Lynk & Co Picks Amsterdam For Its European Debut Because They Don’t Like Cars There

Lynk & Co has chosen Amsterdam as the first European city to launch its vehicles in the region, with the debut to take place at the end of 2020.

The Geely-owned brand has chosen Amsterdam partly because of anti-car reputation, according to Alain Visser, Lynk & Co’s CEO.

“Amsterdam is a trendsetting city with a reputation for not liking cars,” said Visser to Autocar. “We think if we start there, we can demonstrate our cars’ convenience and suitability in modern situations. When we move to other cities, we’ll have some great marketing experience to draw on.”

Also Read: Lynk & Co To Only Offer Hybrid And EV Models In Europe

Visser added that the announcement of the brand’s launch in the UK will come by the end of this year but don’t hold your breath as he added that Lynk & Co models will become available there “within the next two years”.

Lynk & Co’s first model in Europe will be the 01 compact SUV, which will be offered with both hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains. The Chinese-owned brand plans to price the 01 SUV close to VW levels, but their business model is to attract both outright buyers and customers who are interested in their subscription deals.

The company will offer customers the chance to use one of their cars for as little as a month without any penalties. Visser admits that they are not sure what proportion of their future customers will opt for a subscription; “We have business models covering proportions of 90% and 10%”, he adds.

A subscription deal isn’t new as other car makers have been offering them for a while now, but Visser says that these look like conventional leases in disguise. Lynk & Co’s offers will be more “like Spotify, but we’ll still sell CDs”.