The next day of Lynk E-Motive concept car released by Lynk & Co, a subsidiary of Geely Group

On June 6th, Lynk & Co released its exclusive intelligent hybrid technology Lynk E-Motive, which was developed based on the Geely Emgrand EV platform, through its cloud platform. At the same time, the company showcased a new concept car named “The Next Day”.

Geely Group’s CEO, An Conghui, personally presented the Lynk E-Motive on the cloud platform. This marks an important step for Geely Group in its overall electrification strategy.

Last year, Geely Group released its 2025 strategy with the core focus on electrification. The strategy includes a wide range of technological advancements, such as the transformation of energy sources, but the major points are:

Firstly, the company has a comprehensive understanding of the industry’s ultimate goal in terms of new energy and the transformation of enterprises and brands, and has a clear schedule for technological developments and product launches.

Secondly, Geely adopts an independent and collaborative approach towards core technologies, such as chips, operating systems and big data analysis, and is committed to establishing its own core system and technology. In addition, the company is evolving in all aspects, from production to after-sales, in order to promote green energy.

Finally, Geely always insists on taking customers’ real needs as the cornerstone, and maintaining strategic focus in order to promote product development.

Lynk & Co’s intelligent hybrid technology, which challenges convention, embodies Geely’s 2025 strategy.

After the press conference, I had a conversation with An Conghui about Geely’s electrification strategy. Many external voices believe that Geely has not demonstrated outstanding leadership among Chinese car brands in terms of electrification, and that its pace is relatively slow. However, An Conghui disagreed. “A company needs to be based on sustainable corporate concepts formed on real customer needs, guided by industry and market trends, and promote its own development strategy and pace based on its own strengths,” he said.# Geely’s Understanding of Smart Electrification is Thorough
Geely’s deployment and preparation in this aspect are the most comprehensive and imaginative in the industry. For example, at the group level, Geely has made breakthroughs in satellite technology for vehicle networking signal coverage. It has already laid out the entire smart development from the scalable platform, chip design, to the operating system and application development, including ‘Yit’ which is a set of intelligent development bottom layer and application development which is based on 6G mobile service. It has laid out the future technology path for civil aviation travel scenarios beyond ground travel, and has initiated the most universal, open, and convenient energy supplementation mode construction. It even has innovative financial enterprises in the digital era.

All of these represent Geely’s thinking on the ultimate goal of industrial change, and the achievements of these projects combined with Geely’s large-scale user base will inevitably accelerate the emergence of products and business models that represent the direction of industrial change.

Having been with Geely for nearly 20 years, Mr. Gan Jiaye stated that he never doubted Geely’s strategic ability. Fundamentally speaking, today’s achievements of Geely originate from the success of its corporate philosophy and strategy, and so will the future of Geely’s development. Geely has never deviated from the direction of striving to provide better and more valuable products for all users when formulating strategies.

In terms of smart electrification, Geely has a clear understanding of the industry change led by “Smart Electric”, a positive attitude, and a comprehensive and determined strategy.

However, this is a long-term process, and the ultimate state of future travel will be demonstrated by the optimal energy solution, the most reliable driving intelligence alternative, and the supporting smart transportation and in-transit smart applications that match them.

In this process, taking green energy as an example, including hybrid, plug-in hybrid, methanol and other high-efficiency and low-emission alternative energy sources, and metal battery pure electric and so on, are all forms of vehicle energy sources with different weights, and there is no actual distinction of high or low prices between them.

This is the basic law of the development of things and will not change due to black swans, gray rhinos, or public opinion preferences.

Therefore, with Geely’s determined and precise strategic deployment, Geely will not easily change its direction and pace in the product transformation process. This is not the corporate resilience and status that leading Chinese automotive industry corporations should present. Mr. Gan Jiaye also said that a company that dares to be a Chinese star must have this resilience. Otherwise, it will be a tragedy for the Chinese automobile industry for leading companies to follow the tide.In the process of electrification in the Chinese automobile market, metal battery pure electric products have played a role in breaking the deadlock, driving new trends, accelerating industry reform, and guiding users, so it is normal for public opinion and policies to be biased towards this type of product. However, this does not change the law that various forms of new energy will play important market roles in the process of industrial transformation.

The plug-in hybrid category with intelligent management as the focus is definitely an important category in the process of automobile electrification. Plug-in hybrid products with a pure electric range of around 200 kilometers are currently the most energy-efficient, with the lowest energy consumption price, and the most balanced and anxiety-free category in new energy solutions that cover the widest range of scenarios. Geely strives to lead the industry in this technological roadmap because it represents the real needs of a large number of users in the future stage. Of course, the maturity and leadership of Geely’s pure electric roadmap technology are also very clear. This is not a multiple-choice question, but a system power and open enterprise strategy.

For Geely’s intelligent electrification, what Ganjiaye is more concerned about is who Geely is in the midst of industry changes. This issue is becoming increasingly clear or becoming more ambiguous. The former indicates that our transformation path is correct, and the latter represents that our path choice has problems.

In the next 10-20 years, Geely will provide users with high-efficiency fuel vehicles, various new energy vehicles, and even more efficient new energy products that have not yet appeared. For Geely, walking in the rhythm of industrial change, ultimately leading intelligent electrification with products and sustainable technology instead of simply pursuing market speed; at the same time, in the entire transformation process, it does not give up any continuously pursuing higher quality and greater user value for any on-sale automotive product, which is the core of Geely’s development.

For example, many people believe that fuel vehicles are already a thing of the past and have no chance of making a comeback, so many companies have given up investment in fuel vehicle technology but are still selling fuel vehicles. This is a logic that Geely cannot accept. As long as it is on sale, we should improve the product according to the expectations of users.

The Geely China Star series, which has been very successful in the past two years, started from fuel vehicles, but we not only significantly reduced product energy consumption but also made breakthroughs in new era user concerns such as intelligent remote upgrades and intelligent application experiences, using products to refute the rumor that fuel vehicles are not compatible with high-end intelligence.The basic concept of Geely is to enable users to buy better and more valuable cars. This concept, combined with our intelligent electrification strategy, is the key proposition for Geely’s era. This proposition is far more important for Geely than the simple pursuit of fast electrification.

Geaniaoyue laughed and said, “Sometimes, what the outside world perceives as slow is not slow. For outstanding enterprises, fast and slow are not differences in quality, but differences in ideology. We can launch the extremely avant-garde Lynk & Co brand, representing the leading global level of pure electric vehicles, which shows that our technology is leading. Geely and Lynk & Co’s smart electrification products today, and future products, are all based on the market peak of user value.”

The Lynk & Co intelligent electric-hybrid vehicle, Lynk E-Motive, released by Lynk & Co this time, is also an important new energy node for the brand under this common concept.

Lynk & Co is the breakthrough of China’s first high-end automotive brand that has achieved market success. However, the core difference between Lynk & Co and Geely is not the difference in pricing, but the distinct difference in user consumption concepts and demands.

Fashion sense is a mass consumption trend and cultural identity that has been truly nurtured in China’s economic and cultural development to date. Lynk & Co is positioned as born global, open and connected, which is the brand’s response to the real needs of this group of people.

In the six years of the brand’s development, this positioning has been proven to not be a marketing hype, but a real demand. This is also the bottom-line of Lynk & Co’s intelligent electrification transformation strategy.

On the shoulders of the giants of Lei Shendong, the research and development focus of Lynk & Co’s intelligent electric-hybrid vehicles is not on parameter competition, but on the real needs of Lynk & Co’s trendy users.

Although data shows that Lynk & Co’s intelligent electric-hybrid vehicles, equipped with industry-leading 3-speed DHT technology, are not afraid of competing with Japanese and other DHT autonomous brands in numbers, achieving a highest thermal efficiency of 43.32% and an improvement in fuel efficiency of over 40%, which is rare in the industry.

But the key points of the Lynk & Co smart electrification product launch are as follows:

First, it is the first time in the industry to achieve hybrid system FOTA upgrades. This term is not unfamiliar to us, but it is the first time in the hybrid system. Smart electrification innovation, electrification is the choice of energy, while intelligence is the choice of the times and consumption. Lynk & Co’s choice is not to let users choose, both for the trend and for ourselves.Secondly, performance must have visible differences from other products. For example, the entire range of models can do a jump start, taking a lead of 0.5 seconds; during mid-range acceleration, it is faster than the same level by 1 second when traveling at 80-120 km/h; the fastest Lynk&Co intelligent electric hybrid product can achieve a 0-100 km/h acceleration in 5 seconds.

Thirdly, anxiety alleviation. Trend consumers have lower tolerance for anxiety. Lynk&Co’s intelligent electric hybrid model provides a pure electric 180 kilometers of the highest endurance, meeting the daily endurance needs of super-cities. Below this mileage, pure electric endurance becomes the main driving form of Lynk&Co’s intelligent electric hybrid products. According to different city sizes, Lynk&Co’s intelligent electric hybrid prepares multiple pure electric endurance configurations such as 60 kilometers, 100 kilometers, and 150 kilometers.

Fourthly, full-scenario customization. Just like many trendy product enthusiasts, they prefer to buy jeans and customize the holes themselves, rather than buying ripped jeans. Customization is the part that trend consumers are most interested in. Lynk&Co’s intelligent electric hybrid realizes the decoupling of hardware and software layers and supports full-scenario user customization. Currently, only a few products priced at 700,000 to 800,000 yuan in the pure electric vehicle market dares to do so.

Ganjia Yueshuo said that at the Lynk&Co electric new product launch conference, he picked out these points in his speech, which may be a change in the logic of traditional heavyweight technology and car releases.

Each time a new technology and new car is released, the enterprise tries to interpret the advantages of the technology by solving some universal pain points; however, Geely believes that the pain points proposed for the brand’s own user experience should be placed in the focus, and the breakthrough of universal pain points and the basic thinking should be based on the breakthrough of one’s own user pain points.

In other words, Lynk&Co’s new energy route must first be very “Lynk&Co” and very trendy. If each step of Lynk&Co’s new energy transformation does not closely follow the concerns of Lynk&Co car owners, and does not bring value and real needs of new energy to Lynk&Co car owners, such new energy transformation is not Lynk&Co’s choice.

This is true for both today’s smart electric hybrids and future new energy products. This is also the design concept of the brand new concept car called “A New Day” recently released by Lynk&Co. Lynk&Co’s new day must first guide users to the trend.

Therefore, Lynk&Co’s intelligent electric hybrid, as a technical work, explains a kind of attitude of Lynk&Co and even Geely Automotive. Ganjia Yueshuo said that since entering the industry, the preferences and trends of the automotive industry have changed countless times, and policy guidance has also been constantly updated. Although intelligent electrification is a disruptive innovation in the industry.

However, for automotive users, the basic consumption logic that real needs bring real value perception is not among the revolutionary content of industry innovation.

Not only the industry changes, but also the special situation brought to the auto market and some unexpected changes in the industry this year. It seems that the rhythm of some things is accelerating, while the adherence of some things is becoming more difficult, and some things are becoming more uncertain.

However, whether it is taking advantage in the midst of industry changes or being at a loss, or being surprised or scared in the world of black swans and gray rhinos, the first step we must take is to clarify our concept. Geely’s current corporate philosophy of being great because of happiness is our persistence and enrichment of Geely’s original philosophy. That is the first step we take: we cannot be impatient to seek novelty and change, and also throw away the timeless and fundamental things.

The second step is to be practical. At the beginning of the year, Li Shufu proposed in his New Year’s Greetings that Geely wants everyone to shine, how to do it? The answer is to re-examine oneself and the enterprise, and return to the spirit of being practical. Being practical is the basic principle and methodology for enterprise to distinguish the real from the fake and to obtain efficient basic strategies and methods in the midst of change. The more we need to feel our way across the river, the more we need to be practical.

Only by taking these two solid steps can we have a judgment on the final outcome of future changes, have a concept of the path, cherish all users as we did at the beginning, and have a soul and value for innovation and leading. Only in this way can we move towards the right direction at the right speed.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.