Zeekr gains control of Lynk & Co and sets sales targets
It became apparent several months ago that the purely electric car brand Zeekr would take control of Lynk & Co. In autumn 2024, the Chinese state-run newspaper Economic Daily reported that Geely wanted to consolidate its brands for new energy vehicles. And so it came to pass. Geely subsidiary Volvo Cars, which Lynk & Co had founded as a joint venture with the Geely Group in 2017, sold its 30 per cent stake internally to Zeekr. Geely ceded further percentages so Zeekr could become the majority shareholder with the aforementioned 51 per cent. Geely continues to own the complementary 49 per cent of the brand. At the same time, however, Geely Auto is said to be planning to increase its stake in Zeekr to around 62.8 per cent. Indirectly, the parent company will thus retain control.
The transaction, worth 5.4 billion yuan (around 710 million euros), was justified with “a new development phase of Lynk & Co.” Geely’s official statement in November 2024 read as follows: “The proposed move aims to accelerate technology synergies between the two brands, streamline product portfolios, and boost talent development, ultimately leading to greater global sales volume.”
Zeekr CEO Andy An is now translating this targeted sales volume into concrete target figures: The Zeekr brand will launch three new models in 2025 and aims to sell 320,000 units in the current year. In comparison, Zeekr sold 222,123 vehicles in 2024 (+87% YoY). Lynk & Co plans to launch two new models in 2025 and increase sales to 390,000 units. Here, 285,441 vehicles were sold in 2024 (+30% YoY). He underlines the new affiliation of the two brands with the statement that Zeekr and Lynk & Co together want to achieve 40 per cent growth and sales of 710,000 vehicles. China’s most successful EV manufacturer BYD sold 1.76 million units in 2024.
The roots of the two Geely brands are quite different. Lynk & Co focussed primarily on hybrids and plug-in hybrids when it was founded in 2016, but has also recently started offering purely electric cars. The brand was only moderately successful with the partially electrified SUV Lynk & Co 01 when it debuted in Europe, but this may have been partly due to the sales model. Although things have improved in China so far, the momentum is weakening. Under a new brand boss, Lynk & Co is currently working on a new start and bringing the 02 (sold in China as the Z20) to Europe, including a battery-electric SUV.
Zeekr, on the other hand, has focussed on all-electric passenger cars since it was founded in 2021 and has been successful with this in China – expansion into other markets, including Europe, is currently underway. The Lynk & Co 02 is technically closely related to the Zeekr X – so there is internal competition. With the expansion of the Lynk & Co model portfolio to include BEVs, the two brands are becoming increasingly close – especially as they pursue a comparable design language.
However, Andy An emphasises the different positioning of the brands: Zeekr will thus focus on vehicles beyond the 300,000 yuan price tag (around 39,000 euros) and produce mid-range cars with BEV and large vehicles with hybrid drive. Lynk & Co, on the other hand, will focus more on the market for vehicles from 200,000 yuan RMB (around 26,000 euros) – with all-electric small cars and medium-sized and large vehicles with hybrid drive. Those responsible are also hoping for synergies in sales and overseas expansion.
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