Zeekr isn’t easing its way into the European luxury market. It’s arriving with 897 horsepower.
The new Zeekr 9X Ultra AWD is now available to order in France from €119,500, putting the Chinese brand into a price category where customers can choose from some extremely established names.
That’s brave. It’s also considerably more interesting than launching another €45,000 electric crossover and hoping somebody notices.
The 9X measures more than 5.2 metres long, has six seats and was designed at Zeekr’s European design centre in Gothenburg under Stefan Sielaff.
And despite Zeekr building its reputation around EVs, the 9X isn’t actually a conventional battery-electric vehicle.
It’s a Super Hybrid. The system uses a combustion engine as part of an electrified drivetrain, producing a combined 897 hp in Ultra AWD specification. Zeekr claims 0-100 km/h in 4.1 seconds. In a six-seat luxury SUV of this size, that’s already slightly absurd.
Total driving range is quoted at 737 km, although Zeekr is careful to note that current technical specifications remain preliminary and await final homologation.
The electrical architecture is arguably even more interesting than the acceleration figure. Zeekr uses a 900-volt system, going beyond the 800-volt architectures that only recently became a selling point on premium EVs.
Inside, the company has clearly decided restraint isn’t part of the brief. Second-row passengers get individual Co-Pilot seats with massage and ventilation. There’s a 17-inch OLED display and a Naim audio system using 32 speakers. It even has an integrated refrigerator.
The 9X is less a family crossover and more a rolling first-class lounge. That explains the price, but €119,500 also creates a fascinating problem for Zeekr.
At €40,000 or €50,000, a Chinese manufacturer can make a strong argument around value. Offer more equipment, more power and more technology for less money than the established European alternative. At almost €120,000, value alone isn’t enough.
Customers begin buying the badge, dealership experience, resale value, materials and a sense that the car is genuinely special.
Zeekr now has to prove it belongs in that conversation.
The company isn’t hiding from the challenge. Its European public debut for the 9X will take place at the Monaco Yacht Show, perhaps the least subtle location imaginable for introducing a six-figure luxury SUV. First French deliveries are scheduled for December.
There’s some logic behind the theatre, as Zeekr doesn’t want the 9X compared only with other Chinese SUVs. It wants it evaluated as a luxury product regardless of origin.
And 897 hp, six seats, 900-volt technology and practically every interior toy imaginable certainly give people something to talk about.
Whether European buyers are ready to spend €119,500 on the badge is the much bigger question. That’s what makes the 9X worth watching.
The difficult part for Zeekr wasn’t building an outrageously powerful SUV. It’s convincing someone who can afford almost anything that this is the one they want.
