Renault and Geely to take over Zeekr and Lynk & Co’s operations in Brazil

The command of Zeekr and the still unpublished Lynk & Co in Brazil will change hands for the second time this year. This is because Renault Geely do Brasil will hold the entire operational structure of the two Chinese brands in the country, six months after the headquarters in China took direct control of operations in March. The information was published by journalist Jorge Moraes and confirmed by Autoesporte.

The transition is still nearing completion, but it is already advancing in practice: part of the operational processes of homologation, prototype testing and validation of new models is conducted at the industrial complex of São José dos Pinhais (PR), where the group’s factory is located.

According to Autoesporte, the trend is that Ariel Montenegro, president of Renault Geely do Brasil, will also be announced as the leader of the two brands.

Zeekr debuted in Brazil in 2024 under the control of a group of dealers, targeting the premium market occupied by Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. It was founded by Geely in 2021 to face Tesla’s advance in China and shares development and platforms with Volvo, which has been part of the Chinese group since 2010, although the Swedish company’s operation in Brazil remains independent.

Lynk & Co, on the other hand, was born in 2016, with simpler cars on the same bases as Volvo, and has not yet had an official launch here: the Lynk & Co 01 is in the testing phase in the country.

• 
• 
• 

A joint venture of less than a year

Renault Geely do Brasil was created in November 2025, when Geely bought 26.4% of Renault’s operation in the country. The deal gave the Chinese company access to the Paraná plant, where the EX2 and EX5 SUVs will be produced, as well as Renault models based on Chinese platforms. The French company continues to hold the group’s sales operation.

It is not the first partnership between the two. In 2024, Renault and Geely became partners in Horse, the company responsible for producing the engines of the French brand’s cars in São José dos Pinhais.

A model imported from South

Korea The Brazilian arrangement repeats what the two companies already practice in South Korea, where Geely holds 34% of Renault’s operation. It is from there that the Renault Koleos launched in Brazil at the beginning of this year, produced in Busan and sold in the Asian market as Geely Moujaro, comes from.

With Chinese capital, Renault hopes to increase the production and competitiveness of the São José dos Pinhais unit, which today manufactures Kwid, Kardian, Duster, Oroch, Boreal and Master and has an installed capacity for 380 thousand vehicles per year, including passenger and commercial models.