Mysterious Lynk & Co Brand Teases a Real Car Ahead of Debut

When word of Lynk & Co first trickled out, the yet-to-be-revealed global car brand sounded exactly like a garden variety mobility company. Oh, there’ll be ride-sharing and apps and all that, we thought.

Then the brand revealed that an actual real, physical vehicle is on the way. Developed from Volvo’s Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) platform, the model will debut on October 20. And while we have some teaser images, the company — a subsidiary of Chinese Volvo parent company Geely — remains maddeningly vague about what its future.

Posting a story to Tictail (a social shopping destination for emerging brands, if you’re unaware), Lynk & Co wants you to forget everything you know about how cars are sold. And experienced, it seems.

For starters, the brand promises “the most connected car to date” and a share-based business model. Collaboration with the world’s top tech companies has created “a car built on an open digital platform,” a description that’s open to interpretation.

“With (Lynk & Co), we have created something bigger than just a car,” states David Green, the company’s chief digital officer. “We have created a digital platform for new thinking, for sharing and for collaboration, where only the imagination and creativity of all the bright minds out there will set the limits for how we can improve the use of cars and the experience of mobility.”

Maddening, but it gets better. Lynk & Co goes on to slam the automotive industry for its conservative thinking and lack of innovation. Certainly, there’s truth to this when it comes to business models, but no one could argue that automakers don’t refine their products to deliver what customers want.

Regardless, Lynk & Co promises a brand that “will evolve in the hands of its users.” The company’s senior vice president, Alain Visser, states, “To a large extent we have ignored the difference between the car as a mechanical product and the comprehensive experience.”

At this point, almost everything is on the table. Ride-hailing, car sharing, autonomous driving, disco on wheels, you name it.

If you’re one of those people who’s still interested in mechanical products, and you wouldn’t be reading TTAC if you weren’t, the company has provided images of a heavily obscured vehicle to pore over. Yes, it certainly looks like a subcompact crossover (one of our two guesses), but we’re not supposed to care about the vehicle. There’s experiences to be had.

[Images: Lynk & Co via Tictail]