Photo: S.Baldauf/SB-Medien
It seems that Geely is not satisfied enough with the massive success that has started to surround its European brand in the last couple of years.
We are of course talking about its Volvo subsidiary, which has been on a roll ever since it launched the second generation of the XC90 and the new S90/V90 twins. The Swedish carmaker is on a reinvention path these days, which will continue with the upcoming launch of its compact models, based on the CMA (Compact Modular Architecture) platform.
That isn't exactly news for Volvo fans, but the fact that the CMA platform will also be used by an all-new car brand probably is.
A couple of months ago, Geely unveiled plans for a new global car brand, called Lynk & Co, for some odd reason. Most if not all models made by the new company will apparently be based on Volvo's CMA platform, and the first product will be a compact SUV.
Previewed by a concept car unimaginatively called “01,” the new crossover will allegedly be the “most connected car in the world.”
Our spy photographers recently caught the very first prototype of the Lynk & Co 01 in production guise while testing on public roads, and it looks like the Chinese mean business.
It's pretty hard to judge how things are going underneath all that heavy camouflage, but it looks like the production model will be quasi-identical to the concept previewed by the new company back in October of last year.
Since the concept car was powered by a plug-in hybrid arrangement that used an electric motor paired with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder, we can expect the same from the production model. Volvo fans should be pleased to find out that a similar drivetrain will be employed by the upcoming S40/V40 and XC40 models.
According to Lynk & Co, the company's car lineup will benefit from multimedia and telematics systems that are permanently connected to the carmaker's own cloud, which sound both cool and a bit spooky at the same time.
The 01, or whatever the production version will be called, is expected to be joined by two brothers in the next couple of years, so it's probably safe to assume that Lynk & Co will simply mirror Volvo's future compact lineup.
The new brand will start its rollout in China first, followed by the U.S. and finally Europe. The crossover we spied should be officially unveiled by the end of 2017.
That isn't exactly news for Volvo fans, but the fact that the CMA platform will also be used by an all-new car brand probably is.
A couple of months ago, Geely unveiled plans for a new global car brand, called Lynk & Co, for some odd reason. Most if not all models made by the new company will apparently be based on Volvo's CMA platform, and the first product will be a compact SUV.
Previewed by a concept car unimaginatively called “01,” the new crossover will allegedly be the “most connected car in the world.”
Our spy photographers recently caught the very first prototype of the Lynk & Co 01 in production guise while testing on public roads, and it looks like the Chinese mean business.
It's pretty hard to judge how things are going underneath all that heavy camouflage, but it looks like the production model will be quasi-identical to the concept previewed by the new company back in October of last year.
Since the concept car was powered by a plug-in hybrid arrangement that used an electric motor paired with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder, we can expect the same from the production model. Volvo fans should be pleased to find out that a similar drivetrain will be employed by the upcoming S40/V40 and XC40 models.
According to Lynk & Co, the company's car lineup will benefit from multimedia and telematics systems that are permanently connected to the carmaker's own cloud, which sound both cool and a bit spooky at the same time.
The 01, or whatever the production version will be called, is expected to be joined by two brothers in the next couple of years, so it's probably safe to assume that Lynk & Co will simply mirror Volvo's future compact lineup.
The new brand will start its rollout in China first, followed by the U.S. and finally Europe. The crossover we spied should be officially unveiled by the end of 2017.
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