Volvo’s Lynk & Co 01 SUV sets WORLD record sales in China

The Lynk & Co 01 – Geely’s ‘connected and sharing’ take on the Volvo XC40 – has gone on pre-sale in China, selling out in just over two minutes.

It’s just over a year ago that the Lynk & Co 01 SUV was revealed as a ‘Sharing’ compact SUV based on the new Volvo XC40,as Geely aim to make the Lynk & Co brand a world seller by using Volvo’s know-how.

The plan is to sell the 01 – and subsequent Lynk & Co models – through boutique outlets, bypassing the traditional dealership model.

That could be fraught with problems for servicing and maintenance, but Lynk & Co is all part of Geely, which in turn owns Volvo, so Volvo’s established dealerships will solve that problem.

Due to go on sale in China today at 150 of those boutique outlets, Lynk & Co held a three-day pre-sale jamboree on its online store and, perhaps in a strong signal of what’s to come, sold out all 6,000 units allocated to the pre-sale bash in just 137 seconds. A world sales record, claim Lynk & Co.

What was on offer was ‘Collection’ models of the 01, all specced up and ready to go with prices from £18,000 to £23,000, all with petrol engines.

It’s going to be another year at least before the Lynk & Co 01 hits Europe, with up to 500 boutiques planned to drive on-line sales of the XC40 alternative.

By then, the 01 will have more engine options – including electrified models – and although prices will be higher than in China they will doubtless undercut the Volvo XC40.

Which will be interesting to watch.