Zeekr Technology Europe

57°42′43″N 11°56′45″E / 57.7119°N 11.9457°E / 57.7119; 11.9457

Zeekr Technology Europe AB
FormerlyChina Euro Vehicle Technology AB (CEVT)
IndustryAutomotive industry
Founded2013
HeadquartersPumpgatan 1, ,
Key people
Giovanni Lanfranchi (CEO)
ParentZhejiang Geely Holding Group
Websitewww.zeekrtech.eu
Footnotes / references
[1]

Zeekr Technology Europe AB, formerly China Euro Vehicle Technology AB (CEVT), is a European automotive research and development centre owned by Chinese automaker Geely.

The company is located at the Geely Innovation Centre, in a 100,000 square meter building called Uni3 in Lindholmen district of Gothenburg, Sweden.[2][3]

Business edit

Developing technologies and cars for the Geely owned brands Volvo Cars, Geely, Lynk & Co, Polestar, Lotus, LEVC (London-taxi), Zeekr and Proton.[4] In 2024, the company had more than a thousand full-time employees and annual revenue of around 4 billion Swedish krona.[5]

CEVT also does development work for other companies. It developed a platform for Waymo's autonomous taxis.[6]

History edit

When Geely accuired Volvo, they used platform technology from its previous owner Ford. Volvo hired Mats Fägerhag, previous development manager at now defunct Swedish automaker Saab, to find a development partner to Volvo for their smaller cars.[7]

Geely planned to buy a research and development centre in Europe, but instead, CEVT was founded in 2013 with Mats Fägerhag as CEO, in the same Swedish city as Volvo's headquarters and with many engineers with background from Saab.[8][9]

The first main objective for CEVT was to develop the CMA platform for the smaller Volvo cars, which also was to be used in the Lynk & Co cars.[10] Difference is that for Volvo, CEVT only developed the platform, for Lynk the assignment was to design the entire car including car body and interior and this partnership resulted in the models Lynk & Co 01, 02 and 03.

In 2016 the first Lynk & Co developed by CEVT was presented and the following year Volvo XC40 (using the CMA platform).

CEVT have also developed the modular SEA-platform[11] for electric vehicles, mainly used in the Geely group of car companies and used in cars such as Zeekr 001, Polestar 4, Volvo EX30, Smart #1 and Smart #3.

Besides cars and platform development, CEVT develops common solutions for autonomous driving, automotive electrification, mobility solutions, software development and component development for the Geely group, such as the fully modular automatic 7-speed Dual-Clutch transmission presented in 2019.

September 4, 2023, Giovanni Lanfranchi became new CEO of CEVT[12] and the company had during the year before this shift in leadership started to describe itself as the "European R&D centre for ZEEKR", but also that their design was to be found in the "Geely family, such as ZEEKR, Geely Auto, Volvo Cars, Lynk & Co and Lotus".[13] In March 2024, CEVT was renamed Zeekr Technology Europe AB, reflecting its role in Zeekr's development and global expansion.[14]

References edit

  1. ^ "Företagsinformation". China-Euro Vehicle Technology Aktiebolag (in Swedish). 2023-12-23. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  2. ^ "CEVT Locations". CEVT. 2021-01-21. Archived from the original on 2024-01-14. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  3. ^ "First tenants move into the Geely Innovation Centre". Invest in Gothenburg. 2020-01-14. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  4. ^ "About – CEVT". cevt.se. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  5. ^ "China-Euro Vehicle Technology Aktiebolag i Göteborg (556922-7639)". Merinfo.se (in Swedish). 2024-01-14. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  6. ^ Martin, Charlie (2022-11-17). "Geely reveals SEA-M platform for autonomous Waymo taxi". Autocar. Archived from the original on 2024-01-14. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  7. ^ Pröckl, Eddie (2015-04-29). "Här är Sveriges nya bilbyggare". www.nyteknik.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  8. ^ "Cevt växer i raketfart". gp.se (in Swedish). 2016-01-22. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  9. ^ Lönnroth, Valdemar (2023-09-22). "Hemliga fordonschefen lämnar Göteborgsbolaget". Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  10. ^ "CEVT – Ny genre Svensk bilindustri | Vi Bilägare". www.vibilagare.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  11. ^ Wedberg, Erik (2024). "Polestar 4 Long Range Dual Motor". Teknikens värld (in Swedish). No. 9 (published 18 April 2024). p. 17.
  12. ^ "ZEEKR welcomes Giovanni Lanfranchi as new CEO of CEVT". newsroom.notified.com. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
  13. ^ "About – CEVT". cevt.se. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
  14. ^ "CEVT Enters New Era as Zeekr Technology Europe". newsroom.notified.com. Retrieved 10 May 2024.

External links edit