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SLEEK: Nothing has changed in the car industry in the last 100 years, said by you (Alain Visser) in a video, the time is ripe for a new mobility. What kind of mobility do you mean by that?

Alain Visser: The industry has not changed for a century or more. Lynk & Co’s business model is fundamentally different from anything that you may see on the market today. The automotive industry has done practically the same thing for the last 100 years, they improve the product and technology around it, send it to the dealer and later earn money via servicing and maintenance. Customer care is left to the dealers resulting with OEMs being totally unaware of customer needs and trends out there. We think it’s important to encounter your end-user and not just outsource that to someone not involved in the core product.

Today, people question whether they have to buy and own a car and that is why we exist. We are a mobility company very much focused on subscription on the membership concept, our month-to-month model rejects the long-term lease agreements seen throughout the automotive industry and instead we offer consumers access to a Lynk & Co 01 for one month at a time.

In this, our members can continue or cancel the membership at the end of each month, much like Spotify or Netflix, depending on what their lifestyle needs are. Our members can, if they wish, lower their monthly costs if they share their cars. Alternatively, if a user doesn’t need a car of their own, they can still sign up for a membership to borrow from other members and pay-per-use, while accessing all of the cool lifestyle perks that come with being in the Lynk & Co community.

What our business model also offers us, is a direct-to-consumer approach. We know our customer, we speak to them, we hear from them directly. A bonus for relations but also when it comes to costly middle men, like dealerships.

S: Car-sharing has established itself in Germany and a wide variety of business models are on the market. Where do you see your target group? Rather among the customers of these companies or among the classic car buyers and lessees to whom you offer an alternative?

AV: Honestly, we are open to all. Our audience is young of mind, pragmatic and modern future thinkers. These are not people within a certain age band, even though Millennial’s, by definition, are – it’s a mindset. We are not limited to our consumers, they can be businesses, who can operate their fleets more efficiently using a shareable 01, or families looking to share the 01 amongst immediate family members or just people who want instant, easy and hassle-free access to premium mobility on their terms and at an excellent rate. We believe that by targeting all of these people, we are not going to say, “we are exclusively for 25–40 year olds,” we believe we will be relevant for all ages and all societal groups and all businesses. It was where our whole concept, our entire business model started, with these customers.

S: Sustainability is an important argument at Lynk & Co yet you offer plug-in hybrid and full hybrid as motorisation. Why did you decide against an all-electric version or is this still planned?

AV: The time for pure electric cars in Europe will come very soon, when the infrastructure and network is in place across countries to allow users to drive without range anxiety. We are still seeing in our research that this is a huge defining factor in the mindset of consumers. So why not offer the best of both worlds? The security of range but the eco-friendly pure EV option. In its most optimum setting and environment, our 01, which yes, is a hybrid offers a very impressive 70km Pure EV range, for most this is more than enough for a standard day of commuting and shopping.

It is clear that electric vehicles are incoming, which will require less maintenance and spare parts and reduce cost dramatically; we strongly believe that our business model puts us in the right place for an electric future. We are turning the business model upside down and we are focused on a hassle-free experience, so this new future will play to our strengths as a business. For now, we will start with hybrids as the demand from a consumer perspective for full electric vehicles is still limited and as I said, the infrastructure is still not quite ready for our markets across Europe, but for the medium-term future we believe that the full BEV car is going to be the Lynk & Co way, once consumers and cities are ready!

S: Are you generally planning to expand the range (more models, colours, equipment…)?

AV: We strongly believe that our business model puts us in the right place for an electric future with different models, but only when the time is right. We are turning the business model upside down and we are focused on a hassle-free experience, so this new future will play to our strengths as a business.

Two things, however. First of all, we pride ourselves on being hassle-free, so if anything, we will actually minimise the options available to consumers. Today we have two powertrains and two choices of colour for the car. We may just opt for one colour and one powertrain option in 2022. Secondly, to pump out new models and new cars and a new range every single year is also not sustainable. We envisage a future where we minimise the sheer amount of product and increase the usage of the product through maximising the lifespan of the vehicle with increasing memberships.

For now, we will start with our 01 hybrid as the demand from a consumer perspective for full electric vehicles is still limited and as I said, the infrastructure is still not quite ready for our markets across Europe, but for the medium-term we believe of course that a full BEV car is going to be the Lynk & Co way, once we and our towns and cities are ready!

S: At Lynk & Co you work with a subscription or club model. Why club? Do the members really interact with each other or do you force this?

AV: Let’s not confuse this. So, there are three options to “purchase” with Lynk & Co. You can either buy a 01 outright, of which less than 10% of our customers have done so. Then you have our core month-to-month membership which delivers you a 01 to your door that you can use and share -perhaps between friends, family, businesses, or even other Lynk & Co members – for 500 EUR per month only. Then, we have a membership where you can borrow from other members and pay-per-use, while accessing all of the cool lifestyle perks, which is free. Our mobility membership provides consumers with the ultimate flexibility when it comes to accessing mobility quickly and efficiently.

Next, we have “Club”. These are actually the center of our retail experience. It is a customer touchpoint in cities across Europe, for example Berlin, these are a modern alternative to traditional dealerships. Our Clubs are pretty cools places, they are a place to work or co-work together, have a coffee, host an event, or event just showcase local partner brands. With the occasional 01 inside. Each one is totally unique, we have saunas, cinema’s inside and each has a pretty unforgettable and cool Lynk & Co feel and atmosphere. Today, there are clubs across Europe in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Berlin, Hamburg and Munich and Lynk & Co’s home city of Gothenburg, with more to come across major European cities.

S: How high is the percentage of female members?

AV: Unfortunately we don’t have those numbers in our database yet.

S: The all-round carefree package for a member is capped at 500 EUR per month. This is cheaper than other providers in the premium segment, but still not a small amount. How is the package being received?

AV: Enormously well. Within our first 9 months on the market in Europe, we have surpassed having 31,000 members. To put that into perspective our target, for the whole of 2021 was 9,000. So, I think it is fair to assume that consumers across Europe are not just happy to have access to a truly premium product, with all of the extras or add-ons already included, but it is an endorsement of our unique approach. People want flexibility and access to mobility on their terms, month-by-month with no long-term lease arrangements and that’s exactly what we bring to them.

S: What is your roll-out plan for the next few years?

AV: Well, as I said before, we don’t think it is actually sustainable to keep delivering new vehicles to the market each year, using more and more raw materials, so in terms of product there will eventually be a pure-electric Lynk & Co in Europe, but we need to wait for the infrastructure to rapidly grow, perhaps optimistically I would say by 2023. In terms of our reach across Europe, today we have an active presence in seven markets, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. The success of this initial phase of the roll out means that we are quickly having to analyse demand for our membership model in other key European countries, but I think it is fair to say we have plans to go further than these first seven nations towards the end of 2022.

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