Stefan Sielaff on elevating Zeekr into a luxury brand through design

The last time CDN spoke to Geely’s VP of global design, Stefan Sielaff, he was clear about his future plans – to elevate all brands within Geely’s portfolio. With this came a particular focus on transforming Zeekr, Geely’s upmarket brand, into a luxury brand to meet changing demands of customers and developments in the car industry.

While Sielaff explained that Zeekr is already beginning to manifest as a luxury brand in China, he recognised that this won’t be so easy in Europe. CDN catches up with Sielaff to learn more about his approach to develop the Zeekr brand. 

Car Design News: Do you think there’s the appetite in Europe for a Chinese brand like Zeekr? 

Stefan Sielaff: Firstly, you have to acknowledge that the Chinese generally have a strong drive for expansion – not just into Europe – but into emerging markets. Zeekr is number one in Australia for electric cars despite all the difficulties of being a no-name brand with absolutely no brand heritage in the public consciousness.

On the other hand, as a source of encouragement, I’ve always said in China that the Japanese tackled this 40 or 45 years ago and now have a market share of about 18 percent in Germany. The Koreans started about 20 years ago and already have a market share of around nine percent.

So why shouldn’t one or more Chinese companies succeed if they approach it professionally? Of course, there will be growing pains but I’m spurred on by the determination of my Chinese colleagues and superiors to make quick decisions, learn from mistakes, correct course immediately, change strategy when necessary and say ‘okay, this isn’t working – let’s start over’. That’s the kind of entrepreneurial mindset you naturally don’t find anymore in established companies.

CDN: How do you plan to set Zeekr apart from other brands – both inside and outside the Geely group? 

SS: Within the group itself, I don’t see that as a problem. We’re already in regular communication and working hard to differentiate the brands within the group – because that’s what will ultimately work in the market. Zeekr is a good example. We started from scratch with no decades to fall back on – which can be an advantage as well as a disadvantage. Especially if we want to move up into the luxury segment – which we haven’t quite established yet with our first product line – where everything is working perfectly.

This next phase – which is currently only running in China – will then come to Europe much faster than the first products which have now been in the Chinese market for two or three years. The main topic is the Chinese market, with 300 manufacturers, OEMs and startups – that’s where the battle is really raging. It’s about survival – once you’ve established yourself in that market, you’ll succeed elsewhere too. 

CDN: How does this China-first approach work with your design approach that focuses on the needs of European customers? 

SS: We’ve been committed to China from the very beginning in Gothenburg with the design centre, but we ultimately want to have two equally strong studios in Gothenburg and China. I believe that higher-end Chinese customers are beginning to accept that a certain clear design language – which goes hand-in-hand with the brand’s philosophy and identity – means that the brand and product are becoming closely intertwined, something I’ve always perceived as a mark of quality. Chinese customers are increasingly adopting this, whereas they otherwise lack the confidence to distinguish – given the flood of offerings.

It’s also a home run in Europe because you’re operating with design values that have been deeply ingrained in Europe for decades. That will be coming in the next wave of products which are just launching in China now, and then will make their way to Europe. 

Our design language is more refined and elegant. We use high-quality materials and a mix of soft and hard surfaces in the interior that evoke a feeling of calmness. I take a lot of inspiration from Bauhaus, the Ulm School, Dieter Rams and Johnny Ive at Apple. 

CDN: To what degree do the cultural differences between Chinese and Europe consumers play into design? 

SS: They really do come into play, because Chinese customers tend to prefer a more playful approach – something I just dismissively labelled as ‘nonsense’ initially as it’s something I struggle with. For example, I find this avatar [digital assistant] we have very childish, but the Chinese love it. Overall, the structure of the UX is different for Chinese and European customers – in China there are so many sub-options in the menu whereas the structure for Europe will be different. 

It’s worth noting that customers in China think a bit more globally – they are strongly influenced by that. They aren’t getting swept up in certain trends and understand that in the luxury sphere, strength lies in calmness.