A Conversation With Zeekr's Giovanni Lanfranchi

·49 min·4 clips

Giovanni Lanfranchi describes being shocked by the profound changes after Geely's Paesu Declaration unified all R&D.

The episode is an interview with Giovanni Lanfranchi, a technical leader at Zeekr, part of the Geely group. Hosts Sam Abuelsamid, Nicole Wakelin, and Roberto Baldwin ask about Geely's brands in Europe. Lanfranchi begins by describing the Paesu Declaration from March 2024, a strategic move by Chairman Li to unify R&D across the Geely group. He notes this led to rapid consolidation of mechanical, electrical, and software architectures, shared by Zeekr, Lynk & Co, and Geely. European R&D centers in Gothenburg, Sweden, and Frankfurt, Germany, work on adapting these common platforms. Examples include a terrain adapt AI feature developed in Europe and now part of the platform, and a European-specific navigation app with a cleaner UI, co-created with customer ambassadors. This app scored 4.85 out of 5 in surveys. The discussion shifts to software development processes, where Lanfranchi explains using AI cameras for automated UI testing and large language models to prompt CAD systems, speeding up design by 25-30%. He also mentions adversarial AI networks for detecting edge cases in ADAS. On powertrains, he details an LFP battery charging in 8.5 minutes and a super hybrid system in the Zeekr 9X, offering over 1,000 km range. The episode touches on brand positioning: Geely as mainstream, Lynk & Co as premium, and Zeekr as luxury. Lanfranchi cites the Zeekr 7X as a European success, learning from earlier models like the 001. The conversation ends with brief mentions of potential North American market entry and ongoing platform convergence for Volvo and Polestar.

As heard by us

A clear look at how Geely uses European customer feedback to refine electric-car features.

Geely's European strategy comes through most clearly when the discussion moves from broad positioning into the practical work of adapting cars after launch.

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Want to hear how EV drivers get a vote in what their car does next?

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