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Jimu News reporter Zhong Zhou

On the evening of August 13, Zeekr Motors held a new car launch conference and officially launched the 2025 Zeekr 001 and Zeekr 007, which have been upgraded in terms of smart driving and car computers compared to the old models. However, since it was less than half a year since the last model change, the release of the 2025 Zeekr caused controversy among many owners of old models.

A Zeekr store in a shopping mall in Wuhan

"The car owner group has been going crazy for a long time." On August 14, Mr. Huang (a pseudonym), the owner of the 2024 Zeekr 001, said in an interview with Jimu News reporter.

On August 4, Mr. Huang, who lives in Hangzhou, bought a 2024 Zeekr 001 WE95 locally. The invoice he provided to Jimu News reporters showed that the total cost of the car purchase was 271,000 yuan. "There was no discount, just the right to enjoy the official gift of wheels."

Mr. Huang said that he spent a month looking around before and after buying the car, comparing models from Tesla, NIO, Xiaomi and other brands, and finally chose the Zeekr 001. According to his recollection, when he bought the car, the salesperson said that the car had good market sales and it was impossible to launch a new model this year. Public information shows that on February 27 this year, the 2024 Zeekr 001 was launched. With its unique hunting suit appearance and control advantages, the car's sales have been rising all the way, and it has achieved a record of over 10,000 units for three consecutive months.

To Mr. Huang’s surprise, less than 10 days after he picked up the car, the 2025 Zeekr 001 was officially released. The price of the new model has not changed, and the appearance is basically the same, but the official promotional video states that it is a "new generation" in terms of smart drive, smart cockpit, and smart driving.

2025 Zeekr 001 official trailer poster

Since the new intelligent driving system is completely different, Mr. Huang is very worried about the later maintenance of the 2024 Zeekr 001 intelligent driving system. On the other hand, he learned that after the new model was launched, the 2024 Zeekr 001 had a substantial discount on the terminal price. "I didn't expect to be backstabbed so soon." Mr. Huang said that there are many old car owners who have the same idea as him.

On the afternoon of August 14, a reporter from Jimu News visited a Zeekr Auto store in a large shopping mall in Wuhan. The 2025 Zeekr 001 and Zeekr 007 were parked in a prominent position in the store. The salesperson said that there were only a small number of 2024 Zeekr 001 vehicles in stock, but did not disclose the specific discount amount.

A used car dealer in Wuhan told Jimu News that from the perspective of used car market recycling, the launch of new models will inevitably lead to a reduction in the purchase price of old models, and the specific extent depends on how big the gap in core functions is.

Why did it undergo two model changes in less than half a year? Jimu News called the official 400 customer service of Jike Auto to inquire about the relevant issues, but no response was received as of press time.

However, Zeekr Auto released "Zekr 2025 New Product Release and Answers to User Questions" on its official Weibo account on the afternoon of August 14, explaining some of the disputes raised by old car owners. Zeekr said that the development cycle of a new car takes about 14-18 months, and the 2024 Zeekr 001 was confirmed and approved for research and development in early 2023, but there was no plan to adopt the Haohan Intelligent Driving solution at the time. In 2024, an internal decision was made to approve the self-developed intelligent driving solution for use on the car. After a special effort, the Haohan Intelligent Driving version, which was originally planned to be implemented by the end of 2024, has achieved the first phase of functions ahead of schedule.

Regarding the intelligent driving system that owners of old models are worried about, Zeekr stated in the above notice that since there are two sets of solutions at the system and hardware levels, old models cannot be replaced with the new Haohan intelligent driving solution, but the intelligent driving functions of the old Mobileye solution will continue to be updated.

Zeekr official answers questions from car owners

An automotive industry insider said that when new and old models are replaced, traditional car companies generally use methods such as co-selling and price discounts to provide a buffer period, allowing consumers to have a certain degree of freedom to choose. In recent years, under the wave of electrification and intelligent transformation, the replacement cycle of automobiles has been greatly shortened, and disputes among old car owners caused by this are not uncommon.

Some self-media bloggers have expressed their opinions on this incident, saying that new energy vehicles have entered a period of rapid iteration and car owners should remain calm. In response, Mr. Huang said that he understands that car manufacturers need to move forward, but they cannot ignore the emotions of old car owners who support their cars with real platinum and silver.

(Source: Jimu News)

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