, Zeekr unveiled the 2025 model year Zeekr 001 and 007, featuring upgraded autonomous driving capabilities and some additional features, along with a lower starting price. This move, less than six months after the previous model's release, has sparked discontent among many owners. Some recent buyers feel deceived, as Zeekr had just denied rumors of a facelift for the 001 model just 30 days prior. "Are they playing with us?" asked one owner who took delivery of their Zeekr 001 just four days ago. Before placing their order, they repeatedly asked Zeekr sales representatives if a new model was imminent and were consistently told no. Zeekr disabled comments during the livestream announcement, but it failed to quell user anger, with some owners changing their usernames or sending virtual gifts to express their dissatisfaction. The situation worsened today, with some Zeekr owners visiting dealerships and headquarters to demand answers. Images circulating online show banners held by owners, reading, "Xiaomi spent three years honing one sword, while Zeekr sharpens three in one year." At the beginning of yesterday's event, Zeekr showed a promotional video that ended with the question, "If you had another chance, would you still choose Zeekr?"

At least today, they won't get a positive answer.

01 | It's Not Just About a Facelift

On May 10, 2023, Zeekr went public on the NYSE, just 37 months after its inception, claiming to be the "fastest IPO in history." Now, with cumulative sales exceeding 200,000 units, the Zeekr 001 might earn another title, "the fastest-facelifted model in history." The 001 is Zeekr's most successful model to date. Launched on New Year's Day 2022 with a starting price of RMB 300,000, it quickly became the backbone of Zeekr's sales. Data shows that in the first 11 months of 2022, the Zeekr 001 was the top-selling pure electric vehicle priced above RMB 300,000. Throughout 2022, Zeekr sold 118,700 vehicles, with the 001 accounting for 64.24% of total sales. The 001's Achilles' heel is its autonomous driving capabilities. Unlike most new-energy vehicle (NEV) startups that develop their own algorithms, Zeekr initially partnered with Mobileye for autonomous driving. Geely is one of Mobileye's deepest partners in China, but Mobileye struggled to adapt to the intense competition in the domestic market. In December 2022, Zeekr launched the 007 model, switching to its in-house HAO AutoDrive system powered by dual Orin-X chips with 508TOPS of computing power, bringing it back to the mainstream. However, the 2024 model year Zeekr 001, released two months later, still used the Mobileye solution with only 48TOPS of computing power.

Despite the lower starting price and increased features, the Zeekr 001 continued to perform well, selling over 10,000 units per month since its mass delivery in March. Rumors persisted throughout the first half of this year that the 001 would switch to Zeekr's in-house autonomous driving system, all of which were denied by Zeekr. The rumors peaked in July when reports claimed Zeekr would unveil a facelifted 001 at the end of the month. Zeekr officially denied these reports, with CMO Guan Haitao even offering a new Zeekr 7X to anyone who could provide evidence to the contrary. Just 30 days after these denials, Zeekr unveiled the 2025 model year Zeekr 001 and 007. Apart from some configuration adjustments, the most significant change to the new 001 is the switch to Zeekr's in-house HAO AutoDrive system, using the same dual Orin-X chip setup as the 007.

2025 Model Year Zeekr 001 | Source: Zeekr Weibo

This has angered many owners of the 2024 model year 001. Several recent buyers told The Hill that they placed their orders based on Zeekr's denials of a facelift. An owner in Hangzhou who took delivery on August 4 said the upgrade to the autonomous driving system in the 2025 model year 001 made the 2024 model feel like a half-finished joke, "basically left without any further support." "It's not that we're unhappy about a new model; electric vehicles evolve quickly, but you can't deceive customers during the sales process," said an owner who took delivery on August 9. She repeatedly asked sales representatives before ordering if a facelift was coming and was consistently told no. Her new car hasn't even been licensed yet. Adding to owners' confusion, just before announcing the facelift, Zeekr sales representatives used the impending decline in August subsidies as a reason to encourage customers to place orders quickly. The owner who took delivery on August 4 said sales representatives announced the reduction in August benefits at the end of July, emphasizing that placing an order would guarantee immediate delivery. Some owners suspect Zeekr was clearing inventory in advance. One owner who placed a RMB 5,000 deposit on August 7 called it "outright fraud." After the new model was announced, he refused to pay the remaining balance and forfeited his deposit.

He plans to order a Xiaomi SU7, "at least they don't treat consumers like dirt." Sales representatives at two Zeekr dealerships in Beijing told The Hill they were unaware of the facelift plans before the announcement. "We thought only the 007 would get a facelift; we didn't expect the 001 to get a new model too," said one Beijing Zeekr sales representative. Currently, all 2024 model year vehicles have been sold out, and 2025 model year vehicles have arrived at dealerships, though test drive vehicles have yet to be updated and are expected to switch to the 2025 model within a week. "Zeekr's autonomous driving has always been criticized, and the company genuinely wants to bring the best to customers as soon as possible," said another Beijing Zeekr sales representative. The NEV market is highly competitive, and everyone is evolving rapidly. "From that perspective, I don't think they did anything wrong," they added, but suggested that if the new models had been delayed until the end of the year, the backlash might not have been as severe.

On social media platforms, Zeekr's reputation has plummeted. Numerous owners have posted complaints accusing the company of selective concealment and deception before the new model's release. Some owners have changed their usernames to "Trash Zeekr" or "Never Zeekr Again," discouraging others from choosing Zeekr models.

02 | "I Understand the Emotions of Existing Owners"

"It's just that the market is too competitive," a source in the automotive industry told The Hill. When you have something good, you want to bring it to market as soon as possible to expand your advantage, especially when the 007 hasn't met expectations. With a better hand, Zeekr naturally hopes to switch faster. The Zeekr 007 was originally intended to compete with the Xiaomi SU7, priced lower than the previous 001 and equipped with Zeekr's in-house autonomous driving system. Zeekr hoped it would replicate the success of the 001. However, in the six months since its launch, the 007's monthly sales have hovered around 4,000 units, paling in comparison to the Xiaomi SU7's over 10,000 units per month, even with Xiaomi's production constraints. Zeekr achieved 85% of its sales target last year and has set a goal of 230,000 units for this year, currently at 103,500. In June, Zeekr's monthly deliveries exceeded 20,000 for the first time but slipped back to around 15,700 in July, a more than 20% decrease from the previous month, with the 001 also failing to surpass 10,000 units. Zeekr CEO An Conghui is unlikely satisfied with these results. In a mid-year letter to employees, he stated that reaching 230,000 units annually would require surpassing 30,000 monthly deliveries and urged employees to sprint towards this goal.

Zeekr 001 and 007 | Source: Zeekr Weibo

This might explain why Zeekr rushed to release the 2025 model year lineup. After the 2024 model year 001's release, Zeekr felt pressure from various sources, including market feedback and user comments, leading them to develop new products, according to An Conghui in a post-event interview. They began developing the in-house autonomous driving 001 in February, initially planning a year-end release but ultimately bringing it forward. "NEVs compete on their ability to iterate quickly, which differs significantly from traditional automobiles. Not just Zeekr, but other NEV makers also iterate faster," said An. Traditional automakers typically have replacement cycles measured in years or longer, with exterior, interior, and even powertrain changes often spanning multiple generations. However, this logic doesn't apply in the electric vehicle era. "This kind of thing is definitely the norm in the EV sector," said a source from a NEV startup. In the ICE era, modifying exterior design and interiors (a facelift) required extensive validation, molding, and procurement. In the EV era, competition is fiercer, with most components like chips and LiDAR being interchangeable. Electrification has made powertrains more affordable, and chip computing power iterates exponentially, leading to more dramatic and frequent model replacements than even digital products. In the past, several NEV startups have encountered setbacks during model replacements.

In 2022, Ideal ONE's premature discontinuation due to the launch of the Wenjie M7 sparked over a thousand complaints from owners on consumer rights websites. At the end of 2023, Xpeng switched its autonomous driving system but failed to upgrade existing P5 models, prompting a joint letter of complaint from over 600 P5 owners. However, according to the NEV startup source, Zeekr's 2025 model year update can only be considered an EV software update, not even a traditional facelift as there are no changes to the exterior or interior, just component upgrades. They believe Zeekr's update is due to initial product definition issues. The automotive industry source believes the facelift itself is not the problem, but denying it and then announcing a new model significantly damages brand reputation. "The biggest issue is lying; it has a significant impact on brand reputation," they said. "I understand the emotions of existing owners, but technological and product iterations are necessary for industry competition, and continuous iteration is inevitable," said Zeekr Vice President Lin Jinwen in a post-event interview. Zeekr will do its best to ensure existing owners' benefits during this and future iterations within its capabilities.

Zeekr's limited-time trade-in and upgrade benefits for existing owners. Currently, Zeekr has not offered any compensation measures for existing owners, only a RMB 10,000 trade-in and upgrade benefit. Several Zeekr owners who spoke with The Hill expressed dissatisfaction with this. This noon, Zeekr posted on Weibo, "Answering User Questions About Zeekr's 2025 Model Year New Product Launch," emphasizing that they will ensure software updates for the 2024 model year Zeekr 001's autonomous driving system.

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