How Lynk & Co is reinventing car rental

Rent a car without commitment and share it to lower costs: this is the bold concept of the Chinese manufacturer that is gaining popularity in France.

While the name Lynk & Co is quite original, the brand’s operating principle is no less so. The Chinese giant, owner of Volvo, has chosen a unique positioning for its young brand created in 2016, favoring a rental model without commitment, cancellable at any time. Thus, for 550 euros/month, it is possible to rent the only vehicle initially offered, the Lynk & Co 01, with insurance, maintenance within the Volvo network, and 1250 km per month (15,000 km per year), for a maximum duration of 11 months… Renewable!

Read the review of the Lynk & Co 01 on Mobiwisy

It is also possible to buy it outright, for 41,500 euros excluding bonuses, which is 10,550 euros less than its Volvo-branded cousin, which shares the same technical base—the XC40 Recharge T5 sold for 52,050 euros. Here, the goal is not to break records with high-value offers like some other Chinese manufacturers, but to be different, modern, and cool, with a premium vehicle, highly tech-savvy, and marketing aimed at a millennial audience (today’s thirty-somethings).

The Lynk & Co 01 is a compact plug-in hybrid SUV (4.54 m) with an attractive design, producing a combined 261 hp and offering a range of 69 km in all-electric mode (according to WLTP standards), thanks to its 14.1 kWh usable battery. The vehicle comes well-equipped as standard, with a panoramic sunroof, an electric tailgate, adaptive cruise control, an integrated selfie camera connected to social networks, and just two metallic colors, black or blue. Borrowing from Volvo’s high safety standards, this model has received the maximum EuroNCAP rating of 5 stars.

The Gift of Sharing

Whether renting or buying, the bill can be reduced by making your car available to a community for compensation, whether for loved ones (family, friends) or strangers who are members of the brand. Everything else is done online, with a dedicated app for car-sharing and a digital key system.

So here is a somewhat strange solution, halfway between a digitalized automotive startup and a car-sharing service, whose true potential in our regions remains uncertain. Will tenants or owners trust strangers with their cars? Will there be enough to create a sufficient fleet to become a real player in car-sharing, competing with Free2Move and others like Mobilize?

The assumption is that a car is generally used only 4% of the time by its owner, leaving plenty of room for others. Enough to sublet your car until, for the most organized, the 550 euros per month could be reduced to zero. That’s the theory. In any case, the future seems to favor the manufacturer, which is making a spectacular debut in France. According to the brand, in Europe, objectives are already widely exceeded, with 60,000 members signed up, 90% of whom are on a no-commitment plan.

Also read: Lynk&Co’s monthly plan increases from 500 to 550 euros