新极氪的 “阳谋”

Authors | Huang Yu, Chen Yingyi

After three months, Geely's two major new energy vehicle brands have finally welcomed the moment of "double swords combined," with ZEEKR and Lynk & Co becoming a "super strong combination," accelerating towards the goal of becoming the "BBA of the new energy era."

On February 14, ZEEKR (ZK.US) and Geely Auto (0175.HK) respectively announced that ZEEKR has completed the acquisition and capital injection of Lynk & Co, and the ZEEKR Technology Group has officially been established.

Based on the strategic guidance of the "Taizhou Declaration," Geely Holding announced last November the integration of ZEEKR and Lynk & Co. Now that ZEEKR and Lynk & Co have completed the equity transfer, 51% of Lynk & Co's equity belongs to ZEEKR, and 49% belongs to Geely Auto, making Lynk & Co a non-wholly-owned subsidiary of ZEEKR.

The establishment of the ZEEKR Technology Group marks the official entry of ZEEKR and Lynk & Co into a new stage of deep integration, enhancing combat effectiveness in the fierce new energy vehicle battlefield.

Regarding the positioning after the merger, ZEEKR Technology Group CEO An Conghui pointed out that ZEEKR and Lynk & Co will maintain a dual-brand operation model, but there will be clearer distinctions in brand positioning and product planning—"ZEEKR goes up, Lynk & Co goes wide."

ZEEKR is positioned as a "global luxury technology brand," focusing on "luxury, extreme, and technology," targeting the market of 300,000 and above, primarily focusing on the mid-to-large vehicle market, with mid-sized vehicles concentrating on pure electric technology and large vehicles focusing on super electric hybrids.

Lynk & Co is positioned as a "global high-end new energy brand," focusing on "trendy, sporty, and personalized," targeting the market of 200,000 and above, with small vehicles focusing on pure electric and mid-to-large vehicles focusing on hybrids.

Based on the dual-brand strategy, An Conghui stated that the newly established group company (hereinafter referred to as "New ZEEKR") will establish a unified management system and initiate a new round of internal management reforms in four areas: product development collaboration, manufacturing system innovation, user operation upgrades, and intelligent system breakthroughs.

In terms of product collaboration, a strong matrix and process-oriented organizational dual approach will be used to achieve an overall development efficiency improvement of over 15%; in the manufacturing system, an integrated management system of "large manufacturing + high quality" will be formed, improving overall management efficiency by over 20% through organizational streamlining and flat management.

Constructing a "dual-brand value pyramid" user management system, in terms of intelligent system breakthroughs, New ZEEKR will achieve an overall operational efficiency improvement of over 20% through intelligent and AI-driven management, realizing a data-driven transformation into a smart enterprise.

The birth of New ZEEKR is undoubtedly an important measure to enhance competitiveness and to go further on the global journey.

An Conghui stated that New ZEEKR must focus its battle lines this year and win three major battles: the technology innovation battle, the product value battle, and the global breakthrough battle.

The first major battle is in technology innovation, focusing on super electric hybrids, full-chain AI, and comprehensive safety, with a full-scale effort The super electric hybrid will be a major trump card for ZEEKR in the future. An Conghui stated that unlike other manufacturers' "oil-to-electric" and "electric-to-oil" approaches, ZEEKR's super electric hybrid combines "the strongest pure electric" with "the strongest hybrid." This year, ZEEKR will enter the 900-volt era, achieving further breakthroughs in pure electric experiences.

Intelligence has undoubtedly been a key focus for major automakers in recent years. Last year, ZEEKR launched the fully self-developed Haohan Intelligent Driving 2.0 and implemented AI end-to-end large model integration, with the no-map urban NZP achieving nationwide full-scale rollout by the end of last year. Recently, ZEEKR's intelligent cockpit has also completed deep integration with the popular DeepSeek large model.

The accelerated arrival of the AI era will become an important engine for the development of new energy vehicles. This year, ZEEKR has established an independent Intelligent Development Department (iDD), focusing on forward-looking exploration and research and development in the field of artificial intelligence, also empowering the company's daily operational management.

Moving forward, ZEEKR will continue to strategically layout AI, pushing its intelligence to surpass the industry's first tier once again. In the future, ZEEKR Technology Group will adopt a platform development model of "full-stack self-research in software and hardware, all high-end," achieving efficient collaboration in intelligent driving routes.

An Conghui revealed that by the end of February, the urban navigation NZP from parking space to parking space D2D will begin a public test with thousands of participants and will be fully rolled out in April; in the second quarter, Lynk & Co 900 will officially launch as the world's first mass-produced model equipped with NVIDIA's Orin chip; in April, a new car featuring L3-level intelligent driving technology will be showcased at the Shanghai Auto Show, with product delivery expected in the fourth quarter.

Beyond technological innovation, ZEEKR's second major battle is the product value war. It is reported that by 2025, Lynk & Co will launch two new models to achieve an annual sales target of 390,000 vehicles; ZEEKR will launch three new models to achieve an annual sales target of 320,000 vehicles.

The third major battle is the global breakthrough. An Conghui mentioned, "Born global is the common gene of Lynk & Co and ZEEKR."

Just two years after the launch of its first car, ZEEKR began its globalization journey in 2023. As of the end of December last year, ZEEKR had entered over 40 countries and regions, including Sweden, Australia, the UAE, Singapore, Mexico, and Egypt, covering six continents: Europe, Asia, and Oceania, with ZEEKR 001, ZEEKR 009, ZEEKR X, and ZEEKR 7X entering overseas markets.

Lynk & Co has also achieved good results overseas, with a total export volume exceeding 80,000 units since its establishment, ranking first among Chinese brands with a unit price of over 40,000 euros in the European market for three consecutive years.

Globalization is both the past and the future path for the new ZEEKR. However, unlike other brands that focus on expanding into emerging markets, Lynk & Co and ZEEKR will adhere to the principle of "moving towards new heights," targeting the high-end luxury markets in Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia as their anchor points for sailing.

In addition, An Conghui pointed out that ZEEKR and Lynk & Co will work together to explore international markets. Beyond Europe, the two brands will establish a unified sales company, create a unified market access mechanism, and strengthen global channel construction collaboration.

By 2025, Lynk & Co and ZEEKR plan to establish over 200 stores overseas, with Lynk & Co 08 EM-P and ZEEKR's first "800-volt global vehicle" ZEEKR 7X officially launching overseas Through these three major battles, ZEEKR plans to achieve an annual sales target of 710,000 units this year, realizing a year-on-year growth of 40%. The overseas market accounts for about 10%, of which Lynk & Co accounts for 60% and ZEEKR accounts for 40%, becoming the BBA of the new energy era.

Standing at a new starting point, in the next two years, ZEEKR also aims to become a globally leading high-end luxury electric vehicle group with an annual production and sales volume of one million units, changing the landscape of the high-end luxury market in China and even globally.

Beyond the ambitions and "overt strategies" clearly indicated, ZEEKR will undoubtedly need to take more actions in the future