Geely Holding CEO Li Donghui: ZEEKR IPO is a microcosm of Geely Holding's overall strategic planning

ZEEKR, a luxury intelligent pure electric brand under Geely Holding Group, successfully landed on the New York Stock Exchange on the evening of May 10th Beijing time, setting a new record for the fastest listing in the history of new energy vehicle companies. Geely Holding Group CEO Li Donghui stated in his speech at the listing banquet that the ZEEKR (ZK.US) IPO is a microcosm of Geely Holding's overall strategic planning. "Through the IPO, we increase the transparency and standardization of corporate governance, enhance the independence and integrity of the operation and accounting of subsidiary business groups, improve operational efficiency, communicate with users, the industry, regulatory agencies, and investment institutions in a responsible manner, and promote global compliance governance of the company."

Li Donghui stated that Geely Holding Group is an intelligent electric travel and energy service technology company, with its various brands operating independently and synergistically, focusing on users and brand positioning, actively participating in market competition, and meeting the needs of different segmented market users. The brands seek synergy in basic technology research, infrastructure development, and maximize the sharing of group resources to create greater value for users. Geely Holding Group, with the core of electrification and intelligence transformation, has strategically deployed in cutting-edge technology fields such as new energy technology, human-machine interaction, intelligent driving, vehicle chips, and low-orbit satellites, providing strong support for the growth of its sub-brands.

He also mentioned that the global new energy vehicle market presents enormous development opportunities, and ZEEKR positioning itself as a luxury intelligent pure electric brand is an important part of Geely's electrification, high-end, and globalization strategy. He believes that ZEEKR can seize historical opportunities and explore a long-term sustainable development path from a new starting point.

Investors can easily observe that the listed sub-brands under Geely Holding are independent in terms of technology systems, but have distinct characteristics in the brand market: Volvo is listed in Sweden, rooted in Sweden and oriented towards global development; Lotus is listed in the United States, achieving globalization based on the American sports car market; ZEEKR, as a new energy high-end brand with large-scale production listed in the US, establishes its position as a leading competitor in the global new energy vehicle market.

The ZEEKR IPO itself is one of Geely Holding's established strategic plans. In 2021, Geely transferred 51% of the equity of Ningbo Weirui and all the equity of CEVT to ZEEKR. These two brands are important parts of Geely's new energy system, with one responsible for battery manufacturing and the other for the research and development of new energy vehicle architecture and software.

Therefore, compared to traditional car manufacturers, ZEEKR's revenue composition is more diversified, mainly covering vehicle sales, three electric (battery, motor, electronic control) business, as well as research and other services. From 2019 to 2021, ZEEKR's revenue from the three electric business, research and development, and other services were 4.983 billion yuan, 12.228 billion yuan, and 17.761 billion yuan respectively, demonstrating its continuous and stable business revenue capabilities Based on a vast architecture that completely disrupts the form of electric vehicles, ZEEKR has launched multiple 800-volt models, including the all-new ZEEKR 001, ZEEKR 001FR, ZEEKR 009 Glory, ZEEKR 007, and ZEEKR MIX; it also boasts the world's first mass-produced 800-volt lithium iron phosphate battery with the fastest charging speed; in addition, ZEEKR's ultra-fast charging piles exceeded 2,500 by the end of April, ranking first in the industry; it also led the development of the 360kW ultra-fast charging industry standard, with the V3 ultra charger peak power of 800kW being the first in the world, and plans to achieve "thousands of stations and tens of thousands of piles" in the next two years to achieve a balanced energy replenishment network.

ZEEKR's ability to refresh the IPO record of new forces in car manufacturing is backed by the 37 years of entrepreneurship of its parent company, Geely Holding Group, and its pioneering exploration of the third track of the new energy vehicle industry. The successful completion of ZEEKR's IPO signifies another strategically significant move for Geely Holding Group. The independent operation of organizational structure and system places all ZEEKR-related information and trends under the magnifying glass of the global market, posing higher demands on the company's finances, management, products, technology, and other aspects.

In overseas markets, ZEEKR's development momentum is extremely rapid, with multiple overseas research and design institutions, market institutions, and stores spread globally, clearly targeting a global business ecosystem. In 2023, ZEEKR entered the European market and established a direct sales network, currently selling in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Germany; in the first half of this year, it entered the Southeast Asian market such as Thailand and positioned its local sales as high-end luxury electric vehicles; this year, it will also successively list and sell in the Hong Kong and Macau regions, the U.S. market, and is expected to enter the luxury markets of 8 European countries by the end of 2024, while simultaneously expanding into more than 50 countries and regions in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, South America, and Australia.

Being listed on the U.S. stock market also means that ZEEKR will further operate globally in terms of physical technology, leveraging global technical resources including CEVT to make these institutions operate more efficiently in an independent mechanism. ZEEKR and its shareholder, Mobileye, are developing L4 level intelligent driving electric vehicles, and the U.S. IPO will also help deepen cooperation with more leading global intelligent enterprises in the future.

For the ZEEKR brand itself, the IPO also creates an independent window to connect with the global capital market. At the Geely Automobile Holdings Limited 2023 full-year performance release conference earlier, the management revealed the goal of achieving annual sales of 230,000 units for ZEEKR in 2024, with the addition of three models - ZEEKR MIX, mid-to-large luxury pure electric SUV, and top luxury pure electric MPV - entering more segmented markets and expanding overseas markets. With the boost in sales volume and gross profit, the expectation of ZEEKR achieving profitability in 2024 is worth looking forward to