Zeekr on studio culture, interiors and starting from scratch

Only a couple of years into its journey, Zeekr has wasted no time in getting cars designed and on the road. Things kicked off in 2021 with the 001, a sleek premium sedan that landed first in the hands of customers in China, and then the 009 minivan not much later.

Since then the Geely subbrand has quickly established a presence alongside its colleagues in Gothenburg where the sprawling Geely design studio is based. Housing around 550 designers across multiple floors and brands, Zeekr accounts for about 125 of that headcount. Designed by Danish architects COBE, the 14,000 square-metre building consists primarily of glass but, with curtains hanging throughout the building, it remains a secretive operation. “We want there to be some mystique,” explains design lead Gustaf Guner, head of brand design at Zeekr as we walk the studio’s terrazzo halls.

It doesn’t feel quite right to call this ‘just’ a studio – it feels more like a university campus. There is a huge on-site hotel, various restaurants, a cavernous mess hall with ping pong tables and colosseum seating.

From a professional standpoint, it is all there: a glass atrium for design reviews, a trim workshop that takes up much of the second floor, milling machines and clay modelling rooms, a sound design studio, an ultra-realistic driving simulator and a hardware-in-the-loop setup that allows all electrical systems to be tested in a stationary environment (almost like a physical exploded diagram of the car). “We have everything we need in house,” says Guner. “We want to be a design powerhouse.”

While there are clearly lofty ambitions at a corporate level, there is no air of arrogance among the team itself. “We designers don’t put ourselves in an ivory tower,” Guner continues, highlighting the work that they do to help nurture the next wave of talent. On our visit, an entire hall was taken over by recent concepts put together by design students at the RCA and CAA; a mix of interior themes dubbed “Cocoon”, “Dreamland”, “Luxury of the Future” and “The Darkness Poem” caught our eye. “You need fresh blood to boost creativity. Seeing this work is inspiring,” says Guner. “You find great talent by doing these collabs.”

As we saw in the production cars themselves, the studio places great importance on CMF design both inside and outside the vehicle. As illustrated by a moodboard that showcases potential sustainable materials, the designers are looking beyond tried-and-trusted textiles and polymers. Injection moulded cork, for example, has been trialled for various applications in the cabin but also for other applications like footwear. “We’re constantly working with our suppliers and in-house CMF specialists. If we didn’t do this we’d run the risk of being ordinary. We don’t want that,” emphasises Guner.

The visit to Gothenburg was in fact to celebrate the European launch of the 001 sedan and X SUV which will be first available in Sweden and the Netherlands this summer.

The 001 is largely unchanged from the model sold in China save for the UX, which has been tweaked for European customers (we didn’t quite get a decisive answer on the precise changes, but we understand it boils down to the HMI and how information is presented to drivers.) At around €60,000 depending on trim, it sits toward the lower end of the luxury segment and upper end of premium, a price point that signals something different to the value-for-money approach most new Chinese brands have pushed. It also sets an expectation of quality, something that Zeekr Europe CEO Spiros Fotinos says is on par with, if not better than, its German rivals.

“The 001 is the car that started it all for us,” he said from the sidelines of the launch event. “With a reimagined shooting brake body, it stands out from the crows and brings real street presence.” There is no plan for UK sales just yet, and from conversations on the day we do not expect an announcement any time soon.

Sticking with the exterior design, the first thing that catches the eye is the size of the wheels, which are 21” as standard but can be upped to 22”. It seems to work though and the Energy Blade design ties everything together nicely. Based on early sketches we saw at the studio, oversized wheels were always part of the plan. (For more on the exterior, read our earlier walkaround at its reveal in 2021.)

We also got a good look at the exterior of the Zeekr X earlier this year but this was a chance to see how things shape up on the inside. On hand to talk us through it was Sergio Loureiro da Silva, who admits that the 001 was a tough act to follow as the brand looked to distance itself from legacy designs borrowed from Lynk & CO. This was evident when spending time in both cars, with obvious differences in layout, materials and HMI.

For example, there is not a traditional gearshifter on the centre console of the X whereas there is on the 001. The centre console itself is also completely different on the X, with a flat floor between the driver and passenger that is designed to allow for easy ingress and egress. “You can easily swing your legs across to the other side, say for example if you are in a tight parking space and can’t open the driver’s side door.” It opens up the cabin, whereas the 001 creates the impression that you are being hugged – almost like a fighter pilot.

The steering wheel moves from a three-spoke to a two-spoke design in the X, too, and although both cars feature a duo of digital displays, the central screen in the 001 has rounded edges while the X is square. Lighting plays a leading role in both interiors, but again with obvious differences.

A thin, hidden lightbar wraps around the interior of the 001 casting a warm glow across the doorcards, instrument panel and footwells. In the X, a much thicker light bar is celebrated across the dash and serves more of a functional purpose by communicating safety alerts to the driver. (Novelty features remain, with dancing lights that sync up to whatever music is being played).

On the materials front there is a healthy mix of textiles, brushed metal and plastics in the X, although there is very little of the ‘scratchy’ variety. It all feels genuine and broadly soft to the touch. The off-white/charcoal colour theme we saw was bright and airy, but also offered a neutral palette for the multi-colour LED light bar. A clever inclusion is the glasses holder stitched into the headliner, keeping the central storage tray clear.

The interior surfaces are generally clean and simple, something that the team initially found challenging to move ahead with. “Sometimes there is a fear of leaving surfaces empty. If it is too clean, will it be perceived as ‘cheap’,” says da Silva. “But that’s totally not the case – if you use the right materials, it gives the right impression.”

The 001 is very rich by comparison, with perforated details throughout and even a skyline embossed on the door cards. “The Zeekr X is the first car where we went into a slightly cleaner design approach, and it was very difficult to shift from the most detailed interior to a cleaner look,” says da Silva. “For many customers more is more, so again this may require a gradual transition.”

That both cars feel so distinct is testament to the work of the design team – you’d never tell that both the 001 and X are developed on the same scalable SEA architecture from Geely. This has been a lingering concern as we move into the electric era, with the risk that cars from the same group end up feeling overly similar.

We wish we could say the same for the exterior, which for all the effort still has a whiff of Lynk & Co about it. This is true for both models but less so for the X. From a distance it is very difficult to distinguish between the 001 alongside the Lynk & Co 01, particularly with the front end where the headlights seem almost identical. But as Geely design boss Stefan Sielaff told CDN, the design team is aware of the parallels and is working to create more of a unique identity, a process that has now begun with the Zeekr X.