Zeekr to take aim at BYD Shark 6 with new premium plug-in ute now on the table

Zeekr’s willingness to embrace its sibling brands to help crack the Australian market could pay off in the shape of a BYD Shark 6-rivalling plug-in hybrid ute.

The premium brand Australian arm is interested in exploring the Geely Radar Horizon EM-P PHEV as a premium pickup truck, either badged Zeekr or Lynk & Co.

While no project has been signed off, the brand’s executives in both Australia and Sweden have flagged Australia’s significant ute segment – and its equivalents in South Africa, South America and South-East Asia – as a potential trigger for a new and premium ute.

“We’re trying to work closely with our design teams. If there are any interesting models – for example, you spoke about a ute before – is there anything we could do in that space? Is there any platform we can use to create that?” Asks Zeekr Head of Product, Melvin Low.

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“It’s a business case that always has to be considered. We propose what we can and then they look holistically at all the markets. So, if there’s a market that Zeekr is currently in that requires it, it could be South America or South America. And if there’s demand for it, there’s potential.”

Mr Low is not alone, with Zeekr’s Swedish design team apparently shocked by the popularity of dual-cab utes in Australia when they were in the country, leading them to also question whether a Zeerk or Lynk & Co ute could form part of the lineup.

“The Swedish team were actually talking to me about it. They said ‘we’ve been in Australia for a couple of days and we’ve seen so many pickups’,” Mr Low says.

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“They would love to design one. Use one of maybe the current platforms and turn it into probably a monocoque pickup.

“If you look at Riddara (RD6). it’s a platform in our kind of space. The question is, could that be used for a Zeekr product or a Lynk & Co product?”

No matter its badge, a ute would likely be sold through Zeekr’s dealership network, with the brand’s local MD, Frank Li, all but confirming Lynk & Co’s plug-in hybrid models would come to Australia, likely wearing Zeekr badging.

“I think that at the end of the day, the customer cares the most care about the product itself. If you ask me personally, I would say that it’s better to re-badge Lynk & Co” Mr Li says.

The Geely Radar Horizon EM-P PHEV is billed as a lifestyle ute built on a car-like platform, and pairs a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine with twin electric motors,.

Total powered pegged at 260kW and 914Nm, while its 19.09kWh lithium-iron phosphate delivers an EV-only driving range of 100kms, and a total combined range in excess of 1000km.