Zeekr Australia’s managing directior says potential plans to launch the Lynk & Co brand here don’t stack up right now, but Lynk & Co models could still end up in local showrooms wearing Zeekr badges.
While both Zeekr and Lynk & Co are part of the Geely group, which also contains Volvo, Polestar, Smart, Lotus and other brands, Zeekr took over Lynk & Co earlier this year, and its local office is considering whether to bring the marque Down Under as a stand-alone brand here.
Speaking at the recent launch of the new 7X mid-size electric SUV, Zeekr Australia managing director Frank Li told CarExpert the decision has not been made on whether to launch the Lynk & Co brand here – but he indicated he has a preference.
“My personal opinion is that it doesn’t really make a lot of sense for one brand with the Zeekr name… [which] brings in two or three models, and suddenly we have to create another… bring another new brand, and bring another one or two models… that doesn’t really make a lot of sense,” Mr Li said.
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That somewhat puts paid to the launch of the Lynk & Co brand (but not its models) in Australia in the short- to medium-term, but perhaps not permanently.
“At the moment we are thinking about all the Zeekr models, Lynk & Co models together,” Mr Li said.
“But for this point, I need to report to HQ and reconsider the vision as well.”
It seems the decision hasn’t officially been made about which direction to take, but the intentions of Zeekr’s local division seem loud and clear.
Zeekr arrived in Australia late last year but was formed in 2021, making it five years younger than Lynk & Co, but a reorganisation within the Geely group saw Zeekr take a 51 per cent stake in the older Chinese brand in February 2025.
The remaining 49 per cent ownership of Lynk & Co belongs to Geely, which also has a 10 per cent ownership stake of Mercedes-Benz.
Geely will officially own 100 per cent of Zeekr by the end of 2025, having upped its 62.8 per cent stake earlier this year to bring the Zeekr brand back into private ownership after it listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2024.
The two brands are already strongly interlinked, with the original 2020 Lynk & Co Zero Concept becoming the pioneering Zeekr 001 production model in showrooms in 2021.
While Zeekr is still less than a year old in Australia, other Chinese automakers – most notably Chery – haven’t shied away from adding more brands for Aussies to consider.
After returning to Australia in 2023, the Chery brand was joined by Omoda Jaecoo earlier this year and will be joined by Leapas in 2026 – making it the third brand launched by Chery in Australia in four years.
It’s one of more than 10 auto brands operated by Chery globally, including Rely, which specialises in dual-cab utes and could help Chery create the competitor for the popular Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux it has promised to release in Australia.
First Australian customer deliveries of the Zeekr 7X are scheduled to begin next month (October), and the company expects the Tesla Model Y rival to become its best-selling model, ahead of the Zeekr X small electric SUV and 009 electric people-mover already on sale.
