Geely premium automaker Lynk looks to further European growth

China Oceanwide Holdings

23/05/2023 11:27

By Gilles Guillaume
       PARIS, May 23 (Reuters) - Lynk & Co, a carmaker jointly
owned by China's Geely  0715.HK  and Volvo Car  VOLCARb.ST ,
plans to open its first showroom in France by early 2024 and to
expand in Europe, including Britain, its CEO and founder told
Reuters.
    The automaker, which both sells and rents cars on monthly
subscriptions, already has what it calls clubs, which look like
bars or lifestyle shops, in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany,
Sweden, Spain and Italy. 
    Lynk, which only offers a Chinese-made hybrid SUV called 01
in black and blue, will launch a fully-electric model, the 02,
by the end of 2024, Alain Visser said in an interview.
    "We have plans to enter other European markets in the short
term: Norway, Austria, Switzerland and the UK," said Visser, who
worked for General Motors, Ford, and Volvo before Lynk.
    Visser said Lynk had the "ambition" to also branch out into
the U.S. market at some stage.
    Though small, Lynk's expansion plans are the latest example
of Geely seeking to grow its foothold in Europe as the appeal of
Chinese cars, particularly electric vehicles, increases. 
    The Chinese giant, which controls Volvo and last week
increased its stake in Britain's Aston Martin  AML.L  to 17%, in
January detailed plans to grow its Zeekr and London Electric
Vehicle marques in Europe. 
    It is also a partner in a new powertrain firm being set up
with French carmaker Renault  RENA.PA .
    In 2022 Chinese-made electric vehicles already had a 9%
market share in Europe, nearly double the previous year,
according to consultancy Inovev, and the pace is picking up.  
    Lynk says it had 200,000 monthly memberships in Europe as of
April, of which around 25,000 are in France, up from 180,000 and
21,000 respectively a month earlier. 
    In France, where Lynk plans to open its first selling space
in Paris in late 2023 or early 2024, it offers a monthly
subscription rate of 550 euros, with a full purchase price of
44,500 euros ($48,986) in the premium segment, higher than
Shanghai Automobile Industry Corporation-owned MG Motor.
    The French government, lobbying to attract foreign
gigafactories and carmaking plants, is planning to make a 5,000
euro ($5,504) subsidy available to electric car buyers
conditional on meeting low-carbon standards when manufactured -
which it says would in effect exclude cars not made in Europe.
    Visser said Lynk would have to consider manufacturing cars
in Europe, also given rising tensions between China and the
United States.
     "It's becoming more and more necessary to have local
manufacturing sites ... rather than import cars from China."
($1 = 0.9084 euros) 

 (Reporting by Gilles Guillaume; Writing by Silvia Aloisi;
Editing by Alexander Smith)
 ((silvia.aloisi@thomsonreuters.com; +393487607044; Reuters
Messaging: silvia.aloisi.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))