Electric vehicle startups tend to live fast and fluctuate wildly, but Zeekr’s latest chapter is turning heads for a different reason. Geely is looking to take electric automaker Zeekr private, barely a year after it went public in the United States. However, investors fear that Geely is undervaluing the company, and are demanding more.

Given that Zeekr is viewed as one of Geely’s best automotive assets, it’s perhaps little surprise that the conglomerate wants to take full control of it.

Read: Zeekr 9X Is A Rolls Royce Cullinan Clone For The Price Of A BMW X5

As it stands, Geely already owns about two-thirds of Zeekr, alongside a slew of other electric carmakers that make up the group. In 2023, a fundraising round valued Zeekr at $13 billion, but when it went public in the US twelve months ago, its fully diluted valuation was cut to $5.5 billion, less than half the estimate.

Investors Push Back on Geely’s Bid

In early May, Geely said it offered to pay $2.2 billion to take Zeekr private, for the remaining 34.3% stake. But significant investors in Zeekr, including CATL, Intel Capital, and Boyu Capital, all of whom invested in Zeekr’s original fundraising round, don’t believe Geely’s offer accurately reflects the firm’s fair value. Other investors to express their displeasure include Bilibili and Cathay Fortune Group.

According to Reuters, the five firms sent a letter to Geely arguing that the offer pegs Zeekr’s total value at just $6.5 billion. That’s a steep discount compared to competitors like Xpeng, Nio, and Li Auto, all of which command higher valuations despite similarly rocky roads.

Geely’s offer to acquire the remaining stake in Zeekr valued each share at $25.66, or a 24% premium over the average share price in the four weeks prior. Zeekr’s shares have since jumped to over $26 after news of the potential move first broke.

Control Without Consensus?

The early investors have urged Zeekr’s special committee to review and evaluate Geely’s offer. They also don’t want a deal to proceed until there’s an agreement among the majority of Zeekr’s “independent minority” shareholders.

Unfortunately for these shareholders, they may not have any say in the matter. According to some analysts, Geely’s current 65.7% stake in Zeekr means it may have sufficient votes to carry out the privatization without needing approval from other shareholders.

Electric vehicle sales in Australia are shifting fast, and the usual frontrunners are no longer guaranteed a spot at the top. As more buyers look beyond the legacy names, newer players are gaining ground, especially those with sharper price tags and more features for the money.

In 2023 and 2024, the Tesla Model Y was comfortably the best-selling EV in Australia. However, new options from Chinese and Korean brands have led to a massive slump in local sales of the Model Y, so much so that in April, it was only the 8th best-selling EV in the country. Evidently, it’s not just in Europe where Elon Musk’s company is falling out of favor.

Read: Tesla Couldn’t Even Sell Its Model Y Launch Editions As Hundreds Are Sitting Unsold

Storming in as the best-selling EV by far in Australia last month was the BYD Sealion 7, according to a report from Carsguide. It is the latest addition to BYD’s Ocean series of models and undercuts the Model Y on price, starting at AU$54,990 (~$35,400) and topping out at AU$63,990 (~$41,200), compared to the new Tesla that starts at AU$63,400 (~$40,800) and AU$73,400 (~$47,200) for the flagship version. Last month, 734 Sealion 7s were sold across the country.

Next up is the MG 4. While it’s been around for a couple of years now, the electric hatchback remains popular with 363 units sold in April. This positioned it just ahead of the BYD Atto 3, with 355 sold. Kia’s newly-launched EV5 and EV3 have also been well-received by local shoppers, with sales of 342 and 336, respectively. The BYD Seal then shifted 325 units while the new Geely EX5 sold 325 examples.

Then there’s the Tesla Model Y. A total of 280 were sold last month, positioning it slightly ahead of the Tesla Model 3 with 220 sales. Rounding out the top 10 was the BYD Dolphin with 216 examples finding new homes.

Now, before you start thinking recent sales represent the imminent collapse of Tesla, it’s worth noting that throughout April in Australia, Tesla was selling a mix of the outgoing Model Y and the brand new version. As we can see from the official page, Tesla still has a healthy inventory of the old crossover.

Many shoppers are likely holding off on placing an order until the new Model Y lands in earnest, which will happen over the next couple of months. Nevertheless, April’s results will likely have some local Tesla executives a little worried.

BEST SELLING VEHICLES AUSTRALIA

Wider Market Trends

Australia’s total new car sales declined in April. A total of 90,614 new vehicles were sold across the country last month, representing a decline of 6.8% compared to the same month in 2024 and quite a dramatic fall from the 108,606 new cars sold in March.

EV SALES AUSTRALIA