Zeekr has CKD local assembly plans for its EVs, leveraging on parent Geely’s investment in Malaysia

At the recent test drive event for Malaysian media and owners in Harbin, China, Zeekr Malaysia’s GM Eddy Lu revealed that the brand’s 9X flagship SUV will be coming to Malaysia, with the 007 GT a.k.a. 7GT shooting brake EV under consideration for our market. He also said that local assembly is in Zeekr’s plans.

Lu said that Zeekr, as part of the Geely Group, will leverage on the group’s investments in Malaysia. “CKD is in the plans,” he said without elaborating, perhaps due to things being at an early stage. This confirms what we heard from Proton last year about Zeekr cars being locally assembled at the Automotive Hi-Tech Valley (AHTV) in Tanjong Malim, which is anchored by Proton.

Alex Bao, head of Zeekr Southeast Asia, first broached the CKD subject in May 2025. “Don’t forget we are under a big group, which has a lot of facilities and manufacturing power here. So, we’ve been discussing this issue but it will take some time,” he said then. When asked if it will be at Proton’s new EV plant, he said “very possible, very possible. We are under the same mother!”

In July 2023, prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim revealed that Geely will invest US$10 billion (RM39.5 billion) to turn Tanjong Malim into the region’s largest auto city. In October that same year, Geely and DRB-Hicom signed a master collaboration agreement for the AHTV project.

Now that the tax-free window for CBU imported EVs has closed, local assembly becomes vital if a brand wants to sell EVs in meaningful numbers – it’s no longer a free for all thanks to a new regulation imposing a RM250k minimum price for CBU EVs.

Originally, it was understood that the new floor price would be for brands that have yet to set up shop in Malaysia, but it has since been expanded to include new models from existing brands. The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) is trying to clarify this with Malaysia’s investment, trade and industry ministry (MITI).

We might not see the new regulation’s full effect yet thanks to the availability of 2025 stock, but as things stand, CBU EV prices will eventually go up, and the RRP difference between the imports and CKD locally assembled EVs will widen – it will be pretty similar to what we’ve seen all these years with ICE cars. See Audi versus BMW and Mercedes-Benz, for instance.

Fortunately for Zeekr, the premium brand is ‘under the same mother’ as Proton, and Geely is invested in AHTV and Malaysia.

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