Zeekr eyes former Holden and Ford tuners to localise its incoming product rush

October 9, 2025October 31, 2025 Andrew Chesterton 13001 Views Zeekr

Zeekr says it has local engineering firms Walkinshaw and Premcar on the must-call list as it looks at local ride and handling tuning to better equip its vehicles for Australian conditions.

It’s a well-worn path for brands in Australia, with Kia and Hyundai both deploying local ride and handling programs years ago with so much success plans for a local R&D centre are in the works.

More recently, GWM has recruited former Holden handling guru Rob Trubiani to put a local spin on its products.

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The Chinese brand has also taken a permanent residency at Victoria’s Lang Lang Proving Ground and has even admitted making an offer to buy the facility from current owner, Vietnamese EV start-up VinFast.

The news of Zeekr’s plans comes at a time when there is plenty of focus on retuning of Chinese vehicles for Australian conditions.

That’s thanks to the controversy over local changes to Deepal S07 driver assist system controls and how they comply with ANCAP safety testing.

We’ve reported on that issue here:

Falling star? ANCAP warns Deepal that safety changes risk S07’s five-star rating and retesting could be required

Zeekr brand’s Head of Product, Melvin Low, told EV Central he would be contacting two of Australia’s best-known engineering firms to investigate a program for its vehicles.

Premcar already works with Nissan on the Warrior program, while Walkinshaw works with Toyota, RAM, Chevrolet and more.

Premcar has historic ties with Ford, essentially being born out of the old Ford Performance Vehicles business, while Walkinshaw came to prominence in Australia as the driving force behind Holden Special Vehicles.

“It’s a program that I’m definitely considering. We need to get many ducks in line to get that happening. We don’t have an engineering team based in Australia, so we may need support on that sort of thing,” Low said.

“I know some of the other OEMs have hired (Walkinshaw or Premcar), so we’ll talk to some of those companies to see what programs they can offer, give them scope and say this is our vehicle.”

Mr Low says he’s keen to move away from the vagueries of a ‘global tune’ and ensure future Zeekr and Lynk & Co products – the latter likely rebadged as Zeekr vehicles in Australia – best suit local conditions.

“I’ve been in with previous OEMs, and you can see they either have a good world tune, or if they don’t, they try their best to improve it.

“I’ll give you a really good example. Maybe Hong Kong likes a softer tune because it has better roads, while Australia needs a stiffer tune because obviously we have a lot of uneven roads here.

“So localising our product and having a specific product for Australia is definitely my task and my challenge.”

Andrew Chesterton

Andrew began his career as a journalist at Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, before he was lured into the fast-paced world of supercars at TopGear Australia. He has also held senior roles at The Daily Mail, which involved spending time at HQ in London, and on the other side of the automotive divide with FCA Australia. As one of Australia's best-read freelance writers, Andrew now contributes to Robb Report, Wish in The Australian, Domain in The Australian Financial Review, CarsGuide, Wheels, The West Australian, GQ, Men's Health and more. His love for writing has carried him around the world and back again, writing for clients in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the USA. He secretly enjoys it so much he’d probably do it for free, but he hopes his editors never find out that bit...