Geely’s near-premium Lynk & Co brand has launched its first model – the 01 SUV – in China.
The compact SUV was designed and developed by Geely’s China Euro Vehicle Technology R&D centre in Gothenburg, Sweden, and built in China.
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An Conghui, president and CEO of Geely Auto Group, told The China Daily that Lynk & Co will compete directly against mainstream foreign brands.
“Lynk & Co brought together leading design, research, engineering and manufacturing talents from around the world to create a premium next-generation brand,” he said.
The price of 01 in China ranges from 158,800 to 202,800 yuan ($24,024-30,680).
With a compact SUV named ’01’, China’s Geely has launched a new premium brand called ‘Lynk & Co’ which boasts European credentials – designed and engineered in Sweden and sharing platform with Volvo Cars.
The Lynk & Co brand was launched at an event in Germany in 2016, highlighting the aim to achieve strong sales in Europe. The brand comes, it is claimed, with a new business model, an open API (application programming interface), personalised services, sharing possibilities and the first dedicated app store for cars. The first car in the range, the 01, is described as ‘bold and tech-laden SUV, built on the Compact Modular Architecture (CMA)’.
The Lynk & Co 01 will be followed by 02, 03 as a full range – reflecting the brand’s idea of simplifying and challenging industry conventions, right down to model names, Lynk says.
According to An, Lynk & Co is less luxurious than Volvo, but higher rated than Geely. Analysts note that it will go head-to-head with Volkswagen, Ford, Toyota and Hyundai.
Engineering and technology for the new range has been developed under CEVT (China Euro Vehicle Technology), the shared Geely and Volvo research and innovation centre. The 01 and forthcoming Lynk models will be based on the CMA (Compact Modular Architecture) – an advanced modular architecture capable of accommodating many body styles and sizes – which also underpins Volvo’s new compact car range and many upcoming Geely models.
Geely says it has ‘engineers with decades of experience at some of the world’s best car manufacturers developing the new range of Lynk models’.
The CMA architecture is described as ‘wholly modular’ and able to accommodate a wide range of different powertrains, electrical systems, passive and active safety systems and technologies.
All cars will come with a large central touchscreen and telematics systems that are always connected to the internet and the car’s own cloud. In what may trigger cyber security concerns, the car has a share button, enabling the owner to provide others with access to the vehicle via a shareable digital key.
See also: ANALYSIS – The future models of Geely & Volvo’s Lynk & Co
