FIRST DRIVE: Zeekr 009 – Rolls-Royce & Porsche Challenger?

Not everyone likes the same thing, and in the case of the luxury automotive market in China, that means heritage and handling aren’t guaranteed to win over the wealthy.

Step forward Zeekr, the fledgling all-electric luxe brand from Geely (which also counts Lotus, Polestar and Volvo as part of its group). In its battle for the elite’s earnings, Zeekr’s offering is the 009, a swanky minivan that majors on space, comfort and connected tech.

But why are posh MPVs on the rise in China, when limos and large 4x4s dominate elsewhere? We sent Top Gear Magazine’s Associate Editor, Tom Ford, to find out more…

WATCH MORE TOP GEAR:

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:51 Chat with Head of Zeekr Design
05:16 Interior
09:04 Chat with Zeekr 009 Product Manager
10:28 Drive
12:30 Background on Zeekr
13:34 Chat with Zeekr VP
15:49 Zeekr Centre
16:36 Conclusion

MORE ABOUT TOP GEAR:

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[MartinMonchberger]

Please interview hasan Blitz! This Guy is a legend and very sympathic

[joshcyz]

No wonder the US and EU are blocking Chinese EVs
These cars make the traditional brands look like Nokia.

[amoymous]

As a Zeekr employee I'm glad to see Top Gear showing this to the world. Price of the new 2024 ver 009 starts around 439000CNY, which is about 63000 USD, and it's better than what you get in this video all around. We got good stuffs from other brands too. Let's hope the competition will give the world better cars eventually.😊

[da]

Was in China in June 2024 and saw this car in the mall gallery shop. It's super sleek and high tech is quite impressive. I'd buy one in a heartbeat if it were allowed in the US. The pricing may be cheap but they are not low quality.

[adrianbalea]

It’s a pity that we, Europeans, don’t get good MPVs anymore.
This car is amazing, I would love to have a family version of it.

[eugp]

Not only in China but in Asia in general, VIPs, Politicians and CEOs are chauffeured in luxury MPVs than luxury sedans.
MPVs has the road presence - Alphard, Vellfire, Lexus LM350 are the preferred choice, but Chinese MPVs are raising fast.
And lets be realistic, most of the rich and powerful are in their old age. MPV makes more sense ergonomically and doesn't hurt your knees and back going in and out.. lol

[denverwenyika]

l am a proud BYD car owner and since here in Zimbabwe we have an official dealer the Service is top notch

[GurkiratXSingh]

The sheer ignorance that the European People have towards China and other emerging countries in the east is baffling. East is where the growth is fellas.

[sevenhenson]

you buy this car to be a passenger, not to drive.

[ashutoshtewari]

The infrastructure of that city is outstanding!

[wgu]

How dare you show up the Chinese products to the rest of the world !? They are gonna love it !!!! Stop showing that !!!

[challenger]

Had a long trip in one of this's backseat. Gonna say it is outstandingly comfortable as a passenger, definitely better than the Lexus LM. The finish quality is top-notch, yet the improvement space is obvious in the use of materials. However, after considering one's price, it is not an issue. No, it's not Rolls-Royce comfort, but it doesn't ask for Rolls-Royce money either.

By the way, the facelift version can be optioned to have 700+ HP for some reason. We are definitely gonna see some idiots take this to the Nurburgring.

[Coresake]

If you stop at a conjunction in Moscow you're gonna see like 6 of those around you

[AkarshitThakur-bvft]

China is super cool, especially the night skyline in the end

[abhinavg]

Credit where credit is due, Chinese or not

[qrmbjiv]

Actually, there is a even more luxurious version of this car in China which has only two seats in the back, a 42 inches 4k mini-led tv in front of them and surrounded by a stereo system has 31 speakers and 3000w of power consumptions😅

[daveykay]

Nice to see this on a British canal.

I drive the Zeekr 001 Privilege in Holland (for now only for sale in Sweden and Holland in Europe) and I love it! High quality, high tech, high luxury!

[hkoljsm]

Every time a Chinese product get reviewed, political comments invariably appeared. Geely is a listed company and not a state owned company.

Most people outside China have no idea how the Chinese government is run and simply labelled it “authoritarian”.

The Chinese government is a meritocracy where promotion within is based upon achieving goals set by seniors in improving people‘s lives and solving problems within whichever village, town etc that the junior government officer is in charge of….and not run by politicians giving empty promises to achieve popularity amongst voters at election times, and then go off to do their own things “with a public mandate” (or, most likely, not able to do anything at all in such a short term of office).

Each polictical system has its own good and bad points, but there is no right and wrong.

65 million British chose their own political system: a constitutional monarchy with parlimentary democracy painfully developed over hundreds of years. No one is questioing their choice.

So when 1.4 billion Chinese chose their own political system (also painfully developed but over thousands of years) which, as an undisputed fact (eg. National GDP), vastly improved their living standards over the last 40 years, people outside China should respect their choice!

(And even better, just visit China first and see with their own eyes before raising those uninformed comments!)

[tedwong]

China loves family cars, the proudest thing for chinese adult is offering his/her family a pleasant ride

[Kukura]

The Volvo EM90 is a completely downgraded version of this car, most importantly the twin motors become single motors.The 009 was launched in 2022, two years before the Volvo, and the EM90 is more of a hybrid as it has to be generic and some parts can't be retained from the Volvo design. It's not the most luxurious, last year Zeekr introduced a more luxurious 4-seater version with a centre divider. Cumulative deliveries of the Zeekr 009 exceed 22, 000 units by April 2024