Zeekr is using the 2026 Beijing Auto Show to make a broader statement about where China’s premium EV market is heading. On April 24, the brand will unveil and open pre-sales for the refreshed Zeekr 009, a flagship luxury MPV that has already been the annual sales champion in China’s above-RMB 400,000 MPV segment for two consecutive years. At the same show, Volcano Engine is debuting a new Agentic AI in-car solution already tied to more than 7 million vehicles across over 50 brands—highlighting how the next phase of competition is no longer just about batteries and range, but also chassis technology, cabin luxury, and AI-native user experience.
Zeekr 009 Refresh Targets a Higher Benchmark
The refreshed Zeekr 009 arrives with a clear brief: reinforce Zeekr’s leadership in the premium electric MPV space while expanding beyond business users to wealthy family buyers.
Before the 009 launched, the luxury MPV segment in China was still largely shaped by traditional internal-combustion models. Zeekr positioned the 009 as the world’s first purpose-built pure-electric luxury MPV, and the latest update suggests the company believes it now has room to move the category further upscale.
According to D1EV, the Zeekr 009 has:
- Won China’s annual sales title in the over-RMB 400,000 MPV segment for two straight years
- Claimed the 2025 MPV sales crown in Hong Kong
- Led luxury pure-electric MPV sales in Thailand and Malaysia
- Reached more than 60,000 users cumulatively
That matters because China’s premium EV story is increasingly shifting from volume growth to segment control. In other words, brands like Zeekr are no longer just trying to sell more EVs—they are trying to define what a Chinese luxury EV should be.
Key Upgrades: 900V, Chassis Tech, and Cabin Comfort
The biggest technical headline is the move to a full-stack 900V high-voltage architecture. In China’s EV market, 800V systems have already become a premium differentiator. A 900V architecture pushes Zeekr further into the upper tier of charging and efficiency positioning, even if final charging-speed figures were not disclosed in the source material.
Just as important is the chassis package. Zeekr says the refreshed 009 will be the first MPV to combine:
- Closed dual-chamber air suspension
- Dual-valve CCD electromagnetic dampers
- The brand’s Haohan AI digital chassis architecture
This is significant because large MPVs often struggle with body control. They prioritize rear-seat comfort but can feel heavy and floaty from behind the wheel. By bringing hardware usually associated with ultra-premium sedans and SUVs into an MPV, Zeekr is targeting one of the format’s oldest compromises: comfort versus control.
Refreshed Zeekr 009: Main Highlights
| Category | Key Detail |
|---|---|
| Debut | April 24, Beijing Auto Show |
| Market Position | Luxury flagship electric MPV |
| Segment Record | 2-time China sales champion in MPVs above RMB 400,000 |
| Electrical Architecture | Full-stack 900V high-voltage platform |
| Chassis | Closed dual-chamber air suspension + dual-valve CCD dampers |
| Audio | First MPV with Naim premium audio system |
| Driver Assistance | H7G-ASD system with Thor-U chip |
| Compute Power | 700 TOPS |
| Active Safety | More than 70 functions/configurations |
A Luxury MPV That Leans Hard Into Rear-Cabin Experience
Chinese EV makers increasingly understand that premium buyers evaluate vehicles less by traditional brand heritage and more by the experience delivered per yuan. Zeekr’s latest cabin strategy reflects that reality.
The refreshed 009 adds several comfort-focused upgrades:
- Power adjustment for every seat
- Ventilation and heating for every seat
- New second-row dual zero-gravity seats
- 22-point massage with kneading function in the second row
- Dual rotating second-row seats on the seven-seat version
- 17-inch central roof-mounted OLED screen on the seven-seat version
For family-focused customers, the seven-seat configuration is especially important. Zeekr’s current six-seat executive version has already built a reputation in business transport. The new seven-seat layout broadens the vehicle’s appeal to multi-child families and group travel scenarios, a growing niche in China’s upper-income consumer base.
The audio system is another notable differentiator. The refreshed 009 will be the first MPV to feature the same Naim audio system used in the Zeekr 9X. Naim, often described in Chinese media as a British heritage luxury audio brand with royal associations, helps Zeekr link the 009 to a more established global luxury vocabulary.
Safety and Assisted Driving Stay Central
Luxury in China’s EV market now has to include advanced safety and compute credibility. On that front, Zeekr is making the refreshed 009 standardize a high-end hardware stack rather than using it as an expensive option.
The MPV will come standard with the Qianli Haohan H7G-ASD assisted driving system, backed by Nvidia Thor-U-class computing at 700 TOPS, according to the source. Zeekr also says the vehicle includes more than 70 active safety features spanning:
- Urban commuting scenarios
- Highway cruising
- Parking assistance
- Door-opening warnings
- Broader all-scenario active safety support
This is a meaningful shift in market positioning. Premium family buyers and chauffeur-driven business users are both highly sensitive to safety messaging, and Chinese brands increasingly package ADAS, active safety, and cabin protection as core luxury content—not optional extras.
Zeekr 9 Series Shows a Bigger Brand Strategy
The refreshed 009 does not stand alone. D1EV also notes that the Zeekr 9X, the brand’s large luxury SUV, has been the sales leader for five consecutive months in China’s over-RMB 500,000 large SUV segment, with an average transaction price above RMB 530,000.
Together, the Zeekr 009 and Zeekr 9X form what the company calls the “Zeekr 9 series,” effectively a dual-flagship strategy aimed at the upper end of the market.
Zeekr’s Premium Positioning Snapshot
| Model | Segment | Price/Market Reference | Performance in Market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zeekr 009 | Luxury electric MPV | Above RMB 400,000 segment | China annual sales champion for 2 years |
| Zeekr 9X | Large luxury SUV | Above RMB 500,000 segment | Sales leader for 5 consecutive months |
The wider implication is clear: Chinese brands are becoming more comfortable competing not just against Tesla in technology-led segments, but also against legacy luxury players in categories where brand cachet once mattered most.
Volcano Engine Brings Agentic AI to the Auto Show
The Beijing Auto Show story is not only about Zeekr’s product hardware. It is also about the software stack that is rapidly becoming central to vehicle differentiation.
On April 24, Volcano Engine unveiled a new automotive AI solution built on an Agentic AI architecture. Unlike older smart cockpit systems that rely on fragmented voice domains and multiple loosely connected agents, the new approach aims to create a single in-car AI “brain” capable of handling:
- Perception
- Reasoning
- Execution
- Memory
- Learning
This end-to-end architecture is designed to link major vehicle domains such as:
- Vehicle controls
- Navigation
- Intelligent driving functions
- Cross-domain task execution
Volcano Engine says the system replaces the older “intent-domain plus multi-agent coordination” model with a more native, unified architecture.
Why the AI Numbers Matter
Volcano Engine president Tan Dai shared some unusually strong deployment figures for the Chinese automotive AI market. According to the company:
- It works with 100% of mainstream automakers in some form
- More than 7 million smart vehicles now carry the Doubao large model
- Those vehicles span over 50 auto brands and 145 models
- The system handles more than 30 million daily cockpit interactions and service loops
Those figures suggest that automotive AI in China is moving from demo-stage marketing to mass deployment. More importantly, the daily interaction volume indicates that voice and AI assistants are increasingly becoming habitual parts of the user experience rather than underused showroom features.
Volcano Engine Automotive AI at a Glance
| Metric | Reported Figure |
|---|---|
| Partner Coverage | 100% of mainstream automakers |
| Vehicles Deployed | 7+ million |
| Brands Covered | 50+ |
| Models Covered | 145 |
| Daily Interactions | 30+ million |
| Product Paths | AI cockpit toolkit + Doubao cockpit assistant |
From Voice Assistant to In-Car Agent
The most interesting part of Volcano Engine’s announcement is not just scale, but the direction of travel. The company describes three core engines:
- Dialogue reasoning engine
- Goal-driven engine
- Learning and growth engine
In practical terms, that means the system is being positioned less as a command-based voice assistant and more as a proactive task agent.
Examples cited in the source include:
- Wake-word-free interaction
- Multi-person conversation handling
- Full-duplex voice interaction that allows interruption and overlap
- Cross-domain task completion without repeated prompts
- Child-focused rear-cabin assistance such as songs, cartoons, stories, games, or soothing routines during trips
This is an important industry shift. Chinese smart cockpit competition is moving beyond “Can the car understand my voice?” to “Can the car understand context, coordinate tools, and complete outcomes?”
Two Commercial Paths for Carmakers
Volcano Engine launched two solutions for automakers:
1. AI Cockpit Toolkit
A modular offering that lets carmakers choose how much of the stack they want:
- Base large-model capability
- Full three-engine AI brain
- Interaction, tools, and ecosystem agents
- Dedicated operations platform for task and agent management
2. Doubao Cockpit Assistant
A full product-level delivery that connects the in-car system with the mobile Doubao app and allows shared capability evolution. Volcano Engine says this product will enter mass production in partner vehicles within the year.
This flexibility matters because Chinese OEMs are taking different paths. Some want to keep software branding in-house, while others are more open to turnkey partnerships if time-to-market is improved.
Why This Matters Globally
Taken together, these two Beijing Auto Show stories reveal a bigger truth about the Chinese EV industry.
China’s leading carmakers and tech suppliers are no longer advancing in a linear way where hardware comes first and software follows later. Instead, the market is becoming synchronized across four layers:
- High-voltage EV architectures such as 800V and 900V
- Premium ride and chassis control systems
- Luxury-oriented cabin design and entertainment
- AI-native cockpit software with agentic capabilities
For global automakers, this creates a much more difficult competitive environment. It is no longer enough to offer respectable range, decent infotainment, and a familiar badge. Chinese buyers increasingly expect:
- Ultra-fast charging potential
- Sophisticated suspension tuning
- First-class second-row comfort
- Always-available AI interaction
- Continuous software improvement after purchase
That combination is especially potent in segments like luxury MPVs, where legacy global players have often been slow to electrify or digitize aggressively.
Looking Ahead
The refreshed Zeekr 009 will need to prove that its hardware-first promises translate into real-world user gains in ride quality, charging convenience, and family usability. But on paper, it already looks like a serious attempt to raise the standard for the electric luxury MPV category.
At the same time, Volcano Engine’s new Agentic AI launch underscores how quickly software expectations are changing around Chinese EVs. The next battleground is not just who builds the better electric vehicle, but who builds the better automotive operating experience.
If Zeekr succeeds with the 009 refresh and suppliers like Volcano Engine continue scaling AI-native systems across brands, China’s premium EV sector will become even harder for foreign incumbents to dismiss—particularly in segments once considered safe strongholds for traditional luxury manufacturers.
