Zeekr Wants To Rival Porsche By Reviving FR Performance Brand
The FR Sub-Brand
Zeekr, a brand under the Geely group, wants to take a stab at the performance EV market, aiming to challenge Porsche. The FR sub-brand is similar to BMW's M, Mercedes' AMG, and Toyota's GR divisions. putting performance at the forefront of the driving experience of its products.
The Geely group's portfolio of EVs and concepts is already quite impressive. In recent news, the Lynk and Co Time To Shine concept showed the world what a performance EV from the Geely group could look like. On top of that, not only does the group hold the current record for fastest charging at the time of writing, but it also has a lineup of electric vehicles that are insanely quick on their own, like the Zeekr 7X, which already has over 600 horsepower at its highest trim level.
High Performance is key
Mars Chen, Zeekr's vice president, told members of the Australian motoring media that "for the Zeekr brand, we need to move upwards. How do we go up? In two directions, performance and super luxury."
Chen continued by saying, "For further information, I'm really sorry I cannot share with you. But I want you to note: the ambition is always there," and that ambition is "to be a comprehensive carmaker. But after the 'One Geely' strategy, we need to aim at Porsche... focus on the real premium luxury segment."
Currently, Geely's Zeekr may offer some of the most technologically advanced cars on the market today; however, Chen stated, "We (Zeekr) are not a luxury brand yet, we are humble."
"But we are also confident. We do have luxury products in-house, but to be a better accepted luxury brand, you need to prove yourself. We cannot call ourselves a successful brand yet," Chen stated.
Zeekr FR v Porsche?
Here we have another performance brand. It's similar to what M means to BMW, AMG to Mercedes, GR to Toyota, and Nismo to Nissan, among many other sub-brands. Now, even if you've followed Chinese brands closely in the past two years (maybe in hopes of one day owning one), you might know about Zeekr, but not FR.
Turns out, the sub-brand has been quiet for the last three years, with the last car launch happening in 2023: The Zeekr 001 FR. The 001 is already a well-specced car on its own, but after Zeekr slapped on the FR brand on the model name, it went up to a whole other level of crazy.
It boasts 1,247 horsepower, a 0 to 62 mph time of about 2.02 seconds (with rollout subtracted), a 0 to 100 mph time of under 6.29 seconds (6.29 seconds 0 to 200 kph), and a top speed of 174 miles per hour. It has 944 lb-ft of torque, and former F1 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen is blessing the car with a co-developed driving mode that'll boost power to up to 1,300 horsepower.
While the brand has been quiet for a time, we might see it again very soon. There are rumors of a more powerful and even more exciting 001 FR model coming soon as well.
Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 5:45 PM.