The High Achievers
Eric Li is also known as Li Shufu; he began his career recycling electronic waste (sic!) and manufacturing fridge parts. He turns 63 this summer – and is probably the most powerful man in the automotive industry. Not only is he the founder of the Geely conglomerate, which comprises at least 16 brands, he is also the largest single shareholder in Daimler AG and has bought his way into the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. Oh yes, he’s also involved with Aston Martin, though that’s probably more of a hobby; as we all know, you can’t make money with the English. But Li Shufu doesn’t officially have as much pocket money as Elon Musk – yet he wields even more power and far greater influence in the automotive industry. The prediction that Geely, together with BYD, will dominate the next decade of motoring is not particularly bold. And it seems as though Li Shufu has a favourite child. Although he has two famous European premium brands in his portfolio – Lotus and Volvo – and also has Polestar and Lynk & Co. under his control, along with a vast array of other Chinese brands that’s almost impossible to keep track of, it’s starting to look more and more as though Zeekr is set to become the global spearhead of the Geely Group.
Zeekr? No, that’s not a secret recipe for a Chinese soup with goose feet, but rather a combination of Generation Z and a ‘geek’ – a nerd, akin to the Middle Low German word ‘Geck’. Zeekr, founded as recently as 2021, does indeed have something of a nerdish quality about it; it always wants to be right at the front of the pack, preferring to be right in the thick of things rather than completely off the mark. But they do actually exist, albeit rarely enough – these model pupils who can also charm the girls and are still picked first for football in the playground. You can’t really design that on a drawing board or commission it in the marketing department, yet Shufu seems to have a knack for it. Zeekr launched the mighty 001 in China as its first model – almost five metres long and weighing 2.3 tonnes. The name may be extremely unimaginative, but you might as well save the money you’d spend on agencies churning out expensive, grandiose names like Karl or Koleos. But you really have to take a close look at this 001, a cross between the ill-fated Ferrari Purosangue and an Aston Martin Shooting Brake, which unfortunately hasn’t been around for decades. Perhaps the Zeekr 001 was ‘the sexiest electric car’ available to buy in the early 2020s.
You have to imagine the Geely conglomerate as a huge warehouse. A large stock list hangs at the entrance, and then every brand can help itself as it pleases. Of course, this doesn’t happen completely haphazardly; the individual brands must be able to justify, for example, how they intend to use the SEA platform and how they plan to make money from it. The budget models for the domestic market naturally don’t get the good stuff, but Zeekr certainly does, as can be seen in the latest model, which is now also on sale in Europe: with the 7X, the Chinese have pulled off a coup that is unrivalled, at least in Europe. SEA platform, of course, 800-V architecture – that’s simply a must these days. The base version features the in-house ‘Golden Battery’ with 75 kWh and (more affordable) LFP chemistry, which can be charged using Chinese charging connectors and corresponding fast chargers at up to 480 kW. Admittedly, that’s not (yet) available in Europe, but with the 360 kW peak charging also possible in Germany and Switzerland, the Zeekr still leaves everyone else in the dust, including Porsche and Audi models that cost three times as much. It goes from 10 to 80 per cent state of charge in 13 minutes (in China, even in 10.5 minutes). The 103.8 kWh CATL battery in the top-of-the-range model isn’t quite as quick, but 16 minutes for 10–80 per cent state of charge is still an impressive figure. Oh yes, the 7X is available from 53,990 Swiss francs; the all-inclusive version with the large battery, all-wheel drive and the finest materials in the interior costs 64,900 Swiss francs – that’s where the price lists for mid-range vehicles start among European premium manufacturers. Without electricity.
The now somewhat legendary 001 remains in the range, starting at 59,990 Swiss francs. And then there’s the X, which you could certainly describe as a driving smartphone – the Chinese aren’t even offended by that. It can do everything an iPhone 17 or the latest Samsung thingy can do; it plays PlayStation 17 with the driver and instantly generates the latest Spotify playlists; it responds to WhatsApp messages via voice commands and reads out news from the dark web. Above all, however, an X like this is delightfully compact: 4.43 metres long, 1.84 metres wide, 1.57 metres high. That places it somewhere between a compact car and an SUV, though it doesn’t want to be pigeonholed anyway – something you can see in its decidedly bold yet smart design. The many sharp edges and angular lines suit the Chinese car well; it stands out – something other Chinese manufacturers tend to lack. Fully equipped with all-wheel drive, 428 hp and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds, an X costs 46,990 Swiss francs; the base version is available from 37,990 Swiss francs.
Zeekr has been represented in Switzerland since mid-2025, through Emil Frey AG (as is Leapmotor). “We see strong synergy between Zeekr’s premium positioning, cutting-edge technology and European design DNA with roots in Gothenburg, Sweden, and the expectations of Swiss customers,” explains Marcel Guerry, CEO of the Emil Frey Group Switzerland. A young team is keen to prove itself with this new brand – and they have another compelling argument up their sleeve: every Zeekr comes with a ten-year warranty covering up to 200,000 kilometres.
This is a story from radical#6. There are more great stories in the archive.
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