Lynk & Co, a new automotive brand formed by Chinese automaker Geely using a platform sourced from its Volvo unit, introduced its second concept, a rather conventional looking sedan called Concept 3 to complement the crossover SUV Concept 01 unveiled last fall. Lynk & Co, which promised to launch sometime next year in the U.S. market, now says it will begin sales in late 2019 starting in San Francisco. The plan calls includes selling vehicles online or through company owned stores with the option of a subscription model patterned after cell phone plans. The company also announced at the unveiling it will offer free connectivity and lifetime warranties on all its vehicles.
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“We believe Lynk & Co will offer the most connected cars in the world, with the world’s first in-car digital share function,” said Alan Visser, senior vice president of Lynk & Co during the reveal. “We offer a completely new business model, with a simplified product offer, transparent fixed pricing and attractive purchase and ownership-expiring programs starting here in China this year. We will bring a unique offer of connected mobility, with the option to share your car, where everything is included. The key to everything we do is simplicity.”
Volvo underpinnings
Like the previously unveiled crossover, the Concept 03 is based on Volvo’s global compact car architecture with transversely mounted 3-cylinder or 4-cylinder Drive-E turbocharged powertrains in conventional or hybrid forms driving the front wheels through a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. While the Concept 03 shares similar front styling cues as the 01, it has a lower ride height and traditional 3-box sedan styling.
See all the latest from the 2017 New York International Auto Show
Images of the interior show an upscale treatment with wood veneers and stitched leather seating and dash covers. The shift-by-wire gear change lever can be moved forward and back to engage drive and reverse and features a side-to-side action for manual sequential shifts. There’s also conventional buttons for the HVAC, as well as a large center touch screen, while the main instrumentation is digital in execution incorporates a navigation display.
According to reports, Visser said the delay in U.S. sales is needed to give Lynk & Co time to establish its factory-owned distribution system.
