Lynk & Co, the Chinese carmaker linked to Volvo and hoping to shake up the way people use cars with a unique sharing concept, has launched its first engine – a Benelli TNT 600 with Lynk & Co on the tank.
In case you have never heard of Lynk & Co. The Chinese brand is a joint venture between Volvo and the Chinese Geely, in which a lot of technology is shared. Now that in itself is not really special, much more interesting is the way in which Lynk & Co wants to shake up the ownership and use of cars.
For example, the company founded in 2016 does not work with the usual dealer network, but the cars are sold directly to the man (or woman). This can be done in the conventional way of cash or borrowing, but the marketing focuses mainly on a monthly membership, which is a nice catchphrase for private lease.
What is unique about the Lynk & Co concept is that you can also drive the Lynk & Co 01 without owning it, via a shared car structure. As an owner (buy or lease) you can rent out your 01 to anyone who has a Lynk & Co membership, where you can make a selection yourself of who can and who doesn’t. In theory, you could even earn money, because the extra kilometers are not deducted from your own kilometers.
Now we can hear you thinking what the hell this has to do with engines. Nothing, but maybe everything, because Lynk & Co has now presented its first motorcycle in China. The link with Benelli is easily explained, because parent company Geely has had a majority stake in Qianjiang since 2016 and that company bought Benelli in 2005.
While the Lynk & Co 01 is an in-house developed car (which undoubtedly used a lot of Volvo and Geely technology), the new Lynk & Co Benelli appears to be no more and no less than a TNT 600, but equipped with other graphics and a Lynk & Co logo on the tank (in addition to the Benelli logos on the butt and the mini flyscreen). The engine is now sold in China through the same direct sales model.
At the moment there is no question of the same lease-and-rental set-up as with the 01 car, but that will only be a matter of time. Lynk & Co has previously indicated that it wants to extend the lease-and-rental concept to vehicles other than cars, and motorcycles is an obvious step.
– Thanks for information from Motorfreaks.