Roll over Volvo: there’s a new Swedish car in town
Car developers in Gothenburg have given Volvo a new sibling.
Like Volvo Cars, the new brand Lynk & Co is owned by Chinese carmaker Geely but developed in Gothenburg.
The new car, called Lynk & Co 01, is a sport utility vehicle built on the same platform as the new Volvo V40.
It was created by Cevt, Geely and Volvo’s joint development company in Gothenburg.
Lynk & Co’s cars will mostly be sold online and delivered to the buyer’s door. The vehicles will be assembled in China, with sales in the Asian country scheduled for next year, before the cars are rolled out in Europe and North America.
Zhejiang Geely Holding bought Volvo Cars from Ford in 2010 as the first step in its bid to become a global automotive giant. The launch of the new brand is seen as another step along that path.
Lynk & Co is designed to slip into the segment between Volvo and Geely cars.
“You could basically say that Geely established itself at both ends of the car prestige scale. Volvo is seen as having a relatively high status. But people, not least Chinese people themselves, have an unfavourable view of Geely,” Mikael Wickengren, a car industry researcher at the University of Skövde told news agency TT.
“Now they’re adding a brand in between, which is considered easier than trying to spruce up Geely.”
In a separate move, Geely is putting pressure on the Swedish government to facilitate the development of a European head office, potentially in Gothenburg.
“Our leadership met the Prime Minister recently but we haven’t seen any incentives yet,” Geely’s CEO Conghui An told Dagens Nyheter.
Photo: Björn Olsson
Comments
See Also
Like Volvo Cars, the new brand Lynk & Co is owned by Chinese carmaker Geely but developed in Gothenburg.
The new car, called Lynk & Co 01, is a sport utility vehicle built on the same platform as the new Volvo V40.
It was created by Cevt, Geely and Volvo’s joint development company in Gothenburg.
Lynk & Co’s cars will mostly be sold online and delivered to the buyer’s door. The vehicles will be assembled in China, with sales in the Asian country scheduled for next year, before the cars are rolled out in Europe and North America.
Zhejiang Geely Holding bought Volvo Cars from Ford in 2010 as the first step in its bid to become a global automotive giant. The launch of the new brand is seen as another step along that path.
Lynk & Co is designed to slip into the segment between Volvo and Geely cars.
“You could basically say that Geely established itself at both ends of the car prestige scale. Volvo is seen as having a relatively high status. But people, not least Chinese people themselves, have an unfavourable view of Geely,” Mikael Wickengren, a car industry researcher at the University of Skövde told news agency TT.
“Now they’re adding a brand in between, which is considered easier than trying to spruce up Geely.”
In a separate move, Geely is putting pressure on the Swedish government to facilitate the development of a European head office, potentially in Gothenburg.
“Our leadership met the Prime Minister recently but we haven’t seen any incentives yet,” Geely’s CEO Conghui An told Dagens Nyheter.
Photo: Björn Olsson
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.