Geely’s Zeekr coming to PH through AutoHub Group

Zeekr to come in with AutoHub; first store will be in BGC

The last couple of months have been an interesting one for Li Shufu’s Geely Holding Group’s brands in the Philippines.

The namesake Geely brand has been making waves in the last few years with strong growth in the market. There was a major set back as distributor Sojitz G Auto Philippines (SGAP) experienced an aftersales trial-by-fire and trial-by-social-media that they are now working to bounce back from.

Then came news of the impending arrival of Geely’s more upscale sister brand in Lynk & Co. The brand will be managed by United Asia Automotive Group, Inc. (UAAGI) which has a lot of experience with Chinese auto brands in Foton and Chery. And they are set to make their public debut next month at MIAS with a marketing team that formerly handled Chevrolet (now under Fe Agudo’s leadership) and MG (which is now under SAIC Motor Philippines).

But now there is another, and it involves one of the largest automotive retail groups in the Philippines: AutoHub.

The AutoHub Group, led by Willy Tee Ten, will be the distributor of the Zeekr brand in the Philippines. The news comes straight from China as the Hangzhou-based Zeekr Intelligent Technology division of Geely Holding had sent official information to local press outlets there about the partnership between AutoHub and Zeekr. It seems the Zeekr brand was indeed very excited about the prospect of breaking into the Southeast Asian market.

Zeekr is the premium marque of Geely that deals only in battery electric vehicles (BEVs). They currently have a four model line up with the Zeekr 001 (midsize 4-door), the Zeekr 007 (compact executive sedan), Zeekr 009 (large MPV), and the Zeekr X (subcompact SUV). This will be the first brand under AutoHub to deal purely with BEVs.

That means apart from their many dealerships with multiple automobile brands (like Ford, Mitsubishi, and many more), AutoHub is expanding their portfolio again as a brand importer and distributor. Currently, they are the official importers and distributors for brands like Mini, Rolls-Royce, Lotus, and even Pagani; though that last one we have yet to see an example of on our roads. They also have a various motorcycle and accessory brands under their wing.

This actually didn’t come as a surprise. For a few months, AutoHub executives have been posting photos of their trips to Hangzhou, though we were leaning more towards AutoHub getting Polestar rather than Zeekr. But for them to make a play for Polestar, they will likely have to travel to Gothenburg in Sweden on top of Hangzhou.

So what will Zeekr Philippines be like? According to the information undeniably released by Zeekr, the flagship store will be in BGC; that makes sense because AutoHub’s base is in BGC, though we expect them to expand with more dealerships depending on the response of the market.

Their first two models were also mentioned: AutoHub will bring in the Zeekr 001 as well as the Zeekr X. The target launch is sometime in Q2, which means the first cars will arrive between April and June. We’re not quite sure if they’ll make it in time for MIAS next month, but what we know is they’re planning a major announcement at their 25th anniversary party next week.

Oops.