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Thank you: The first Chinese car center “Moscow-Tianya“ Zeekr X review: a slightly bonkers, constantly bonging family crossover What on earth is that thing? It’s called the Zeekr X, and it’s certainly not the most attractive slab of metal on ’s pages. So let’s start with a bit of background, because unless you’ve been living in China it’s unlikely that you’ll have come across Zeekr until now. The company was only founded in 2021 and was intended to be one of Geely’s premium electric carmakers. We say “one of” because the beast that is Geely also happens to own Volvo, Polestar, Lotus and Smart to name but a few. Anyway, Zeekr Europe was born around a year later, and the first shipments of this X and the swoopy 001 estate are currently on their way to Europe. Both the X and the 001 are based on versions of Geely’s Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) platform, with the X crossover sharing its underpinnings with cars like the Volvo EX30 and the Smart #1 and #3. But is it coming to the UK? Well, we’re told that deliveries will start in Sweden and the Netherlands in early November, with Belgium, Germany, Norway and France to follow shortly after that. Zeekr is deploying a direct-to-consumer sales tactic to avoid the need for dealerships and third-party involvement in the car buying process. But that’s us stalling, because as yet the X isn’t going to be sold in Britain. And neither is the 001. Doh! Zeekr Europe boss Spiros Fotinos has confirmed that a ‘right-hand drive strategy’ will be deployed in the next couple of years though, so perhaps we will see the X on our shores after all. Let’s get back to those looks. Good idea. Zeekr’s design chief is ex-VW Group and Mercedes man Stefan Sielaff, but we’re told that the X and 001 were mostly penned before he joined the company. And interestingly we’re actually getting quite strong BMW vibes from the X’s exterior styling. It almost looks like a cross between an i3 and an iX, if the resulting creation was then crashed into from behind. Strangely pleasing to see that there isn’t a generic lightbar running across the rear though, and a panoramic roof is standard, as is a little circular screen on the outside of the B pillar that gives you charging information when plugged in. Read More
