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Chinese brand Zeekr says its new mid-size electric family SUV – priced from less than $60,000 before on-road costs – is drawing attention from luxury-car customers.
Electric Cars
One of Australia's newest electric-car brands from China – Zeekr – says it is luring customers out of German prestige machinery with its new mid-size Tesla Model Y competitor, the 7X.
More than 2000 Australians have pre-ordered the 7X electric SUV, which is due to commence deliveries in the coming weeks, priced from $57,900 to $72,900 plus on-road costs.
Frank Li, managing director of Zeekr Australia and vice president of Zeekr International, told select media, including Drive, that the EV (electric vehicle) is attracting a mix of customers.
"I have had several discussions with customers of 7X. I think there are two groups. One group is coming from the ICE [petrol] car family, and most of those are coming from premium brands like BMW, Mercedes, and Audi.
"The customer, I met him, is our first 1000 pre-order customer ... That gentleman is currently driving an Audi Q7 for family use, and also himself is driving a Porsche Macan, and he would like to trade in his Porsche Macan and get a brand-new 7X.
"I think this is a very traditional ... customer image of us."
Zeekr pitches itself as a more luxurious alternative to 'mainstream' Chinese brands such as BYD, MG and sister marque Geely, though its cheapest 7X is only $2000 dearer than the entry-level BYD Sealion 7 rated with a 2km-longer driving range.
The flagship Performance AWD is the most popular variant among early pre-order customers, Drive understands, with green the top paint choice.
It is just over half the price of the least expensive electric Porsche Macan ($129,800 plus on-roads), and BMW's cheapest electric car carries an RRP starting with an eight (BMW iX1 eDrive 20, $80,600).
It is the Tesla Model Y ($58,900 to $87,400 plus on-roads) which shapes up as the 7X's most obvious competition, given their similarities in size, price, driving range and equipment.
"Another group actually is more EV-driven, so many of them [are] coming from Tesla," Li said.
"So they used to either have a Tesla, or have driven Tesla for quite a long time, so they know the driving experience of [an] EV, and then they get much more interested in our brand."
Li has previously set a target of 400 to 500 sales of the Zeekr 7X per month, which would place it among the more popular electric cars on sale in Australia.
It is not uncommon to see high pre-order interest in a new, hotly-anticipated model, before demand falls to a lower, but more consistent sales rate once the vehicle settles into the market.
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Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
