Lynk & Co ready to connect

A NEW teaser for the fledgling Chinese-owned car brand Lynk & Co reveals that its first offering will be the “most connected car to date” with the company promising to shake up the automotive industry.

The first offering from Lynk & Co will be revealed on October 20 European time, possibly on social media platform Snapchat, and judging by the teaser, it is set to be a small crossover with unprecedented connectivity.

As previously reported, Lynk & Co is owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which also owns Chinese automotive giant Geely Auto and Volvo Car Corporation.

It is expected that Lynk & Co will sit between Geely, which is likely to remain a Chinese market only proposition for now, and Volvo, which is pushing further into the premium segment.

Highlighting its focus on connectivity and its blatant desire to attract younger buyers, Lynk & Co used social media shopping site Tictail to release the teaser and reveal a little more about the brand itself.

A short video shows a covered production car, which then morphs into a tablet then a bicycle and followed by a cloud, emphasising that the brand will employ a “share-based business model”.

“With Lynk & Co, we have created something bigger than just a car,” said Lynk & Co chief digital officer David Green. “We have created a digital platform for new thinking, for sharing and for collaboration, where only the imagination and creativity of all the bright minds out there will set the limits for how we can improve the use of cars and the experience of mobility.” The brand, which is described as a mobility company, says in the release that it aims to change how things have been done in the automotive sector.

“The car industry spins in circles by doing the same things over and over. Rules and conservative values stand in the way of evolution. We know this, because this is where we come from,” the release says.

“Now we have decided to end the game of ‘follow the leader’.

“On October 20 we will launch Lynk & Co – a new car brand that will evolve in the hands of its users and push the limits of the car industry.” Little is known about the brand’s first car, but it is likely to be underpinned by Volvo’s all-new CMA (Compact Modular Architecture) platform that will also for the bases of a number of new Volvo models, including the next-generation V40 hatchback and the mooted XC40 crossover.

The platform is also confirmed to be used for future Geely products.

Lynk & Co says the new model will be built on an open digital platform and feature “collaborations with several world-leading tech companies”.

Lynk & Co senior vice president Alain Visser, who is also senior vice president marketing, sales, services and PR at Geely Auto, said it was time for the automotive sector to be shaken up.

“In the car industry, for a century we have been so preoccupied by refining our product and production processes that we really haven’t looked beyond the trees and asked ourselves whether this is really the answer to people’s needs,” he said.

“To a large extent we have ignored the difference between the car as a mechanical product and the comprehensive experience.

“Time has changed. We live in the connected world and in that world, the heart of a car is not the engine. It’s the connectivity.”  As reported, Lynk & Co is on the cards for an Australian rollout in about 2018 with right-hand-drive production planned from the beginning.