China’s Lynk & Co headed to Australia, New Zealand

LYNK & CO has announced plans to enter the Australian and New Zealand market by 2025 as part of Chinese parent company Geely’s strategy to grow the combined sales of its Geely Auto, Lynk & Co, Geometry, and Zeekr brands to 3.65 million units, up from 2.4 million in 2020 and just 415,000 in 2010. 

It is understood Geely and stablemate Volvo architecture will underpin a range of cars and SUVs from the ‘youthful’ Lynk & Co brand, all of which will include hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric variants.

“Lynk & Co will expand its global presence by entering Russia, Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand (markets) among others,” Lynk & Co said in the announcement of its ‘Smart Geely 2025 Strategy’, adding that the Geely Auto brand would focus on developing markets for now.

“The Geely Auto brand will focus on developing the Eastern Europe, Middle East, South-East Asia, and South American markets as well as introducing new energy products to EY and Asia-Pacific markets,” the company said.

Geely is China’s best-selling domestic automotive brand and owns brands including Benelli (motorcycles), Caocao, Farizon Auto, Geometry, Jidu Auto, Joma, the London EV Company, Lotus, Lynk & Co, Polestar, Proton, Qianjiang Motorcycle, Terrfugia, Volvo, Yuan Cheng Auto, Zeekr, and Zhidou.

It also owns a 9.7 per cent stake in Daimler AG, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz and Smart, as well as truck and bus brands including Freightliner and Fuso.

Four models are already offered overseas under the Lynk & Co nameplate, using the same CMA architecture as the Volvo XC40 as well as SPA architecture shared with the XC90.

At the moment, none are offered in right-hand drive configuration.

Lynk & Co says it has plans to release at least five electrified vehicles within the next four years, including several battery-swap electric vehicles and an all-electric, all-wheel drive model that will offer a sub four-second 0-100km/h time, a driving range of up to 700km courtesy of an 800-volt/100kWh battery pack, and a two million kilometre battery lifespan. 

Performance offerings from Lynk & Co will be denoted by the + (plus) logo following the model name (e.g.: 05+). They will include suspension and braking components sourced from some of the world’s big-name suppliers, such as four-piston calipers supplied by Akebono Brake Industry Co.

All Lynk & Co vehicles are currently sold online via a fixed-price model like that offered by Tesla, or via a subscription service where a monthly fee is paid. In Europe, the Lynk & Co 01 – an SUV of comparable size to the Toyota RAV4 – is available from less than AUD$800 per month.

Of interest locally, the Lynk & Co 09 will share its platform with the Volvo XC90 but undercut the Swedish mainstay significantly on price. Built at the company’s Ningbo facility 200km south of Shanghai, it is available in its home market from just 270,000 Chinese Yuan ($A57,000) and features a classy, Volvo-inspired interior loaded with tech and plush leather upholstery. 

The ‘09’ is sold with hybrid or mild-hybrid (MHEV) drivelines and offered with six- or seven-seat configurations. MHEV versions feature a 2.0-litre petrol engine paired with an Aisin-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission.