A Zikr electric vehicle charging station is pictured here on November 14, 2022 in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China.
VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images
Beijing — GeelyBacked electric car brand Zeekr on Monday said it is now valued at $13 billion after raising $750 million from Chinese battery giant CATL and others.
Zeekr is not yet publicly listed, but Geely said in December that the brand filed confidentially for an initial public offering in the US
New $13 billion valuation makes Zeekr worth more on paper than it is xpengThat had a market value of $8.01 billion, according to data accessed Monday from Refinitiv Eikon.
nio And Lee Auto The data shows that their value is much higher with a market valuation of $17.22 billion and $25.22 billion, respectively.
Zeekr said its new investors include Amnon Shashua – co-founder and CEO of the self-driving tech company Mobileye, The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) And three state-affiliated funds also participated in the latest funding round, according to a press release.
Zeekr said it intends to use the money for technology development — and plans to enter the European market this year.
Geely set up the Zeekr electric vehicle brand in 2021. The company began deliveries of its Zeekr 001 coupe in October, and claims to have delivered over 80,000 units since then.
The Zeekr 001 is priced between 300,000 yuan ($43,915) and 386,000 yuan. For a rough comparison, Tesla’s Model Y starts at 261,900 yuan.
The company said that deliveries of the much larger and boxy multi-purpose vehicle Zeekr 009 began in January. Prices start from 499,000 yuan.
In 2010, China-based Geely acquired Swedish auto brand Volvo, formerly owned by Ford Motor.
According to the China Passenger Car Association, Geely was the fourth largest manufacturer of new energy vehicle passenger cars in 2022 by sales in China, third behind Tesla China.