The boss of Geely’s Australian operations says the Chinese auto giant won’t rush to expand its brand portfolio Down Under with the sporty Lynk & Co marque, and will instead focus on its core Geely and Zeekr brands in the near term.
Speaking with Australian media in Hangzhou, China, Geely Auto Australia managing director and Geely Auto Global vice president Alex Gu ruled out the local launch of Lynk & Co for now as the company works to make its existing brands “more powerful” Down Under.
“Short-term, we don’t have a plan [for Lynk & Co in Australia], because again the Australian market is a little different than others. First, [it’s a] right-hand drive market; second, it’s a high homologation or let’s say high regulation market,” added Mr Gu.
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“It’s an advanced market, a developed market – like the UK. And third is they will mainly look at ‘New Energy’ [models] because we also have the emissions-sensitive [regulations] in Australia, not like the Middle East, they are still running on ICE [internal combustion engines]. Australia has already asked for emissions standards.
“So based on that, short-term… Lynk & Co, we don’t have a plan to be [present in Australia]. I think the first thing is we must create Zeekr and Geely to be more powerful in Australia – that is our short-term mission.”
The latest development in the Lynk & Co business case for Australia comes after mixed messages from Geely and Zeekr brand officials, with the third sister brand previously being earmarked for a 2025-2026 launch in Australia, or even having some of its models rebadged and sold as Zeekrs in Australia.
At least now, it doesn’t appear that any sort of rebadging will take place, and Mr Gu’s reference to “short-term” indicates we could still see L&K vehicles sold in Australia at some point in future.
While it’s a member of the Geely Auto Group, Lynk & Co is now controlled by the Zeekr brand, after a restructure saw the Chinese luxury arm of the group take a 51 per cent controlling stake in Lynk & Co last year – though Volvo Cars leads its European operations.
The brand actually predates Zeekr, however, having debuted its first model – the 01 coupe – way back in 2016, and been formed as part of a three-way joint venture between Volvo Cars, Geely Auto and Geely Holding.
It now offers a range of models across numerous markets outside China, including Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia – though they appear to be all left-hand drive regions.
Like other brands in the Geely Auto Group stable – which includes Lotus, Polestar and Volvo – its models are based on common architectures and therefore share their DNA with models including everything from the Volvo XC40, XC60 and XC90 to the Polestar 4.
The Lynk & Co brand is currently positioned as the sporty, youthful member of the Geely Auto family, with Zeekr taking on the premium and luxury segments, and Geely competing in key mainstream markets.
That said, some of the brand’s flagship models play in premium spaces. For example, the Lynk & Co 10 sports sedan, which offers plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and electric vehicle (EV) drivetrains, the same 900V electrical architecture as Zeekr’s latest models, and in its most powerful form generates a Porsche Taycan-rivalling 680kW and claims a 0-100km/h time of just 3.2 seconds.
It also has its own version of the new Volvo XC70 revealed for China (and potentially export markets) called the 08, pairing a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine with a big 38.2kWh battery pack for a combined driving range of 1400km on the more lenient CLTC test cycle.
Lynk & Co’s smaller 02 crossover is based on the Volvo XC40/EX40, similar in design to small SUVs like the Toyota C-HR, and offers both PHEV and EV powertrain options depending on the market.
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