Volvo could build Lynk & CO cars in Europe, CEO Samuelsson says
Volvo Car Corp. could build cars for the Lynk & CO brand in Belgium and may extend its European service network to the new brand, Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson said.
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group started selling Lynk & CO's 01 crossover in China about two months ago for a base price of 158,800 yuan ($25,000).
Volvo could consider offering its factory in Ghent, Belgium, to build the model if and when the Chinese company wants to expand to Europe, Samuelsson said Wednesday in an interview here.
Volvo and Lynk & CO are owned by Zhejiang Geely.
Lynk & CO has said it plans to start selling the 01 outside China in mid-2019, starting in Europe.
A made-in-Europe stamp would boost the ambitions of the Chinese brand as it takes on global automakers such as Volkswagen AG, which has dominated China’s car market.
After years of selling lower-priced models at home, Chinese automakers such as Geely and BYD are turning their attention to the international market.
"If and when they decide to go global, to Europe, possibly the U.S., we can of course make that entry more credible," Samuelsson said.
Lynk & CO is studying the feasibility of making the cars in Europe, a Geely spokesman said. Alain Visser, senior vice president of Lynk & CO, said in November that the brand is considering global manufacturing opportunities with Volvo.
Zhejiang Geely bought Volvo from Ford Motor Co. in 2010 and spent more than $11 billion to modernize its production facilities. Last year, Geely bought nearly 50 percent of Malaysia's Proton Holdings and 51 percent of U.K. sports-car maker Lotus.
Geely's owner, the Chinese billionaire Li Shufu, wants to transform his company into a global player. As part of that plan, in 2016 he unveiled Lynk & CO, a brand that targets young customers.
The brand's 01 is a rival to the cheaper and more popular $14,000 Haval H6 from Great Wall Motor Co., China's biggest crossover/SUV maker. Great Wall also wants to move upscale with its Wey brand, which sold 86,427 vehicles last year.
Volvo owns 30 percent of Lynk & CO, while Geely Automobile Holdings owns 50 percent. The rest is held by Zhejiang Haoqing Automobile Manufacturing, a firm controlled by Geely.
Lynk & CO shares the production line with the Volvo XC40 in a factory in Luqiao, which is 350 kilometers (217 miles) south of Shanghai.
Lynk & CO has sold more than 6,000 units of the 01, its first model, since it went on sale last November in China. The compact five-seat crossover has in-car Internet connections that allow users to open the car without a physical key and share the vehicle with a phone button.
Last year, Volvo's vehicle sales in China rose 25 percent year on year to 114,410 vehicles, and the automaker's biggest market will "continue to grow fast" in 2018, Samuelsson said, without elaborating.
Volvo could consider offering its factory in Ghent, Belgium, to build the model if and when the Chinese company wants to expand to Europe, Samuelsson said Wednesday in an interview here.
Volvo and Lynk & CO are owned by Zhejiang Geely.
Lynk & CO has said it plans to start selling the 01 outside China in mid-2019, starting in Europe.
A made-in-Europe stamp would boost the ambitions of the Chinese brand as it takes on global automakers such as Volkswagen AG, which has dominated China’s car market.
After years of selling lower-priced models at home, Chinese automakers such as Geely and BYD are turning their attention to the international market.
"If and when they decide to go global, to Europe, possibly the U.S., we can of course make that entry more credible," Samuelsson said.
Lynk & CO is studying the feasibility of making the cars in Europe, a Geely spokesman said. Alain Visser, senior vice president of Lynk & CO, said in November that the brand is considering global manufacturing opportunities with Volvo.
Zhejiang Geely bought Volvo from Ford Motor Co. in 2010 and spent more than $11 billion to modernize its production facilities. Last year, Geely bought nearly 50 percent of Malaysia's Proton Holdings and 51 percent of U.K. sports-car maker Lotus.
Geely's owner, the Chinese billionaire Li Shufu, wants to transform his company into a global player. As part of that plan, in 2016 he unveiled Lynk & CO, a brand that targets young customers.
The brand's 01 is a rival to the cheaper and more popular $14,000 Haval H6 from Great Wall Motor Co., China's biggest crossover/SUV maker. Great Wall also wants to move upscale with its Wey brand, which sold 86,427 vehicles last year.
Volvo owns 30 percent of Lynk & CO, while Geely Automobile Holdings owns 50 percent. The rest is held by Zhejiang Haoqing Automobile Manufacturing, a firm controlled by Geely.
Lynk & CO shares the production line with the Volvo XC40 in a factory in Luqiao, which is 350 kilometers (217 miles) south of Shanghai.
Lynk & CO has sold more than 6,000 units of the 01, its first model, since it went on sale last November in China. The compact five-seat crossover has in-car Internet connections that allow users to open the car without a physical key and share the vehicle with a phone button.
Last year, Volvo's vehicle sales in China rose 25 percent year on year to 114,410 vehicles, and the automaker's biggest market will "continue to grow fast" in 2018, Samuelsson said, without elaborating.
