Don't get too excited, Zeekr is not confirmed for Malaysia, DRB-Hicom clarifies

DRB-Hicom, which owns 51.1 percent of Proton, confirms that news reports of premium electric vehicle (EV) brand Zeekr coming to Malaysia are not true.

DRB-Hicom's Head of Group Strategic Communications, Mahmood Razak Bahman said at a media event today evening, "The Minister likes the car, everything is under study, but to say that Zeekr is coming is not very accurate." 

Also read: Geely's premium EV, the Zeekr 001 debuts in China, around RM177k

This follows after the Minister of Finance, Tengku Zafrul's visit to the Geely Zeekr Hangzhou Bay Smart Plant in Ningbo City, China. In a Facebook post uploaded on 2-April 2023, the minister talked about the positives of the Geely-Proton collaboration, as well as highlighted his thoughts on the Zeekr 001.

Zeekr is Geely's upscale EV-only brand that includes models like the 001 wagon, and 009 MPV. 

Adding to the confusion is another Facebook post by Smart Malaysia which implied that Malaysians can look forward to Zeekr models after the Smart #1.

Well one part of it is right at least; Proton's immediate BEV focus is on Smart, and the Smart #1 is coming to Malaysia later this year.

Also read: Smart #1 on track for Malaysian introduction in Q3 2023; bringing dedicated sales and service network, more EV chargers