Zeekr is unveiling a new model for Europe next week, and the timing is a giveaway
A reveal in Europe, forty-eight hours after one in China
Zeekr Europe has set a livestream for 09:00 CEST on 29 July to unveil what it calls its newest model, and the schedule around it is doing most of the talking. Just before it, on 28 July, Zeekr launches the five-seat version of its 9X flagship SUV in China. It does not take much to connect the two, though Zeekr has not confirmed which car Europe is getting, or what it will be called here.
What Zeekr has actually said
The invitation is deliberately vague: a livestream at 09:00 CEST on 29 July, promising a new era of luxury built on craftsmanship, technology and European design. Three people front it, and the line-up is telling: Lothar Schupet, CEO of Zeekr Europe, Jon Radbrink, head of exterior design at Zeekr Design, and Jennie Strom, head of project at Geely Technology Europe. A design and project lead on the stage points to a proper model reveal rather than a trim announcement.
An 8X or a 9X, not yet confirmed which
This is where honesty matters more than a headline. It will almost certainly be one of Zeekr's two large luxury SUVs, the 8X or the 9X, but which one is genuinely open. The 9X five-seater launching in China the day before is the strongest hint, and the timing would be a strange coincidence otherwise, yet Zeekr often brings a different model or a different name to Europe than the one it sells at home. Treat the 9X as the leading candidate, not a certainty, and the 8X as very much still in play.
If it is the 9X, here is what that means
The Chinese 9X is not a normal SUV. It uses Zeekr's SEA Super Hybrid system on a 900V architecture, with a tri-motor drive quoted at roughly 1,400 hp at peak, and a 0 to 100 km/h time as low as 3.1 seconds. There is a dedicated 2.0-litre turbo hybrid engine of around 279 hp with over 46% thermal efficiency, a combined range of up to 1,250 km, and 6C charging that takes the battery from 20 to 80% in nine minutes. Every one of those numbers is a Chinese-market figure and none is confirmed for Europe, where homologation and a smaller battery could change them.
The cabin is chasing the S-Class, not the Model X
The interior is where the 9X makes its luxury case. The second row offers up to 1.4 metres of legroom with symmetrical zero-gravity seats, an Eames-style recline mode and a powered central armrest, facing a 17-inch 3K OLED screen that tilts through five positions. Add a Naim audio system, a 9-litre temperature-controlled fridge, a 6.5-litre electric privacy box, and folding executive tables, plus new colours including Tan Wild outside and Burgundy Red inside. This is aimed squarely at chauffeur-driven luxury buyers.
Why it matters here
Zeekr's European push is real and accelerating. It showed up in force at the Paris Motor Show, it is building its retail and service footprint including the Gent operation shared with Lotus, and a plug-in super-hybrid flagship rather than a pure EV would neatly sidestep the worst of the tariffs aimed at battery-electric imports from China. Whatever badge lands on 29 July, the intent behind it is a serious run at European luxury buyers.
AutoNext Take
A few years ago the idea of a Chinese brand revealing a 1,400 hp, 1,250 km luxury SUV for Europe would have been treated as a spec-sheet fantasy. Now it is a Tuesday. The sensible caution is that Chinese figures rarely survive the trip west unchanged, and the real questions are price, residuals and whether the European network can support a car pitched this high, none of which a livestream will fully answer. But the ambition is not in doubt, and neither is the direction of travel. Whether it wears an 8X or a 9X badge, this is another reminder that the established luxury brands no longer set the pace on their own.
