RE: Lynk & Co - what is it?

[Ozzie Osmond]

Regiment said:

It's like someone gave the Porsche SUV some personality.

But there are TWO Porsche SUVs!

Oh, I see what you mean.....

[swisstoni]

Bodo said:

A generic SUV for people that have no interest in driving whatsoever? Roads are littered with them already.

I wish I said that.

[rog007]

I think I get it; does that mean I get my Hipster ticket?




On a slightly more serious note; is this how Uber would do car sales? I think it's got the possibility of disrupting sufficiently to make it an option going forward. Let's see!

[MIDangerfield]

It's a nice enough looking thing but who are they kidding? Just because you have a direct sale model doesn't mean you're doing something 'totally different' you're still selling bleedin cars! And who the hell is thinking "I really wish I could rent my car out!" It's a new car company spouting utter sh**e that it's different when it just isn't. Geez!

[anonymous-user]

Interesting idea, but I thought the sort of knobend who falls for this marketing drivel uses public transport / a penny farthing anyway?

[vikingaero]

"Don't think that 'Co' stands for company," Alain Visser, the former Volvo executive heading up the new brand told us in a keynote presentation with more than a hint of dad-at-the-disco about it. "The 'co' stands for collaboration, for connected and for cool," he continued.

& Count.

More f**ktardisms from industry professionals so stupid that they believe it.

[George111]

Rather a negative write up, not the usual PH over the top wonderment at a new Revo upgrade promising to turn your Golf R into a Ferrari.

It doesn't really say very much at all, was it worth creating a thread for this ?

[Tryke3]

What sort of person would go on the internet to complain theres too much information ?

[Motorrad]

This will make great fodder to laugh at in a decade or so. Like looking at pompous, up their own arse adverts and concepts from the 70s and 80s.

[akadk]

Oz83 said:

The direct sales model is growing massively in the cycling industry. Top end bikes can be had for a fraction of the cost by cutting out the distributor and the bike shop. The only benefit to the consumer is price. When something goes wrong, you have to send your parts or bike back to the manufacturer (usually in Germany) and are at the mercy of their customer service. Even dealing direct with the manufacturer, it's not unheard of to wait months for spare parts or warranty claims.

How will a similar business model be applied to the automotive industry? Will all the cars be returned to a central distributor/service centre in each country, in order to omit the dealership? I suppose they can simply collect your car from wherever and leave you with a courtesy car. Will they make spare parts available aftermarket, or will they have a monopoly on spares and servicing? It will be interesting to see how this plays out. The cars are cheaper to buy but will the consumer end up paying more for aftersales and servicing?

If this is lucrative enough, the big manufacturers are sure to follow suit.

franchised aftersales is not an issue - this is a win win for a OEM & dealer

the big OEM's will not be sure to follow suit due to an established network with contracts and multimillion pound property investments requiring a return

maybe in 2030

but dealers are here to stay for 10 - 15 years at least

[George111]

Tryke3 said:

What sort of person would go on the internet to complain theres too much information ?

Have you seen this ? http://hmpg.net/

[veevee]

Whatever you do, definitely DO NOT read the about page on their website.

“I don’t know anything about cars. I don’t even want to. I’ve got better things to do.”

“Cafés, buses and trains have Wi-Fi. Everything’s got Wi-Fi. Except my car.”


http://www.lynkco.com/en/who-we-are.html

[peter450]

Can't see how this is going to work, they would have been better off using the Volvo brand, who's going to buy a car from a manufacturer they have never heard of, especially the Chinese who love the euro wheels

[CDP]

Usget said:

It's the sales model which is interesting. No franchises, direct sales only, online sales, and the time-share aspect mentioned in the article. The big OEMs will be watching with interest to see if they can make it work.

Don't get too hung up on the name - every brand name sounds stupid until it becomes familiar.

Didn't Daewoe try direct sales when they started up? Servicing at Halfords too.

The thing I don't get is buying computer parts or groceries online is one thing but a car is a big purchase. Get it wrong and you'll regret it for years...

[Oz83]

veevee said:

Whatever you do, definitely DO NOT read the about page on their website.

“I don’t know anything about cars. I don’t even want to. I’ve got better things to do.”

“Cafés, buses and trains have Wi-Fi. Everything’s got Wi-Fi. Except my car.”


http://www.lynkco.com/en/who-we-are.html

I didn't view the website until now. It's a bit like one of those blue sky university design projects that will never become reality. But it has, and I actually think it's a brilliant concept.

For such an innovative idea, it's a shame the SUV looks so generic really.

[TooMany2cvs]

CDP said:

Didn't Daewoe try direct sales when they started up? Servicing at Halfords too.

They did - but not really in the same way.
It was back in the 90s, so before t'internet really went mass-market, especially for big online purchases. All their "direct sales" model meant was owning the dealerships, in the same way that many other brands do now - especially Merc - except they were little more than showrooms, hence the Halfords tie-up for servicing.

[TrivsTom]

As an older person in a 24 year old's body, I shouldn't really like this but damn the whole lot appeals to me more than it should. Shame I'm looking at things with more higher emissions really..

[CS Garth]

vikingaero said:

"Don't think that 'Co' stands for company," Alain Visser, the former Volvo executive heading up the new brand told us in a keynote presentation with more than a hint of dad-at-the-disco about it. "The 'co' stands for collaboration, for connected and for cool," he continued.

& Count.

More f**ktardisms from industry professionals so stupid that they believe it.

I think of something else the 'Co' stands for as well. This is what happens when a load of marketing types get together to push product by committee.

Presumably they have convened a series of focus groups featuring people with world war one moustaches who have longboarded there from their crowdfunded ethically sourced pop up artisan Prince Albert jewellery manufacturing business ironically located in a crack den. Said people have fed back that they expect to be able to book everything from food to taxis via their mobile phone and they would "absolutely definitely totes" buy a car this way - ooooo and it must have wifi as well.

It will soon be learnt that some crowds make a bucket of pigst look wise by comparison and shouldn't be listened. Trying to sell cars to people who hate them and live in cities may at some point be viewed as the type of action a crack enthusiast would take.

[Usget]

CDP said:

Usget said:

It's the sales model which is interesting. No franchises, direct sales only, online sales, and the time-share aspect mentioned in the article. The big OEMs will be watching with interest to see if they can make it work.

Don't get too hung up on the name - every brand name sounds stupid until it becomes familiar.

Didn't Daewoe try direct sales when they started up? Servicing at Halfords too.

The thing I don't get is buying computer parts or groceries online is one thing but a car is a big purchase. Get it wrong and you'll regret it for years...

Not the way things are going. The most you'll regret it for is a couple of years, then you can lease something else. And the OEMs would like that cycle to be even shorter... just so long as the next thing you lease is also from them

[DiscoColin]

The website says "It’s a global collaboration of experts in design, engineering, software and connectivity from industry leaders like Volvo, Microsoft, Ericsson and Alibaba."

Everyone remembers the joke about what if Microsoft made cars, and what exactly the f*** are Alibaba bringing to the party to make you confident that your car will start and stop when you want it to? The promise that it will be made from the very cheapest components fabricated in the far East's battery farm sweatshop production facilities?

Even if this thing is cheaper than Aldi's cheapest own brand cider, I can't even see student hipster types being interested in this, let alone the bearded wonders living off of their trust funds on the edge of affluent bits of London...

Edited by DiscoColin on Sunday 23 October 23:42