Susannah Guthrie
Each month, the list of Australiaβs best-selling cars tends to tell a similar story.
The top-10 is heavy with utes and SUVs from familiar faces like Toyota, Ford and Mazda, plus electric cars from major players like Tesla and BYD. The biggest upset youβll tend to see is when a RAV4 switches places with a CX-5.
In July 2026, however, those paying close attention would have noticed a new entrant to the top 10 β a car that wasnβt even on sale in Australia a year ago.
Edging out the Mazda CX-5 to take 10th place was the Zeekr 7X β a sleek, understated all-electric medium SUV from a relatively unknown brand.
The 7X is so understated, in fact, that anyone not already familiar with the brand might struggle to identify it from a quick glance.
All sleek lines and minimalist badging, it could easily be mistaken for a Porsche Macan. The main difference is that the 7X is half the price of a Porsche β kicking off from $57,900 before on-road costs.
That might be why the Chinese-made SUV amassed more than 2000 pre-orders before anyone could even take it for a test drive.
Owned by Geely β the same Chinese conglomerate behind Volvo β Zeekr only started selling cars in its native China in 2021 and arrived on Australian shores in late 2024.
The 7X landed here in August 2025 as Zeekrβs third model in Australia. With good looks, an appealing price, up to 615 kilometres of range and the ability to charge faster than any other electric car in the country, it immediately turned the brandβs fortunes around.
Before the 7X appeared, the Chinese upstart had been fighting to establish sales footing in the face of intimidating rivals from the likes of Tesla and BYD, the latter of which sold an impressive 23,355 cars in the first half of 2025, compared with Zeekrβs 450.
Cut to August 2026, and Zeekr has already managed to sell 10,070 cars so far this year β a whopping 9172 of those the 7X.
Ben Adams, a business owner from Bronte, New South Wales, bought his 7X last year entirely by accident.
βI was doom-scrolling one night because my kid is a terrible sleeper. I saw an ad for Zeekr, had never heard of it but thought it looked cool,β Adams recalls.
βIt was a refundable deposit and there was a three-month waitlist, so I figured why not, Iβll put my name down. A month or two later, my partner said βyou should cancel that depositβ, so I called them but it was too late β the dealership said βYour car is already here, weβre looking at itβ.β
Six months later, Adams says itβs been βthe happiest mistake everβ.
βItβs been such an upgrade β we drive everywhere now. My son loves it, and itβs so comfortable.β
However, transitioning to a brand-new electric car has been a bit of a learning curve.
βThe only time we ever had an issue, I was walking with a cranky baby and loads of shopping and I got a new notification on my phone to say βthereβs a new over-the-air update do you want to install it?β I hit βyesβ and the car shut down, I couldnβt even open the doors, so I was stuck there for half an hour!β
The dealership experience also left a bit to be desired, with Adams joking that it reminded him of βa mad start-upβ.
βThey were all over the shop, we were in there for hours to pick it up, and they sold us an electric car without a charging cable in it β they said that was in the next shipment because of the war!β he recalls.
For a brand still finding its feet, achieving overnight success has not been without its challenges.
By its own admission, Zeekr has struggled to keep up with the astronomical demand for the 7X, battling stock shortages and a fledgling dealer network that is not yet up to the task of deliveries.
βWe are only limited at the moment to physically being able to deliver cars in a month,β Zeekr Australia head of digital Andrew Stamatakis told Drive in April.
βWeβre working on bringing more dealer partners on board. By the end of this year, weβre going to have 25 dealers, and weβre looking to make sure [theyβre] in the right areas.β
The cars themselves have also not been without their technical gremlins.
Perth-based owner Justin Clark says he has had to return his car to the dealership five times over an βauto-hold faultβ that prevents the car from shifting into drive.
βIf you leave it for 20 minutes and lock it and unlock it, itβs fine, but if youβre in the middle of nowhere or out late at night, thatβs not an ideal solution,β Clark says.
Zeekr is aware of the issue and is investigating a resolution.
Other owners who spoke to Drive said the automatic lane-change feature can be temperamental, the Zeekr app can be glitchy and the software updates can be inconsistent.
Still, Clark says heβd happily buy the car all over again. βWeβve done close to 13,000 kilometres in it β¦ for the money you pay and the equipment you get and the comfort, I canβt really fault it,β he says.
Plenty of similarly passionate owners are taking the troubleshooting into their own hands, with dedicated Facebook groups of more than 30,000 people collectively airing grievances, sharing quick fixes or praising the carβs performance.
The car maker hopes to ride the wave of the 7Xβs success by introducing three new models to Australia before the end of 2027: a mid-size electric wagon called the 7GT, a large plug-in hybrid SUV called the 8X, and an βupper largeβ plug-in hybrid SUV called the 9X.
Zeekr says wait times for most 7X variants are also now down to three months, with the brand on track to hit its target of 25 dealers across the country by the end of the year β and expansion in regional New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland on the cards.
For owners like Adams, the appeal of the Zeekr 7X comes down to how it makes them feel.
βMy car feels like a grown-up car,β he explains.
Of course, the shift to electrified motoring has also been a boon at a time of global fuel-price fluctuations. Laughs Adams: βIβve been as smug as a cat with the cream!β