Zeekr says it has local engineering firms Walkinshaw and Premcar on the must-call list as it looks at local ride and handling tuning to better equip its vehicles for Australian conditions.
It’s a well-worn path for brands in Australia, with Kia and Hyundai both deploying a local ride and handling program years ago, and, more recently, GWM has recruited former Holden handling guru Rob Trubiani to put a local spin on its products, with the Chinese brand also taking a permanent residency at Victoria’s Lang Lang Proving Ground.
Zeekr appears next to follow suit, with the brand’s Head of Product, Melvin Low, saying he would be contacting two of Australia’s best-known engineering firms to investigate a program for its vehicles.
READ MORE:
Premcar already works with Nissan on the Warrior program, while Walkinshaw works with Toyota, RAM, Chevrolet, Mitsubishi and more.
“It’s a program that I’m definitely considering. We need to get many ducks in line to get that happening. We don’t have an engineering team based in Australia, so we may need support on that sort of thing,” he said.
“I know some of the other OEMs have hired (Walkinshaw or Premcar), so we’ll talk to some of those companies to see what programs they can offer, give them scope and say this is our vehicle.”
Mr Low says he’s keen to move away from the vagueries of a ‘global tune’ and ensure future Zeekr and Lynk & Co products – the latter likely rebadged as Zeekr vehiles – best suit local conditions.
“I’ve been in with previous OEMs, and you can see they either have a good world tune, or if they don’t, they try their best to improve it.
“I’ll give you a really good example. Maybe Hong Kong likes a softer tune because it has better roads, while Australia needs a stiffer tune because obviously we have a lot of uneven roads here.
“So localising our product and having a specific product for Australia is definitely my task and my challenge.”
