TMTPOST -- Geely Automobile Holdings on Monday completed the privatization of its U.S.-listed electric vehicle unit Zeekr, bringing the premium EV brand fully back under its control and marking a key step in founder Li Shufu’s drive to simplify the group’s sprawling corporate structure under its so-called “One Geely” strategy.

The Hong Kong-listed automaker said it had acquired all issued and outstanding shares and American depositary shares of Zeekr Intelligent Technology Holding, merging the company into a Geely-controlled subsidiary and delisting Zeekr from the New York Stock Exchange.

Zeekr will continue to operate as a standalone brand and business unit, Geely said, but its financial results will now be fully consolidated into the group’s accounts.

The move concludes more than six months of corporate restructuring and signals a new phase for Zeekr, once Geely’s flagship attempt to build a global premium electric car brand outside the shadow of its mass-market roots.

It also raises fresh questions about how Zeekr will navigate intensifying competition in China’s crowded EV market, how much independence it will retain within Geely’s empire, and whether it can sustain its high-end positioning while being folded back into a much larger industrial system.

Zeekr’s delisting comes less than two years after its high-profile New York debut, which was initially seen as a milestone for Chinese EV makers seeking global capital and brand recognition.

But market conditions have shifted sharply. U.S.-China political tensions have deepened, investor appetite for Chinese listings has weakened, and competition at home has become brutal, with price wars eroding margins across the industry.

In that context, Geely’s decision to bring Zeekr back in-house reflects a broader recalibration underway among Chinese automakers.

“Capital markets were no longer delivering strategic value to Zeekr that justified the costs and constraints of remaining listed overseas,” said an analyst at a Shanghai-based brokerage who declined to be named.

“For Geely, full ownership makes it easier to integrate technology, supply chains and management — and to move faster.”

Geely has framed the privatization as part of a broader effort to eliminate duplication, improve capital efficiency and focus resources on areas where it sees the highest strategic returns, particularly smart driving, software and advanced vehicle platforms.

Leadership reshuffle signals deeper change

The privatization was preceded by a major management reshuffle that insiders say marked the real turning point for Zeekr.

In May, shortly after Geely announced its intention to take Zeekr private, the group unveiled changes that elevated Zeekr founder and longtime chief An Conghui to chief executive of Geely Holding Group, while naming Gan Jiayue as CEO of the merged Geely Auto Group, which now oversees brands including Geely, Galaxy, Lynk & Co and Zeekr.

Gan, who has led Geely’s fast-growing Galaxy new energy brand, is now effectively in charge of Zeekr’s day-to-day operations.

Industry observers say the move reflects confidence in Gan’s execution capabilities, particularly after Galaxy’s rapid rise.

Galaxy sold more than one million vehicles in the first ten months of 2025, up nearly 190% year-on-year, making it one of the fastest-growing EV brands in China.

Gan’s appointment also underscores Geely’s desire to put its premium and mass-market electric strategies under unified leadership.

An Conghui, widely seen as Zeekr’s architect, has gradually stepped back from the brand’s public face, reinforcing the sense that Zeekr is entering a new institutional phase rather than remaining a founder-driven startup within the group.

Even before the formal merger, Zeekr had begun to be absorbed into Geely’s wider industrial and technological system.

A key area is intelligent driving.

Geely’s chief autonomous driving scientist Chen Qi, previously a senior executive at Zeekr Intelligent Technology, has expanded his remit to cover smart driving across all Geely brands. Much of Zeekr’s autonomous driving team has been folded into Qianli Zhijia, a joint venture between Geely and AI partners, which now serves as the group’s central smart driving platform.

Similarly, Zeekr’s smart cockpit development has been integrated into Geely’s central research institute, reflecting a shift away from brand-level technology silos.

Vehicle development has also been reorganized. Geely established a Zeekr Complete Vehicle Research Institute under its central R&D structure, aligning Zeekr’s product planning, design and engineering more closely with the group’s core platforms.

The result is a Zeekr that is operationally less independent than in its early years, but potentially more efficient and better resourced.

Premium positioning under pressure

Despite deeper integration, Geely insists Zeekr will remain its top-tier premium brand, positioned above Galaxy and Lynk & Co.

Zeekr’s lineup continues to focus on vehicles priced above 200,000 yuan ($28,000), with its latest flagship, the Zeekr 9X, starting at around 466,000 yuan and reaching close to 600,000 yuan for high-end variants.

The 9X, a luxury SUV that marks Zeekr’s first non-pure-electric model, has been positioned as a technological showcase, featuring high-performance computing platforms and targeting advanced autonomous driving capabilities.

Initial demand has been strong, with more than 10,000 firm orders reported within minutes of launch and November sales exceeding 8,000 units, topping the large premium SUV segment.

Deliveries across the Zeekr brand have been rising steadily, reaching nearly 29,000 units in November, up 35% month-on-month.

Yet maintaining a premium image in China’s hyper-competitive EV market is becoming increasingly difficult.

Rivals including Huawei-backed AITO, Li Auto, NIO and even traditional luxury brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz are aggressively defending their positions with rapid model launches, technology upgrades and pricing adjustments.

“The real challenge is not technology — it’s brand perception and customer experience,” said a senior industry consultant in Beijing. “That’s harder to scale and harder to standardise.

Geely expects the merger to deliver substantial cost savings.

Management has said the unified structure will reduce overlapping investments and generate billions of yuan in annual R&D savings, while also cutting administrative, marketing and procurement costs.

The group is increasingly focused on platform sharing — from batteries and electric drivetrains to software architectures — as a way to improve margins in a market where vehicle prices are falling and development costs are rising.

For Zeekr, access to Geely’s manufacturing scale, supplier network and global footprint could help lower costs and support expansion abroad, though overseas ambitions have been tempered by trade tensions and slowing global EV demand.

For all the strategic logic behind the privatization, analysts caution that folding Zeekr back into Geely is not a guarantee of success.

Premium brands require distinct identities, tailored customer experiences and a degree of organisational autonomy that can clash with large corporate systems.

“The risk is that Zeekr becomes just another brand inside a big machine,” said the industry consultant. “And premium brands can’t be built like that.”

Geely executives say they are aware of that risk and plan to preserve Zeekr’s brand independence in areas such as design, marketing and customer engagement, even as technology and operations are centralised.

The group’s challenge will be to balance control with creativity — discipline with differentiation.

As China’s EV market matures and consolidates, the easy phase of rapid growth is ending. What remains is a tougher battle over profitability, loyalty and long-term brand value.

Zeekr, once Geely’s bold experiment, is now its test case: can a premium Chinese EV brand thrive inside a giant industrial group, or does premium still require a measure of separation?

For now, Geely is betting it can have both.