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CEO responds: There will be no model iterations for the three models within a year

author/IT Times reporter Mao Yu

Editor: Qian LifuSun Yan

August 21,ZeekrThe automaker announced its unaudited quarterly financial results for the first half of this year, which is also the first semi-annual report of Zeekr Auto since it entered the capital market in May this year. Data shows that in the first half of this year, Zeekr Auto achieved operating income of nearly 35 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of more than 60%; the comprehensive gross profit margin was 14.9%, a year-on-year increase of 4.4 percentage points; and a net loss of 3.83 billion yuan, a year-on-year reduction of 40 million yuan.

Zeekr's revenue is growing rapidly, and the 2024Zeekr 001The two models of 007 and 007 have made great contributions. However, these two "heroes" were "eliminated" only about 5 months after they were launched.In mid-August, Zeekr released the upgraded 2025 Zeekr 001 and 007, mainly upgrading the intelligent driving system and chips, which angered the owners of the 2024 models. Complaints such as "new car becomes old car", "new car owner becomes old car owner" and "loss of tens of thousands" came one after another, and Zeekr was instantly at the forefront of the storm.

A public video showed that on August 14, more than 100 Zeekr owners gathered at the Zeekr headquarters building in Hangzhou to discuss the matter. Many Zeekr 2024 owners told the IT Times reporter that they went to the scene and said that Zeekr staff recorded the owners' demands on the spot and then nothing happened.

At the performance briefing on August 21,auspiciousAn Conghui, President of the Holding Group and CEO of Zeekr Intelligent Technology, responded: "The management team has fully realized how to iterate products and maintain relationships with old users in the future.It is unlikely that Zeekr 001, 007, and 009 will have model iterations within a year, but changes in color and optional configurations are not ruled out.。”

On August 21, a reporter from IT Times visited a Zeekr store in downtown Shanghai and test drove the 2025 Zeekr 007 to experience the latest intelligent driving system.

"Intelligent driving and chips are the core content of the 2025 upgrade. The price has not increased, and the intelligent driving version still starts at 269,000 yuan." The store salesperson said that most of the customers currently coming to the store are for the 2025 models, and there is not much inventory of the 2024 001 and 007 models, including the exhibition cars.

According to people familiar with the matter, Zeekr 001 had previously cooperated with Mobileye, but after the recent termination of the agreement, it was replaced with Nvidia's latest computing power chip. The 2024 Zeekr 001 adopts the intelligent driving solution from Mobileye, equipped with dual Mobileye EyeQ5H intelligent driving chips, with a total computing power of 48TOPS.The 2025 Zeekr 001 and 007 are equipped with dual Orin X computing platforms, with a total computing power of 508 TOPS, which is ten times higher than the 2024 models. The intelligent driving solution adopts Zeekr's self-developed Haohan Intelligent Driving 2.0 solution.

If it was Zeekr's heart that was hurt by intelligent driving before the 2025 model went online, then it was the hearts of old car owners that were shattered after the launch of the new 2025 intelligent driving version.

“Our complaint lasted for nearly 10 days without any response or compensation."Xiao Xia (pseudonym), a car owner who bought the 2024 001 model in mid-June this year, told the IT Times reporter that after seeing the information posted online on the morning of August 14, she drove for two hours to the Hangzhou Zeekr Building and was pulled into the WeChat group with other car owners at the scene by the staff. "The irony is that although it is said to be a group waiting for news, there is actually no news until now."。

Xiao Xia told reporters that almost all the owners in the rights protection group picked up their cars within 1-3 months, and there were even car owners who bought the 2024 model around August 10. "When we bought it, the salesperson told us very clearly that the 2025 model would not be launched in the near future. Zeekr executive Guan Haitao also refuted the rumors on Weibo in early July. Based on our trust in the brand, we chose the 2024 001." Xiao Xia said helplessly that no car owner would not care about the intelligent driving system at all, "Zeekr should inform consumers before the new model is launched, so that consumers can choose the 2024 or 2025 model on their own."

The IT Times reporter found in the Weibo of Zeekr Intelligent Technology CMO Guan Haitao that on July 12, he forwarded a Weibo post from Zeekr's legal department and refuted the rumor. The content was a screenshot of a WeChat group, claiming that Zeekr would launch the latest model at the end of July. This Weibo post was regarded by many 2024 car owners as direct proof of the official rumor refutation.

Another car owner, Xiao Ai (pseudonym), who picked up his car at the end of June this year and rushed to the Zeekr Building on August 14, told reporters, "Zeekr officials only recorded our demands on that day without an apology. Our demand is to update the latest version of Zhijia to old car owners, or to give certain points or cash compensation appropriately. But Zeekr has not taken any action at present, which makes us old car owners feel disheartened."

Regarding this modification, An Conghui explained after the 2025 Zeekr 001 and 007 press conference, "The 2024 Zeekr 001 was planned in early 2023, and until the end of 2023, Zeekr planned to launch the 2024 Zeekr 001 in the second half of 2024. However, due to changes in the market situation, it was iterated in the first half of this year. After the 2024 Zeekr 001 was launched in February, Zeekr learned from market research that users wanted to use self-developed intelligent driving. It was from then on that Zeekr began to develop its own intelligent driving, which is the 2025 Zeekr 001.Zeekr 001。”

On the evening of August 14, in response to the public opinion storm, Zeekr officially released "Zeekr 2025 New Product Release Answers to User Questions" on Weibo, clarifying three points:First, it denied that the new intelligent driving solution was prepared to be installed when the 2024 Zeekr 001 was released in February, and explained that the 2025 model was equipped with the vast intelligent driving solution to meet the calls of potential users, and it was launched at this time because the intelligent driving team had already realized the function in advance; second, it made it clear that the old models cannot be replaced with the vast intelligent driving system; third, the intelligent driving system of the Mobileye solution will continue to be updated, but there was no positive response to whether there will be new cars with the Mobileye solution in the future.

However, the explanation from Zeekr’s top management and Zeekr’s official response obviously did not quell the dissatisfaction among the 2024 model owners.

The technological era is changing with each passing day, and new energy vehicle companiesConstantlyaccelerateIteration of prices and new technologies. To demonstrate technological iteration, various car companies have launched upgraded models such as Pro, Plus, and Performance. It can take as long as a year or as short as a few months, and "backstabbing" old car owners often happens.

July 30,BYDUnderEquation Leopard“Leopard 5"A price cut of 50,000 yuan in half a year has become a hot topic. This is another big price cut after BYD launched a price war at the beginning of this year, which made the old owners of "Leopard 5" feel "heartbroken". However, BYD has not given a positive response so far.Ideal AutoIn April this year, the company announced a price cut for some models, which caused dissatisfaction among old users. However, Ideal subsequently provided cash back to some old car owners who had already picked up their cars.XiaopengDuring the G3 delivery period, a new version was released with longer battery life, lower price and upgraded autonomous driving hardware, which led to large-scale rights protection by car owners. Xiaopeng provided solutions such as giving points or value-preserving replacement repurchase.TeslaThere have also been many cases where price cuts or model changes have caused dissatisfaction among old car owners.

Rapid technology iteration and frequent model updates are beneficial to maintaining competitiveness, which helps attract new customers and keep the market vibrant. "However, if the relationship with existing customers is not properly handled in this process, it may lead to a lack of trust and damage to the brand image. In the Zeekr incident, sales staff conveyed to old car owners that new models would not be launched quickly, but the actual situation was contrary to this, which obviously affected consumers' expectations and satisfaction. In the process of handling the incident, Zeekr lacked effective crisis management and transparent communication.

At the same time as Zeekr released its 2024 financial report, Xiaomi also released its financial report. Data showed that Xiaomi SU7 delivered 27,307 units in the second quarter, with revenue of 6.4 billion yuan and a gross profit margin of 15.4%; it suffered a loss of 1.8 billion yuan and is currently still in a high investment stage.

Although selling a Xiaomi SU7 results in a loss of 60,000 yuan, Lei Jun's determination to build cars remains unstoppable, reflecting the huge potential of the current new energy vehicle market and the fierce competition in the industry.

In such an environment, automakers are trying to seize market share by lowering prices or updating technology in order to prevent themselves from being eliminated, but they also have to withstand the pressure of losses.

Zeekr's financial report shows that the company achieved operating income of nearly 35 billion yuan in the first half of the year, an increase of more than 60% year-on-year, and a net loss of 1.8088 billion yuan, an increase of 28.7% year-on-year. Zeekr's losses are due to the continued growth of R&D investment, but it is worth noting that Zeekr Automobile's gross profit margin is not low in the industry, reaching 14.2%, higher thanNIOof 9.2% and Xpeng Motors of 6.4%.

"Under a certain gross profit margin, as the delivery volume continues to increase, the losses will also improve over time." An insider in the new energy vehicle industry told the "IT Times" reporter, but in order to seize the market, you must also have enough advantages. High cost performance, reasonable pricing, and superior technology are all reasons why the market chooses the brand.

The market is changing with each passing day. Zeekr's deliveries just reached 20,000 vehicles in June, and then fell 22% month-on-month in July. This may be another reason for Zeekr to eagerly launch the 2025 model.

Faced with such fierce competition, it is no wonder that An Conghui said at the beginning of this year, "This year, we will not be allowed any chance to make mistakes. If we make mistakes, we will lose everything." But at this moment, Zeekr is caught in turmoil. Whether this is a "mistake" remains to be tested by the market and time.

An Conghui responded in his latest statement, "The management team has fully realized how to iterate products and maintain relationships with old users in the future. This is a difficult but correct thing to do, and we must face and solve it correctly in the future."

Layout/ Ji Jiaying

Image/ Zeekr Weibo Oriental IC

Source: IT Times WeChat ID: vittimes