Geely-Backed EV Brand Zeekr to Raise Prices on May 1

Zeekr, a high-end electric vehicle (EV) brand operated by Chinese auto giant Geely announced on Saturday that it will raise prices starting from May 1, 2022. The firm said that details regarding customer rights and the specific adjustment plan will be released before April 30.

According to the company, due to the rising cost of raw materials and other factors, price increases for new energy vehicles has become common across the industry lately. Zeekr has received inquiries about adjustments to prices and consumer rights. After fully considering the interests of users, the car company has decided to announce the following plan:

Zeekr said that nothing will change in April, and that prices will be raised from May 1.

The day before, Zeekr announced its March sales results. Affected by the pandemic and chip shortage situation, the sales volume of its Zeekr 001 model totaled 1,795 vehicles in March this year, with a cumulative sales volume of 14,248 vehicles. The company expects that the delivery volume will pick up noticeably in April.

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Since the Chinese Spring Festival holiday earlier this year, clusters of COVID-19 cases have broken out in many places across the country, bringing further impacts to Zeekr’s production. Zhao Chunlin, the vice president of Zeekr Intelligent Technology, previously told Jiemian News, “The company’s suppliers are located in several places including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shandong, Tianjin, Guangdong, Jilin and Zhejiang. Nearly 30 auto part suppliers have been affected by the pandemic. More than half of our suppliers have experienced a short shutdown, which has caused uncertainty to the production. This month’s production delivery has been greatly affected.”

Since March, the price of new energy vehicles has experienced a second wave of price increases. Car companies such as Tesla, BYD and WM Motor have raised the price of their models recently, generally at a margin of around 10,000 yuan ($1,571). Some that did not adjust product prices in January and February this year have also announced price increases. As of April 1, more than 22 major new energy vehicle brands and nearly 50 car models have announced price increases.