Lynk & Co is one of those Chinese brands owned by parent company Geely that most consumers in Europe won't have heard about yet, but that's likely to change before too long. That's because the company with the same owner as Volvo has just revealed a plug-in hybrid variant of its 01 crossover at the Beijing Motor Show, while at the same time outlining an electrification plan to include Europe, which it refers to as the "New Energy Strategy."
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The company is looking to launch a couple of models here in Europe to begin with, which will be the flagship 01 and the sportier and more compact 02 that's a crossover designed to rival the Mercedes-Benz GLA. What's perhaps more significant, although not particularly surprising for a Chinese brand in the current climate, is that Lynk & Co has announced that all its models available in Europe will be electrified.
Lynk & Co's senior vice president, Alain Visser, insists that it's always been in the company's strategy to only offer electrified powertrains in European markets when sales get underway.
"There will be no diesel, no manual and no ICE [internal combustion engine] Lynk & Co derivatives in Europe," says Visser. "When we commence production in 2019, and sales starting from 2020, in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels and London, our range will be all about new energy."
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Mats Fagerhag, the vice president of parent company Geely, explained the rollout strategy further by revealing that "the new energy plan for Lynk & Co will be implemented in stages with the goal of following PHEV [plug-in hybrid electric vehicle] with HEV [hybrid electric vehicle] and then BEV [battery electric vehicle]."
It's probably no surprise either that both the 01 and 02 models from Lynk & Co are built using the same platform as the new Volvo XC40, which was designed to be able to support fully electrified powertrains as well as petrols, diesels and hybrids. The plug-in hybrid powertrains the company will use to start with will couple an electric motor and battery system to a new 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine, and the 01 PHEV is quoted as offering a fuel economy rating of 166 mpg and a range of up to 31 miles on electric power only.
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