Zeekr Accused of Inflating Sales with 0-Kilometer Used Cars

According to a report by China Securities Journal on July 18, Zeekr has been accused of inflating its sales figures by selling a large number of insured and transferred inventory vehicles as new cars through its direct sales store system. This practice has led to numerous complaints from unsuspecting consumers who were sold these vehicles as 'limited time offers.' Consumers in cities such as Guizhou, Chongqing, and Guangzhou discovered that the 'new cars' they purchased had already been insured and even registered, effectively making them used cars. When these customers sought compensation, they often faced evasion or denial of their claims. As a smart electric vehicle brand under Geely Holding Group, Zeekr has been called out for creating a false sense of prosperity, but as of July 19, there has been no response from the company. The term '0-kilometer used car' refers to vehicles that have been registered but not actually used, with odometers showing nearly zero kilometers. These cars are sold at significantly lower prices than new ones through second-hand car channels. Since May of this year, multiple local market supervision departments and automotive quality complaint platforms have received numerous cases related to disputes and compensation involving Zeekr. A customer, Cheng Cheng (pseudonym), reported that he paid 5,000 yuan in June 2025 to reserve a Zeekr 007 model at a direct sales store in Chongqing. He claimed that the sales staff deliberately concealed and distorted vehicle information. Initially, they claimed the car was a new vehicle that had never been insured, but later changed their story to offer mandatory traffic accident liability insurance for free to hide the fact that the car was insured. Cheng also mentioned that the sales team offered him 2,000 yuan in private compensation. Similarly, a customer named Li Xing (pseudonym) from Guangzhou discovered during his transaction for a Zeekr 001 model in May 2025 that the dealer created a fraudulent page that closely resembled the official Zeekr app, named 'Limited Time Car Purchase Platform,' with the remittance account listed as 'Xiamen Ouhang Automobile Co., Ltd,' which is not Zeekr's official entity. During the insurance process, Li learned that the vehicle had previously been insured in December 2024, with the policy indicating it was a transferred insurance. Li stated that the sales staff did not disclose the truth and instead used tactics like 'limited quantity, fixed price discount' to cover up the fact that the vehicle had become a used car after being insured. 'There are over 80 people in my group who have encountered similar fraud from all over the country,' Li said. He also contacted Zeekr's headquarters in Hangzhou for rights protection but was told that there were no issues with the limited time offer vehicles. 'They know they are in the wrong, which is why the sales staff offered to give me 2,000 yuan cash compensation out of their own pockets.' According to data from the China Passenger Car Association, Zeekr's production and sales figures for 2024 are 225,000 and 222,000 respectively. This suggests that Zeekr's production exceeded sales, leading to an overflow of supply. An experienced automotive sales professional noted that under competitive market pressures, some car manufacturers are resorting to using '0-kilometer used cars' as tools to create a false sense of prosperity by prematurely recognizing sales and revenue, leading the capital market to misjudge the real supply and demand. On July 1, Zeekr Technology Group announced that its total sales for June reached 43,012 units, but the core brand Zeekr only delivered 16,702 units, a 17% year-on-year decline. Public records show that from 2021 to 2024, Zeekr's net losses were 4.514 billion yuan, 7.655 billion yuan, 8.264 billion yuan, and 5.79 billion yuan, totaling 26.223 billion yuan. Despite narrowing its net loss to 763 million yuan in the first quarter of 2025, the path to profitability remains long. Great Wall's Wei Jianjun previously criticized the phenomenon of '0-kilometer used cars.' He noted that the increasing number of '0-kilometer used cars' is a bizarre industry phenomenon resulting from intense competition in the automotive sector over the past few years. According to statistics from the China Automobile Dealers Association, the national second-hand car transaction volume reached 19.6142 million units in 2024, an increase of 6.52% year-on-year. This figure does not include the quantity of '0-kilometer used cars.' Industry experts estimate that the number of '0-kilometer used cars' currently circulating in the market may account for 5% to 8% of the total second-hand car transaction volume.