Lynk & Co is the new, and somewhat torturously-named car brand being launched by Chinese carmaker Geely. Somewhat unsurprisingly, its first model is an SUV, and it's aiming to appeal to the big-spending urban millennial generation which we sometimes think doesn't actually exist.
Lynk & Co has one ace up its sleeve though – it’s actually a Volvo underneath.
Geely, which builds everything from entire cars to motorbikes, engines and transmissions and which also owns the company that makes London’s iconic black cabs, has owned Volvo since 2010 when it bought the Swedish carmaker from Ford.
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Since then we have been waiting for the fruits of true Geely-Volvo collaboration to see the light of day. Early on in Geely’s ownership, with the global recessions raging, the primary task was to steady Volvo’s sales and re-invigorate its model range. That has now largely been done, and thanks to the XC90 and S90, Volvo has been raking in both sales and critical acclaim for the past couple of years.
Now the attention can turn to Geely’s own global ambitions, and this Lynk & Co 01 compact SUV is the first of its planned full range of globally-available models. At 4.5-metres long and 1.6-metres tall, it’s smack dab in the middle of the burgeoning compact SUV sector, and it will come with a range of Volvo-developed 2.0-litre four-cylinder and 1.5-litre three-cylinder engines.
It will also be equipped with a plugin hybrid model in due course, and likely a full-electric version eventually.
As with the engines, all of the underpinnings are shared with the forthcoming new V40 range. Volvo has been stuck with the inheritance of the old Ford Focus platform for the current V4, which limited what it could do with the car.
By partnering with Geely to develop an all-new platform, and to share the costs of doing so across as broad a swathe of models as possible, Volvo has been able to develop hatchback, saloon and compact crossover versions of the upcoming new V40, all of which will be crucial to expanding its global sales to its target of 800,000 cars a year.
Big ambitions
As for Lynk & Co, the plans for the brand will become more clear in the coming months but it is already being talked of as “born digital” with direct internet sales rather than traditional dealers (and leaning on Volvo’s own global dealer network to take care of servicing and after-sales care) and much of the ownership experience will be focused on the combination of car and smartphone.
"With Lynk & Co, we have created something bigger than just a car. 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" said David Green, chief digital officer of Lynk & Co.
“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.
"To a large extent we have ignored the difference between the car as a mechanical product and the comprehensive experience" said Lynk & Co senior vice president Alain Visser. "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."
While the styling of the 01 seems to do a rather typically Chinese carmaker job of lifting cues and ideas from other companies (there’s a lot of Porsche and Kia in the front end, and rather a lot of Audi at the rear) the interior looks rather more successful, with a heavy Volvo influence on both the controls and displays and the level of quality.
Advanced tech
The car will also have a Volvo influence on safety too, with options such as autonomous emergency braking and active cruise control, which might help allay traditionally-held worries over Chinese cars not being as safe as their European or Japanese counterparts.
Production and sales of the 01 will start in 2017, with the Chinese and US markets being the initial focus, followed by Europe.
Lynk & Co claims that with its internet-based sales and lack of a traditional distribution network, it will be very competitively priced.
The 02 and 03 models will follow in due course. Irish sales have not yet been spoken of, but doubtless Volvo’s Irish operations would be keen to have a range of more affordable models to sell alongside its premium Swedish cars.
