Geely-backed luxury EV brand Zeekr says it's already beating Tesla in parts of China

BEIJING — Chinese electric car brand Zeekr is selling more vehicles than Tesla in parts of China, and plans to expand in Europe and Latin America this year, Zeekr CEO Andy An told CNBC on Wednesday.

The sales momentum comes as Elon Musk's automaker reported its biggest drop in global quarterly revenue since 2012.

"We've already outsold Tesla in some areas. Our sales gap with Tesla keeps on narrowing," An said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.

For the first three weeks of April, Zeekr sold 500 more cars than Tesla in the province of Zhejiang, where Zeekr and its parent company Geely are based. Zeekr also slightly outsold Tesla in the province of Anhui, near Shanghai, and Guangxi, an autonomous region in southern China.

That's according to data shared by Zeekr. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tesla's Model Y still held the bestseller spot in China for the first three months of the year, when looking at purely battery-powered electric cars with a price tag of at least 200,000 yuan ($28,169), according to consumer information site Autohome.

BYD models held the second and third spots, while Tesla's Model 3 ranked fourth, the data showed. Zeekr's 001 and 007 sedans ranked 11th and 12th, respectively, according to the data. The company's 009 multi-purpose electric vehicle is also one of the top five bestsellers in the 500,000 yuan and above price category.

Xiaomi's new SU7 electric sedan starts at 215,900 yuan, slightly more than Zeekr's 007 but less than Tesla's Model 3.

When asked about Xiaomi's car launch, An declined to comment on the competitor. But he said the two companies differ in strategy, culture and resources.

At the Beijing auto show kicking off Thursday, Zeekr is revealing a new car structure