Chinese insurgents Zeekr and XPeng debut in Australia at Melbourne EV Expo
The Chinese EV invasion has kicked up a notch with the formal debut of XPeng and Zeekr in Australia.
The two luxury electric brands rolled out today at Electric Expo Melbourne 2024.
They are two of at least one dozen new Chinese brands – mostly electric – expected on-sale in Australia by the end of 2025.
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XPeng was undoubtedly the dominant brand at the show today, with the AeroHT flying car as its star drawcard.
But the XPeng display also included the G6 mid-size electric SUV that launches in September; the G9 large SUV coming in 2025; the X9 luxury people-mover and the P7 scissor-door sedan.
Zeekr focussed on the X compact SUV, which will be the first model it launches in Australia in September.
Other brands represented at the show included Polestar, which displayed its new 3 and 4 SUVs together, while Mini showed off the new Countryman E and SE.
“We want to be the number one luxury smart EV brand in Australia,” said Jason Clarke, the CEO of Australian XPeng importer TrueEV.
“We see XPeng as a leading provider and manufacturer of smart EVs.
“We identified XPeng as the best quality brand we could bring into Australia.”
Zeekr Australia marketing chief Andrew Haurissa was more cautious about ambitions for the Geely-owned brand in Australia.
“Success for us will be adoption,” he said. “Driving will be believing.
“[Australian] sales are yet to be determined … once we get the cars into the market we will figure that out.
“Volume is important but we are flexible being a premium player.”
The show continues throughout the weekend at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
