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Customer LoginsEurope: Geely to launch Lynk & Co brand this month
Geely and Volvo are set to launch the new Lynk & Co brand in Gothenburg and Berlin on 20 October.
IHS Markit Perspective
- Significance: The Lynk & Co brand models will use the Common Modular Architecture (CMA) developed by Volvo and parent Geely and will be positioned higher than existing Geely models, as the automaker aims to portray the new brand's models as "affordable luxury".
- Implications: Developed by the China Euro Vehicle Technology (CEVT) joint venture, with locations in Gothenburg and Trollhätten, Sweden, and Hangzhou, China, the centre has developed C-segment vehicles with the motto to 'Lay the foundation for Geely Auto in Europe'.
- Outlook: The new brand's first model is expected to be a C-segment SUV, which Geely will produce at the company's plant in Taizhou, China. IHS Markit forecasts show volume production will commence in 2017.
Chinese automaker Geely is to launch a new brand on 20 October in Europe. The brand is called Lynk & Co and is expected to be launched first in Europe, followed by China.
The first model to be launched under the Lynk & Co brand is to be a sport utility vehicle (SUV) built on the Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) developed by Volvo and parent Geely. The new Lynk & Co SUV is expected to be fitted with a 3-cylinder engine and will be a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), according to industry reports and sources.
The models to be launched under Lynk & Co are expected to built at the Geely plant in Taizhou, a port city, in China's eastern Zhejiang province. The new car has been designed by ex-Volvo designer Peter Horbury, who heads Geely's design team.
Volvo's senior vice-president for marketing, Alain Visser, stated in an invitation to the launch events of the brand in Gothenburg and Berlin, which has been sent to IHS Markit, that the company is "presenting more than a new car". He added, "A new car brand and a model line-up. And some radical, new thinking − different from anything you've seen before from the car industry."
Outlook and implications
Geely and Volvo have been working together on the CMA platform, which has been developed by China Euro Vehicle Technology (CEVT), a joint venture between the two companies based in Gothenburg, Sweden, and with other locations in Trollhätten, Sweden, and Hangzhou, China. In 2015, it was already being reported that the CMA platform would be shared between the Volvo and Geely brands, but we now know that a third brand, Lynch & Co, often previously referred to as the 'L' brand, will now sit between the two brands and will feature models built on the CMA platform, offering what Geely has referred to as "affordable luxury".
This new "affordable luxury" brand will be positioned below the Volvo brand, but higher than Geely's latest Emgrand GL sedan, launched in China last month.
The new SUV crossover model, expected to be fitted with a 1.5-litre, 3-cylinder turbocharged engine, will be a PHEV, the prototypes which have likely been assembled in Sweden, where most of the development has taken place.
However, volume production of the new brand's models is expected to take place in Taizhou, a coastal city in China's Zhejiang province, where Geely was established. The model likely will share the platform with the XC40 SUV, which is already scheduled for production in China.
IHS Markit light-vehicle production forecasts show that a new C-segment SUV will be produced in Taizhou beginning in 2017, with an anticipated volume of 40,000 units. In 2015, there were reports that a model based on the CMA platform would begin sales in 2017 (see China: 15 April 2015: Geely plans to launch model on shared Volvo platform for sale in 2017).
The XC40 is also scheduled to be built at the plant in Taizhou, with volume production forecasted to commence in 2018.
About this article
The above article is from IHS Automotive Same-Day Analysis of automotive news, events and trends, and is a deliverable of the World Markets Automotive Service. The service averages thirty stories per day and also provides competitor and country intelligence. Get a free trial.