Rivian Van Orders Open: Anyone With A Business Can Buy A Commercial EV Van - Related to past, business, zeekr, new, australia

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Zeekr wants to push past sister brands Polestar, Volvo in Australia

China’s Zeekr plans to potentially triple the size of its Australia dealer network this year to help it sell up to 10,000 vehicles in 2026.

The Geely-owned premium auto brand only started local deliveries in November 2024, and though it has yet to analysis monthly registrations in VFACTS industry sales reports, its export marketing chief says early interest has been strong.

“Currently we have got over 5000 registration information of interest, and. We started to deliver our cars from late November,” Zeekr International chief marketing officer Frank Li told CarExpert.

“Currently we have delivered nearly 200 Zeekr Xs to the [Australian] customer, but just with some temporary showrooms – it’s like an early-bird delivery.”.

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Zeekr followed the X small SUV up with the 009 people mover, of which deliveries have “slowly started” due to delays relating to recent port strikes.

The hitherto all-electric vehicle brand will aim at the heart of the EV market in Australia later this year with the 7X, a medium-to-large SUV that presents as a more premium alternative to the top-selling Tesla Model Y.

The 7X is due for release around October or November.

“For this year. Because the 7X is going to arrive a little bit late, our retail plan is around 2500 to 3000 [sales]. I think that is quite a reasonable target,” presented Mr Li.

“If we can push the 7X coming a little bit earlier, maybe the target is going to be more aggressive.”.

Zeekr says it then aims to “at least double” its sales in 2026.

“I think next year it should be around double or even we can target 10,000,” stated Mr Li.

“Every year we are going to bring some new models here. Next year so far we don’t know what is going to be arriving, but I believe something is going to be arriving by the end of next year.

“I think if everything goes well we have the chance to target 10,000 [annual sales].”.

With an expected tally of 2500 to 3000 sales this year, that would put Zeekr above where Cupra sat last year (2339), as well as established brands including Peugeot (1896), Genesis (1400), Jaguar (743) and Alfa Romeo (561).

That would also put it above its sister brand Polestar, also part of the Geely empire.

If Zeekr achieves 10,000 sales in 2026, that would see it perform improved than what fellow sister brand Volvo managed in 2024 (8898), as well as Land Rover (7910).

To help achieve this volume. It first needs to expand its dealer network.

This currently comprises showrooms in Perth and Canberra, and temporary showrooms in Melbourne, Sydney and Geelong, plus pop-ups in various shopping centres.

“For this year, our dealership plan is 12-15 around the country. In each big city, like Sydney and Melbourne, at least we are going to have three,” stated Mr Li.

“And in other cities it’ll start at one or two, to cover most of the areas of Australia for this year.”.

Mr Li says it’s a “basic requirement” of any of Zeekr’s franchised dealers to have experience in selling premium brands, adding: “We will choose our dealers very carefully.”.

“[Australia is] one of our most key markets,” mentioned Mr Li.

“Currently, even though we’ve entered 40 markets globally, we’ve only set up three national sales business [where we’ve] set up an entity and also we hired local staff with the office and. We are doing marketing, branding, training by ourselves in this market.

“So the only three are Australia, Thailand and Mexico. So that demonstrates our ambition and also our respect to this market, and also we’re really keen to bring the best service and the best user experience to the clients in this market.

“I think that is a very good signal, a very clear signal.

“I’m not saying that for the distributor market that we’re not really keen on working with them, but that definitely exhibits more confidence when you set up an entity here.”.

Zeekr is positioning itself as a premium brand and. Is aiming higher than mass-market Chinese brands like MG and BYD, in status if not volume.

Additionally, this also makes Zeekr the first premium Chinese marque in Australia. Geely-owned Volvo, Polestar and Lotus were brand names born in Europe, while BYD’s Denza brand and Chery’s Jaecoo aren’t due here until later in 2025.

“Even though there are more brands coming, for us we don’t see that it’s a very big challenge for Zeekr because we didn’t find out much of them is targeting the premium to luxury segment, which is our [target] segment,” introduced Mr Li.

“We find most of the Chinese manufacturers coming are still targeting the mainstream, so we’re not going to be involved in any price war.”.

However, that sets Zeekr on a collision course not with the likes of MG – though the once quintessentially British brand plans to launch its own premium EVs soon – but rather in-house rivals like Polestar and Volvo, and even Smart.

The Zeekr X, Smart #1 and Volvo EX30 are all electric SUVs riding the same platform and competing in the same segment, for example.

While being part of the Geely Holding Group gives it some internal competition, Zeekr says this familial connection means it can boast the same strong supply chain, R&D investment, and. Spare parts coverage.

Mr Li also cited the brand’s success in key markets like Hong Kong, where it says it’s the number one premium auto brand; and Thailand and Israel, where it’s a top-five premium brand.

Of the three Zeekr models confirmed for Australia or already on sale here, the 009 will almost certainly be the most niche given the small market for premium people movers here – despite their greater popularity in China, Japan and Southeast Asia.

Mr Li stated the enterprise wasn’t sure if the 009 would be popular here, “But the feedback is beyond our assumption, which is quite interesting.”.

“Many customers after they know it’s [0-100km/h in] seconds, with such a big car, they are interested. Potentially I can see some big potential for 009 as well.

“Not as big as Southeast Asia of course, but it’s beyond our assumption.”.

Zeekr thus far has confirmed only the 7X to join the X and 009 in Australia, however, it offers a wider lineup in China including the 007 sedan (and soon its 007 GT wagon counterpart), the Mix people mover. And the 001 fastback.

While Zeekr says right-hand drive markets are critical, it hasn’t confirmed which of these other vehicles will be built in RHD.

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Rivian Van Orders Open: Anyone With A Business Can Buy A Commercial EV Van

Rivian's commercial van has already been delivering Amazon's packages for years.

But now the corporation's exclusivity deal is up, and Rivian's rolling out the van to a wider audience.

It's now open to all fleet end-individuals, which means it has to be registered to a business.

Rivian's Electric Delivery Van (EDV) has been on the road for years. Faithfully delivering your Amazon packages if you live in a more urban area. But the automotive upstart has long had broader ambitions for its van platform, and today they're being realized. The Rivian Commercial Van (RCV)—on which the EDV is based—is now available for all business consumers.

Rivian introduced Monday that it would begin selling the vans to fleet clients. It'll come in two configurations: The smaller RCV 500 and the larger RCV 700. The RCV 500 comes with up to 161 miles of range, while the 700 can cover 160 miles on charge. Both are exclusively available with front-wheel drive.

Gallery: Rivian RCV: Orders Open 25 Rivian.

Pricing will start at $79,900 for the 500 and $83,900 for the 700. A organization representative confirmed to InsideEVs. And because these are fleet-only vehicles, they must be registered to businesses. That's a bummer if you want an EV van life rig—though I will note that there's nothing stopping you from buying it through an LLC—but one benefit is that commercial EVs all qualify for a $7,500 federal clean vehicle tax credit.

Rivian says the vans provide up to 2,663 lbs of payload capacity. That's less than you'd get from most variants of the gas-powered Ford Transit, but roughly in line with a long-wheelbase Mercedes Sprinter. Either way, any of these vans will out-haul your average gas-powered pickup truck. The 2025 Ford F-150 tops out at 2,440 pounds of payload capacity.

The Rivian vans also get the organization's fully integrated software stack, which should give you good fleet analytics, great navigation software. Plenty of cameras and keyless entry and start. As we saw in an Amazon driver's YouTube review, these small capabilities can make a huge difference when you're hopping in and. Out of the van dozens of times per day. So if you have a delivery or service business, it could be helpful. Plus, we've already covered how great EV vans can be so long as you can set up a consistent charging location for them. But since most fleet vans drive predictable ranges and sit overnight, that should be doable.

This is also crucial for Rivian. The enterprise is in an awkward time, with its flagship R1 products already on sale and its higher-volume R2 and. R3 vehicles still a ways out. The enterprise needs to keep convincing investors that it is building out a sustainable business. Ford Pro has proven how profitable commercial vehicle sales can be for an automaker going through a complicated transition, and. If Rivian can capture a sizeable share of the commercial van market it'll prove that it has a future beyond selling high-margin luxury goods.

Yet the expansion comes with challenges. Fleet owners rely on their vehicles for revenue, and are far less willing to deal with downtime and service visits than luxury buyers. Rivian is still building up its service network, so making sure fleet consumers get the service support they need will be vital. This is part of why the truck market has been hard to crack: Ford, Chevy and Ram put a lot of emphasis on fleet sales, and. consumers know they'll be able to quickly service vehicles and get them back on the road.

Rivian isn't new to those challenges. The vans have already proven to be a hit for Amazon, and that's a high-utilization business with little tolerance for vehicle downtime. But Amazon also had Rivian's ear as a major investor, and could press the business to meet its needs. The local HVAC business isn't going to have that kind of pull. So this will be one of Rivian's greatest tests yet. If it can prove to business owners that it can build robust, dependable vans that can be serviced in the field, it should have no issue winning retail consumers' trust when it launches the R2 and. R3.

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