Lynk & Co will definitely be available in the UK by the end of 2022 according to the company’s CEO Alain Visser, with only the 01 SUV model to be sold in Europe via the company’s novel subscription model.
“In Europe we start next year,” Visser told Auto Express. “At the end of the year we open our store in Amsterdam and that’s likely to be followed by Berlin and Gothenburg simultaneously.
“All markets will be done by the end of 2022.”
The Volvo offshoot, headquartered in Gotheburg with cars built in China, is promising to do things differently, by avoiding traditional sales models. “We won’t have Lynk & Co dealers,” explained Visser. “We’ll have our own stores with a maximum of two stores per country. In addition we’ll have pop-up stores that just travel around. So we’ll have three distribution channels: online, flagship stores and pop-up stores.”
“Our stores won’t be like Tesla with a display of cars. We’ll have lifestyle stores with a maximum of one car.
“It’s about building a lifestyle community where people can come at night to meet a new chef who might cook for the audience or meet a new fashion designer – everything that is lifestyle-orientated during the night. The stores will be open day and night.
As to where Lynk & Co will put its first store, London is a definite, according to Visser. “We don’t know where yet in London – we do have some ideas but we haven’t finalised a location. We’re looking at places like Soho.”
• Best electric cars to buy now
Although Lynk & Co have revealed models 01, 02 and 03, with Visser confirming that he’s looking further ahead possibly with models 04 and 05, it’s the original 01 SUV that’s going to come to Europe.
“We’ve only committed for 01 in Europe,” he said. “We don’t think we need a vast selection of a similar size – it may well be [in the future], but we only have plans to launch in Europe with 01. And given our business model we think the fewer models we have the better.
That business model means customers can subscribe to Lynk & Co with access to a car for as little as one month. “The fundamental difference with what we’re doing is that you can do it for one month,” said Visser. “You can do it for 12 or 24 months, but the minimum is one month.
“You take away the whole stress of committing to a car for the next six years of your life. You can get a brand new car for one month. Everything included.”
The subscription also means you can access Lynk & Co cars in different locations – and make yours available to other subscribers when you’re not using it.
Visser is also keen to stress the other subscription benefits, like access to special events and festivals. “Our target is to be a real lifestyle brand with an emotional attachment to the brand,” he said
Lynk & Co is already a success in China where customers are younger than average. “Our customers are very young. 50% of our customers are under 35 and the average age of the 03 model is 28,” said Visser. “It’s the young, trendy, cool brand in China – it’s working, we’re growing at around 20%.”
“In 2018 we sold 120,000 cars and this year we’re heading close to doing 140,000 or 150,000.”
Now read our first drive review of the Lynk & Co 01…