Article by | Roomy
Edited by | Zhou Changxian
“Meizu joining us will bring about big changes, and next year’s story is easy to tell.”
On November 13th, at the Ningbo International Speedway, Chen Siying, the Vice President of Lynk & Co. Automotive Sales Co., Ltd., spoke this sentence to the many media present. It was not yet clear to everyone what he meant by “easy to tell.”
A few days later, Chen Siying posted a picture on his circle of friends, taken at the Meizu Technology Building in Zhuhai. Under the Meizu logo was the new slogan, “All in Auto.” Just before this, Meizu Technology was recruiting automotive engineers, including senior intelligent cockpit test engineers, in-car system product managers, intelligent cockpit project management experts, and more, putting on an “roll up your sleeves and work hard” pose.
Lynk & Co. + Meizu, isn’t it a familiar narrative structure?
In these past few years, the story of car companies and tech companies joining forces to make cars is hardly new. The “story” mode that Chen Siying mentioned is also within everyone’s expectations. The challenge is just how to tell the familiar story with new plot twists, which is a great test for all the Geely-owned brands, including Lynk & Co.
At the Ningbo International Speedway, when the Lynk & Co. 03+ rushed towards the finish line, there were also some clear descriptions of the road that Lynk & Co. will take in the future, mainly in two aspects:
Firstly, from the racetrack to the streets. Lynk & Co. hopes to give its customers a great experience by participating in top international car races and building the Lynk & Co. automotive culture system through the racetrack. As we all know, performance cars are often the carriers of brand concepts and technologies.
Secondly, to focus on intelligentization. The competition of intelligentization is a shortcoming that Lynk & Co. and the entire Geely system urgently need to make up for. Working with Meizu is an important part of building Lynk & Co.’s intelligent ecosystem.
The road ahead is clear.
The only thing is, when Chen Siying stepped into the Meizu Technology building, did he have a plan for how to tell this “new wine in old bottles” story to the picky market?
Lynk & Co.’s “Paranoia”
In these past two years, when it comes to Lynk & Co., there is a sense of “what a shame.”
Since its birth in 2016, Lynk & Co. has chosen a different method, always operating in the young people’s market. It was once called the “Chinese car brand breakthrough in high-end,” and its owners go from 01 to 02, 03…Do you remember the old media guys sitting in a small street pub, drinking and repeating that cliché phrase, “I’ve got booze, do you have a story?” Lynk & Co had it. At the time, Lynk & Co’s stories weren’t just in the alcohol, but also in their passion.
Lynk & Co had a good start, receiving high praise at the time. However, the speed of changing times always seemed to leave people a bit dazed, as if after they had just sped off, suddenly they had changed lanes, and their original ambitions had been messed up.
Later, when the reasons for Lynk & Co’s declining sales were analyzed, people liked to use “missed opportunities” to explain the brand’s failure.
However, Lynk & Co refused to admit it.
Regardless of whether or not they admitted to missing opportunities, Lynk & Co ultimately needed to find a new path in the era of electric intelligence. At the same time, this brand, which has only been developing for a few years, has also provided some painful lessons to those newcomers who once dreamed of overturning traditional car companies: when a system’s ability is not strong enough, it cannot support so many vehicle layouts.
From 01 to 09, Lynk & Co’s vehicle matrix had coverage of SUVs to sedans, with layouts in various niche markets. To put it nicely, it was comprehensive; to put it bluntly, it was the desire for everything. Today’s sales also gradually prove that “wanting everything is unrealistic.”
However, the decline in sales did not affect Lynk & Co’s fighting spirit. Or rather, this is an easily misunderstood stubbornness.
Seven years ago, when they were just starting Lynk & Co, Geely Automotive Group Chairman An Conghui asked a question, “Why were Japanese cars able to develop? Why were Korean cars able to enter the US market?”
Implicit in the question was, “Why can’t Lynk & Co?” This explanatory questioning was Geely’s original intention in creating the Lynk & Co brand.
There’s no denying that this brand represents Geely’s greater ambition and intention in the global market. At the time, Lynk & Co had indeed ignited two points of hope for Chinese automotive brands: “high-end” and “globalization,” even if they were not yet attainable.
Lynk & Co desires success, and China’s auto industry hopes that it can lead the way in Chinese manufacturing. Geely had given Lynk & Co an important task at the time: “to participate in the competition in the niche markets dominated by mainstream foreign capital,” and as of today, they have somewhat completed this first stage of their mission.Although Lynk & Co’s two fuel points were surpassed by newcomers such as WEY, Lynk & Co is still looking for its own way in a struggling, diminishing state. However, in this era of change, Lynk & Co has its own persistence, pursuing a route that no other Chinese auto brand has taken, that is, auto sports events. Lynk & Co hopes to make this happen. Cheng Siying also wants to make this happen, which is related to his three experiences. In 2004, when F1 was promoted in China, he organized customers to experience it when he was still with Fiat, and the experience was exciting. However, the media coverage wasn’t good enough; “they were just watching like fools.” Later, at Beijing Automotive, they spent a lot of money to organize a race, but the result was unsatisfactory. The third part is Lynk & Co. He hopes to make up for the regrets of the previous two experiences here and to achieve a leap in the promotion of racing culture. “Lynk & Co is a brand that does not compromise,” he often says. This statement is not false. In 2016, for a new brand like Lynk & Co, the questioning was endless when they made a big fuss about motor sports right from the start. However, Lynk & Co’s car owners at that time could be said to be the youngest customer group of domestic auto brands. When planning their products, Lynk & Co thought that it was simply not enough to develop only one product that fits the youth-oriented group. “Lynk & Co wants to do high-end, the price is not cheap, and it is also mainly aimed at young people. Auto sports are a good choice,” said Mu Jun, Assistant General Manager and General Manager of the Automobile Sports Department of Lynk & Co Automotive Sales Co., Ltd., explaining the idea behind making auto sports. By chance, in the joint venture between Geely and Volvo’s acquisition process, there was a brand asset that fit the young tone of Lynk & Co’s brand. “We thought that it was in line with the young tone of Lynk & Co’s brand, so we chose auto sports.” Cheng Siying said. When choosing auto sports, they had already figured everything out, “to seriously build an auto sports system, with good products, good culture, good events, and at the same time empower the brand and sales.” This is destined to be a long process, and it’s also costly. Nevertheless, when Geely put this important asset of motor sports into Lynk & Co’s brand, there was no hesitation, because there was confidence in Lynk & Co’s products. “We gave this asset to Lynk & Co without any hesitation, probably also because we have figured out the systemized operation.” Cheng Siying believes that this system is not something that ordinary enterprises can do, nor is it something that ordinary enterprises and brands can persist with. Lynk & Co has spent more than three years building this system, and it has achieved some success today.
# The Prosperous Racing Culture in Japan, America’s Popular High-Powered Racing Cars, Will China Follow Suit?
Mu Jun believes that China will definitely have such a time, and he hopes that it will be led by Lynk & Co. “Why is Lynk & Co.’s challenge race so popular now? With five races a year, it costs 200,000 yuan, plus room and board for a total of 250,000 yuan, you can participate.”
Sometimes, Lynk & Co.’s stubbornness, which is not understood by the market, is a bit like Honda’s “paranoia”.
At the beginning, Honda also wanted to prove its ability to develop and manufacture cars by participating in F1 racing. The founder of Honda, Soichiro Honda, was then called “stubborn” and, with the “fighting repeatedly after repeated failure” in sports events, after experiencing three technological revolutions, he successfully pushed Honda cars from the track to the world stage.
This is also what Lynk & Co. hopes to achieve, from the track to the street.
To this day, even though Honda has followed the trend of the times and tilted more resources towards electrification, this does not mean that Honda has lost its fighting spirit in technological innovation on the track. Honda still maintains the inherent character of the brand while treating new technologies with a mentality that balances fun.
The sports gene has always been present in Honda products, which is the essence of the brand. Lynk & Co. also wants to follow this path steadily. The modified culture established by the Lynk & Co. 03 once had parity with the Honda Civic.
However, Lynk & Co. also knows that this is a long road, and motorsport is a long-term plan. It costs a lot of money, and Lynk & Co. also needs money.
Currently, Lynk & Co. has established a system for training and promotion, which is very important as a promotion channel for users to become drivers. When asked about the progress of Lynk & Co.’s motorsports, Mu Jun’s answer was modest.
“We’re just getting started.”
Not a Pioneer
However, problems continue to arise. In the era of electrification, how will Lynk & Co.’s motorsports develop in the future?
Mu Jun’s answer is also very simple, three words: “follow the trend.” There are two background factors behind his answer that cannot be ignored.
First, Lynk & Co. has not seized the turning point of the times, and its performance in intelligence is not outstanding. Second, under the existing system of Geely, the resources of electrification and intelligence are heavily tilted towards the “Extreme K” brand, and their delivery of 11,000 vehicles in November already indicates something.
“The current mission of Lynk & Co is to push intelligent plug-in products to a new height,” Chen Siying also knows the gap between Lynk & Co and other new car brands in terms of intelligence.
If Lynk & Co fails to achieve a leading position in intelligence, the continuous development of Lynk & Co’s racing culture will be hindered. After all, Lynk & Co’s racing culture is very expensive and requires money, which means selling more cars. However, Lynk & Co’s sales are not satisfactory.
When Mu Jun was asked whether the new technology developed by fuel-powered car racing can be used to benefit the production of cars, can electric racing cars also benefit mass production cars? “Maybe, but not seen yet. Lynk & Co doesn’t want to be a leader in this regard.”
The reason for not being a leader is not difficult to understand. As we all know, there are still many areas where Lynk & Co needs to catch up in electrification and intelligence. And what is the concept of being a leader? First of all, it is necessary to invest huge amounts of funds to innovate technology.
“Lynk & Co’s brand positioning is just to do something different from others, but it doesn’t need to be the first to try it. Because for such a brand, sometimes you have to think about whether you are a pioneer or a martyr. Being a pioneer is good, but being a martyr is hopeless,” sighed Mu Jun.
In addition, the development of intelligence has progressed so rapidly that the degree and stage of innovation are already different. Lynk & Co is unlikely to have innovations from scratch. And disruptive innovation and sustained innovation have a generational relationship, and now more is sustained innovation, including all aspects of intelligence.
This is also why Lynk & Co, which has already “fallen behind”, cannot be a leader.
In addition, Mu Jun said that Lynk & Co has encountered some problems in brand premium. Some people will ask, why should I buy Lynk & Co for a car worth 200,000 yuan, instead of Volkswagen or Toyota? With a little more money, even BBA can be bought.
In the final analysis, Lynk & Co’s brand label in the field of fuel-powered cars is not strong enough. And the technology in the field of intelligence is not leading enough.
What can be done? Shortcut? None.## Translation
Lynk & Co has suffered from both hasty and belated mistakes in the past. So the current route is relatively clear. Mechanical quality and safety are essential, while technological maturity will be continuously enhanced through the racetrack culture. Additionally, they will continue to focus on strengthening their intelligent capabilities.
On June 6th, Lynk & Co turned seven and released their intelligent electrified hybrid Lynk E-Motive technology, and announced their new goal: that by 2025, all of Lynk & Co’s vehicles will be equipped with electrified hybrid technology.
According to Lynk & Co, their products’ performance and energy consumption will improve significantly after adopting their intelligent electrified hybrid technology. Their flagship product, the Lynk & Co intelligent electrified hybrid, can achieve 0-100 km/h acceleration in less than five seconds.
The Lynk E-Motive technology is essential for car racing and events. According to An Conghui, CEO of Geely Automobile Group, “in the era of new energy vehicles, Lynk & Co should bring a more personalized and stylish electrified hybrid to young people.”
But whether they can achieve their goal or not remains to be seen.
Lynk & Co emphasizes the importance of technological applications returning to user experience. Safety is the core concept of their vehicle manufacturing. How can they ensure that while dedicating significant efforts to improving their intelligent capabilities, they can still maintain a high level of safety on the racetrack? This is their top priority.
While promoting sports culture and transforming into intelligentization, Lynk & Co, whose sales have declined, needs more money and time. But how much time will the market give Lynk & Co? After all, competition in the “second half of intelligentization” has already become highly competitive.
Their competitors are not willing to wait long.
Recently, “AutocarMax” test-drove the new Lynk & Co 01, 03, and 09. They frankly admit that there is still considerable gaps between Lynk & Co’s voice interaction and assisted driving performance compared with both new forces and other domestic autonomous brands.
Chen Siying admits, “overall, there is still a gap between the level of intelligence attained by Lynk & Co and that which has been achieved by new forces. However, that does not mean they lack a plan. Any brand adopted within the Geely system will inevitably achieve an industry-leading level in intelligent driving.”
These plans have a significant connection to Meizu Technology Center, which Chen Siying visited a few days ago. He revealed that the intelligent cockpit system Meizu developed can rival Huawei’s Hongmeng intelligent cockpit. However, at present, he cannot disclose more details.However, for Meizu with a deeply rooted family mark, how to smoothly transition to Geely’s Xingji era is also a huge test. This problem started from the moment when Li Shufu, the Chairman of Xingji Era, shook hands with Huang Zhang, the founder of Meizu Technology.
So, who will answer how to solve this problem?
It’s time to hand in the answer sheet.
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.