VIDEO: Lynk & Co 01 SUV’s ‘Share’ button in action

If you’ve been keeping tabs, there’s a new car brand in town and it’s rather unique. Designed and engineered in Sweden, with cars to be made in China, Lynk & Co is the newborn child of Geely, Chinese carmaker and owner of Sweden’s Volvo. Like Bell & Ross and their watches, Lynk & Co’s products will have numbers as names. The brand’s first car is the 01, an SUV.

As detailed last week, the 4.6m-long 01 will be based on Volvo’s Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) platform that will also underpin the XC40, Volvo’s junior SUV that will surface next year. Not much about the 01’s oily bits have been revealed, but reports mention a range of turbo engines from Volvo’s 2.0 litre four-cylinder and new 1.5 litre three-cylinder families.

The new brand is more keen to talk about the car’s technology and connectivity. “The most connected car to date” comes with a large central touchscreen and telematics systems that are always connected to the internet and the car’s own cloud. There’s a ‘Share’ button, enabling the owner to provide others with access to the 01 via a shareable digital key. With the Lynk & Co app, owners can control, monitor and share their car from a smartphone, too. The above video shows how it’s done.

“While other car brands are undergoing a digital transformation, Lynk & Co is born digital. The lack of legacy systems and the ability to build solutions in the cloud enable us to depart from the old model of car sales and service to bring the customer seamlessly through an omnichannel platform, with intuitive interaction at every touchpoint – from researching and purchase and all the way through to owning, sharing, servicing and re-selling,” said chief digital officer David Green.

The company is also open to outside innovation. Working with Microsoft and Alibaba to explore a whole new digital customer infrastructure for the car industry, Lynk & Co will offer new digital ordering, supply, sales and CRM systems and custom applications for user interaction. The brand has teamed up with Ericsson to create the car’s cloud. The digital platform will feature an API (application programming interface) open to third party developers.

lynk-co-01-03

Another big difference is the relationship between the carmaker and customer. While the industry traditionally relies heavily on a dealership model, Lynk & Co will interact directly with its customers. Cars will be sold online or in owned stores in strategic retail locations, with fixed and transparent prices. Cars will be delivered, and picked up for service, directly at the door of the consumer.

New solutions for car usage and access will be offered – from traditional ownership and leasing to subscription and sharing-membership, Lynk & Co says. With traditional distribution costs typically in the region of 25% of the price of a car, the new company says its efficient business model will deliver significant savings, and highly competitive pricing.

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • Car Enthusiast on Oct 24, 2016 at 11:32 am

    What garbage is this !!! all China’s people know is copy and paste management : Front copy from 2016 Kia Sportage, Porsche Macan, rear : copy fron Honda HRV. Who knows one day they will be copying Tom Cruise’s face and ditch their own.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 14
    • Mikey on Oct 24, 2016 at 1:13 pm

      Bro Car Enthusiast, the article is about the car’s technology & connectivity by Lynk & Co. It’s about “The most connected car to date” & it happens to be a Volvo owned by Geely. It’s all about the “Share” button.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • mr1031 on Oct 24, 2016 at 11:56 am

    proton copy also cannot produce something like that..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 2
  • Anything but P1, Greedy P2 on Oct 24, 2016 at 12:37 pm

    In Malaysia we have Jibby & Co.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 2
  • Ah Kow on Oct 24, 2016 at 12:37 pm

    The brand name itself already failed.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 3
  • Jimmy on Oct 24, 2016 at 12:43 pm

    Good. European name; very different from Geely, Dongfeng etc.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • Danis Chow on Nov 01, 2016 at 8:44 pm

    This SUV was designed by a group of swedish designers and lead by Peter Horbury ( ex-Volvo chief designer ) Please study more before giving comments.Are you a car enthusiast ? I don’t think so.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Danis Chow on Nov 01, 2016 at 8:52 pm

    This SUV was designed by a group of swedish designers and lead by ex-Volvo chief designer Peter Horbury.Please study more before giving comments Mr.Car Enthusiast ?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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