Lynk & Co Super Sedan is Part Dodge, Part Lamborghini, Probably Mostly Vaporware

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Lynk & Co, if you hadn’t already guessed by the name, isn’t a normal car company. The upstart brand that sounds more like a hipster clothing depot than an automaker was revealed late last year following a promotional video that failed to show any products consumers could actually buy.

Now, months after the reveal of its 01 SUV, the Geely-owned company has another product to show off. This one’s a concept, sporting a design that previews a second planned model named — you guessed it — the 02. Sexy and artistic promotional shots of the arresting sedan have cropped up on the Adamsky Management website.

While Lynk & Co is as weird as it gets, this concept looks like something we’d all aspire to own.

Scissor-style clamshell doors and frameless window glass is something we’ve all come to expect from slinky concepts, and this one doesn’t disappoint. The disappointment comes when the actual product bears none of those features.

From the front, the concept seems to draw design inspiration from both Lamborghini and Porsche’s utility vehicles, while there’s some Dodge Charger visible in the rear flanks. Hell, there’s even a little Kia in the rear roof/C-pillar junction. A “floating” console seems to intrude into backseat space, no doubt to answer the incessant demands of Millennial passengers.

There’s not much to go on besides this, as Lynk & Co isn’t in the habit of divulging much actual product information.

Given that Geely also owns Volvo, a fair bit of Swedish DNA will find its way into the brand’s vehicles. Lynk & Co plans to build a 1.5-liter and 2.0-liter engine in China using technology loaned by Volvo, and its 01 SUV rides atop the CMA platform developed for the upcoming XC40. The 02 sedan could borrow a version of that architecture. Hybrid technology seems a must, especially given the brand’s urban, youthful marketing pitch.

How the brand could ever sell either of these vehicles in the U.S. remains a mystery, as it plans a direct-sales model coupled with online retailing. America’s domestic automakers do not take kindly to such things. Just ask Tesla about that.

“Our aim is to enrich and simplify car ownership by re-defining how cars are bought, owned, connected, serviced and used,” Alain Visser, Lynk’s senior vice president, said last October.

Lynk & Co’s first model goes on sale in China this year. Europe and the U.S. are next on the conquest list, with America targeted for 2018..

[Image: Adamsky Management]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Wjtinfwb Malibu will be the Ford Panther of this decade. We won't miss it until its gone. GM will tell you there's no market for sedans anymore. Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, VW, Audi and others will challenge you on that. GM gave up on Malibu as soon as it was introduced in 2017, no development, only de-contenting and relegation to "Fleet" status. I've had a lot of Malibu rentals, they were fine. Not as nice as an Accord or Camry, but preferable to an Altima, Sentra, Sonata or Jetta in my mind. A little development in the powertrain, refinement of the suspension and clean up on the styling would have done wonders. But that's not the GM way. Replace it with something else equally mediocre or worse but charge more because it sits higher. It's a shame GM has been relegated to such a back of the class manufacturer when spectacular cars like the C8 Corvette show what they can do when someone really gives a damn.
  • SCE to AUX This has been a topic for at least four decades.In a world filled with carcinogens, you'd need an enormous study to isolate the effects of seat foam compared to every other exposure we have.Besides, do people really drive around without any fresh air purging the cabin?
  • Rna65689660 This is NOT new information. They’ve known this for decades.
  • Wjtinfwb Had an E38, loved it dearly. I thought nothing could make me love the subsequent "Bangle" 7 series, but this latest version did. Apparently the psychotic drug epidemic plaguing North America has made its way to Munich and filtered into the design studios. This car is just grotesque.
  • Wjtinfwb Any Focus with a manual is a great car. The automatics... beware. I've had two, both manuals, a Gen 1 SVT and a Gen 2 ST, bulletproof, super low maintenance costs, reasonably entertaining to drive and very comfortable for long drives. Unfortunately, manuals are very scarce, this one, if decently maintained and not thrashed, would be a helluva deal at 4k and under 100k miles.
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