Why Zeekr took luxury EVs skiing

What happened On April 25, Zeekr brought its national roadshow to Gate M West Bund Dream Center in Shanghai, making the former cement factory-turned-lifestyle destination one of the tour’s most prominent stops. As a high-end electric vehicle brand under Geely Auto Group, Zeekr has built its identity around “tech luxury” — smart mobility, performance and an elevated lifestyle proposition. Its stop at Gate M is the latest move in a broader shift: away from conventional auto showcases and toward the spaces where its target consumers already spend their time. Built on the site of the Shanghai Cement Factory — once the largest of its kind in Asia — Gate M West Bund Dream Center opened in August 2024 and has since become one of the city’s most visited waterfront destinations. In 2025, annual foot traffic surpassed 11 million, and it topped Shanghai’s inaugural list of popular night economy landmarks. With riverfront views, industrial bones and an open-plan layout, Gate M has become a favored venue for brand pop-ups and experiential activations. Beauty labels including Lancôme, Armani Beauty and Kiehl’s have staged limited-time events there. At the roadshow, visitors could view the vehicles up close and take part in interactive check-ins to receive branded gifts — custom phone pouches, insulated tumblers and limited-edition teddy bears. It is a format designed to make the brand encounter feel hands-on rather than transactional. The Shanghai stop is part of Zeekr’s 2026 national roadshow, built around the theme “Luminous Arrival.” The tour centers on the 9X and 8X and is rolling out across landmarks and upscale shopping districts in China's first- and second-tier cities. Following Shanghai, it moved to Wushang SKP Mall in Wuhan and MixC in Wuxi. The roadshow brings Zeekr’s flagship models into everyday retail settings, where consumers can engage with the brand on its own terms — without the formality of a showroom or the noise of an auto show. The Jing Take Zeekr has shown a consistent instinct for crossing category lines. Its February collaboration with Salomon was one of the more compelling brand partnerships of the ski season. One is a luxury tech player in the electric vehicle space; the other, a French heritage name in outdoor performance gear. Together, they used skiing as a point of entry for a crossover with genuine category stretch. Why skiing became a luxury branding opportunity What made the partnership work was Zeekr’s refusal to treat it as a surface-level logo exercise. Skiing carries real social weight in China — it has a high technical threshold, strong associations with spending power and an audience that skews young, affluent and experience-driven. That profile maps closely onto Zeekr’s target buyer, giving the brand a credible route outside conventional car marketing and into a setting with genuine emotional pull. Rather than a straightforward announcement, Zeekr opened the campaign with a cryptic close-up of a vehicle wrap and an online challenge asking users to decode its “new winter skin” — inviting speculation about the partner brand before the reveal. Existing owners were given exclusive access to register for the professional ski event — a scarce privilege that deepened their sense of belonging and status. For them, it was less a brand activation than a marker of identity. By sponsoring and embedding itself in a professional event rather than simply attaching its logo to one, Zeekr built a more credible connection with Salomon and the ski community. The sport’s affluent social codes and performance-driven atmosphere let the brand signal a genuine investment in outdoor culture — and quietly reinforce its own positioning around luxury and performance. It was a move from visibility to acceptance. China’s EV war shifts toward identity From its urban showcase at Gate M to its winter collaboration with Salomon, Zeekr is steadily expanding what a luxury new-energy brand can stand for. Product strength alone is no longer the decisive measure of competition in China's premium vehicle market. The more pressing question is how a brand enters the real lives of its target audience — through taste, emotion and social belonging. And Zeekr’s presence in high-end lifestyle settings is now showing up in the sales figures. The Zeekr 9X — the brand’s flagship hybrid SUV — has ranked first in sales for five consecutive months in China’s large SUV segment priced above 500,000 RMB ($69,000). One in three luxury SUVs sold above that price point is a 9X. At an average transaction price of 530,000 RMB ($77,600), the model has drawn more than 80% of its buyers from owners trading up or switching from legacy luxury marques — BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche and Land Rover, according to Zeekr. How Zeekr is challenging BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche Zeekr’s move upmarket is no longer just a matter of brand positioning — it is cutting into the customer base long dominated by legacy luxury carmakers. Its marketing works because it does not reproduce the old logic of selling cars. Through city pop-ups, professional sporting events and high-end community activations, it turns product value into something people can feel, join and identify with. Where traditional auto marketing relied on showrooms, dealerships and auto shows, Zeekr is moving into the spaces where potential customers already live and gather. For younger buyers, women, outdoor enthusiasts and affluent lifestyle audiences, that kind of encounter tends to feel lighter and more natural — and more likely to convert. On-site activation is no longer a footnote to traditional sales. For luxury new-energy brands, it is becoming a primary growth channel. The next phase of competition will not only be about who builds the better car, but who enters the consumer’s life first. Zeekr’s approach suggests the growth story of a luxury technology brand is shifting: from displaying a product to shaping a world people want to belong to. The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.

Why Zeekr took luxury EVs skiing

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Why Zeekr took luxury EVs skiing

How Bottega Veneta weaved China’s forever it bag