Volvo Ghent plant to produce Lynk & Co cars for Europe

Source: Xinhua | 2018-03-28

The new car brand Lynk & Co, partly owned by Volvo Cars, confirmed Monday that Volvo's factory in Ghent, Belgium will make cars for the brand from 2019.

The production of Lynk & Co 01 model for Europe will commence in Ghent from 2019, and will share the the same production line as the Volvo XC40, Lynk & Co said in a statement.

"We will manufacture in Europe, for Europe focussing initially on hybrid-only electrified derivatives of our new range of cars," said Lynk & Co senior vice-president Alain Visser.

"We see a big potential for this new brand entering the European market and we are happy to give Lynk & Co the support of Volvo's technological and industrial expertise," said Hakan Samuelsson, president and CEO of Volvo Cars.

Lynk & Co was launched as a new volume brand by Hangzhou, China-based Zhejiang Geely Holding, the owner of Volvo Cars, in 2015. Volvo Cars acquired a 30 percent stake in Lynk & Co last year, Geely Auto owns 50 per cent and Zhejiang Geely Holding 20 percent in Lynk & Co.

Ghent is one of two car manufacturing plants operated by Volvo Cars in Europe and has produced Volvos since 1965. At the moment it employs around 5,000 people.