Chinese automaker Lynk & Co plans to enter the US market with its upcoming all-electric car, CEO Alain Visser said.
Due to go on sale in 2024, the new EV model will replace the 01 plug-in hybrid compact SUV. Visser said the electric vehicle is being designed to be adapted for US regulations, Automotive News Europe reports.
“There is still some work to be done but [U.S. entry] is definitely very high on my agenda and I am sure it will work here,” Visser said. For the US launch, the executive said Lynk & Co plans to use the same subscriptions strategy it has used in Europe, where it has achieved sales of about 28,000 cars last year.
While the subscription sales method is different that the traditional ways cars are sold, Visser said customers are open to it. Almost all Lynk & Co sales in Europe are subscription-based, with customers paying €550 ($585) a month for the 01 SUV.
As part of this business model, Lynk & Co remains the owner of the vehicle throughout the subscription. For the US, Visser said the company would need to work out how to navigate local selling laws for its business model, which assumes most customers conduct transactions online.
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The executive said earlier this year at 2023 CES that US franchise laws are “insanely complicated.” Besides that, the upcoming Lynk & Co EV would require some rework for US homologation, meaning a market entry would be possible after 2024. In Europe, Lynk & Co plans to launch sales of the same vehicle in late 2024.
Lynk & Co came really close to launching an EV in 2021, when its Zero Concept was snatched by parent company Geely and given to its upstart EV brand as the Zeekr 001.
For its first EV, Lynk & Co will use parent company Geely’s SEA (Sustainable Experience Architecture) platform, which also underpins the Smart #1 compact SUV and Zeekr 001. The new model will reportedly feature styling cues from Lynk & Co’s The Next Day Concept unveiled in China last year.
Lynk & Co currently sells only one model in Europe, the 01 plug-in hybrid SUV. Its electric replacement will also be the brand’s only car sold in the region.
The brand debuted in Europe in 2020 and currently operates in seven countries. Visser said the automaker is pausing its expansion into further markets until 2024 when the all-electric model arrives. After that, Lynk & Co plans to enter the UK, which it anticipates to become its No. 1 or No. 2 market in Europe.
