Lynk & Co, which is jointly owned by Geely and Volvo, arrived in Europe with an innovative sales and marketing strategy. The carmaker can straight up sell you a car, or you can rent one using a monthly subscription plan. The only model available right now is the 01 crossover, which you can get as either a hybrid or a plug-in hybrid.
Interestingly enough, according to company CEO, Alain Visser, Lynk & Co could become profitable in Europe within one or two years, as reported by Autonews Europe.
“We could be profitable in a surprisingly short time, one to two years,” said Visser earlier this week, while attending a car conference in Nuertingen, near Stuttgart. Before his arrival at Lynk & Co, Visser worked for GM, Ford and Volvo, having plenty of experience within the industry.
Now, you might think the Chinese-Swedish brand is making more money from selling cars rather than renting them out, but apparently that’s not accurate. Its main measure of success is those monthly memberships, which totaled 25,000 just last month.
“There is a conflict of interest between sharing cars and selling cars,” Visser added. “Lynk & Co does not need to sell cars.”
It will cost you €500 ($580) to rent the Lynk & Co 01 on a monthly basis. If you go over 1,250 km (776 miles), you’ll end up paying 0.15 euros ($0.17) per extra km (0.62 miles). What’s great about this system is that it doesn’t require a long-term commitment from you. Another interesting aspect is that you can then rent the vehicle out to other Lynk & Co members, thus allowing you to begin earning some money back. You can even set your own rates when renting the car out.
While no release date has been set, we do know that the brand’s next model will be fully electric, which should convince even more people to sign up for the monthly subscription plan.
“We could be profitable in a surprisingly short time, one to two years,” said Visser earlier this week, while attending a car conference in Nuertingen, near Stuttgart. Before his arrival at Lynk & Co, Visser worked for GM, Ford and Volvo, having plenty of experience within the industry.
Now, you might think the Chinese-Swedish brand is making more money from selling cars rather than renting them out, but apparently that’s not accurate. Its main measure of success is those monthly memberships, which totaled 25,000 just last month.
“There is a conflict of interest between sharing cars and selling cars,” Visser added. “Lynk & Co does not need to sell cars.”
It will cost you €500 ($580) to rent the Lynk & Co 01 on a monthly basis. If you go over 1,250 km (776 miles), you’ll end up paying 0.15 euros ($0.17) per extra km (0.62 miles). What’s great about this system is that it doesn’t require a long-term commitment from you. Another interesting aspect is that you can then rent the vehicle out to other Lynk & Co members, thus allowing you to begin earning some money back. You can even set your own rates when renting the car out.
While no release date has been set, we do know that the brand’s next model will be fully electric, which should convince even more people to sign up for the monthly subscription plan.