Lynk To Target Millennials That Associate Chinese Products With Affordable Quality

On Monday, automakers around the world will discuss the new car and brand launched by China’s Geely. In their Monday morning meetings, they will be blasé about the car, only to complain how they were unexpectedly upstaged by a Chinese automaker while they are still trying to wrap their balding heads around the strange habits of smartphone-wielding millennials.

Last week, Geely carted a few hundred journalists from around the world to Gothenburg, Sweden, and then by chartered plane on to Berlin, Germany, for a glitzy launch of a new “global” car brand, called Lynk&Co. “Lynk” is supposed to fire the proper synapses in an always connected clientele, while “the ‘&Co’ was added to give the name a sort of “young vibe” and has otherwise no meaning,” as Forbes China car expert Tycho de Feijter put it.

TheSteve - 10/24/2016 2:31:54 PM

0 Boost

Getting people to associate "China" and "quality" might be a challenge. Even though all iPhones are being made in China, I don't believe many Millennials know that, or are looking for that information, or already associate "China" with "quality," affordable or not.

China, as a country, first needs to do some homework to establish itself as a "quality" manufacturer, much like Japan and South Korea did. Remember when "Made in Japan" meant inexpensive, shoddily made, cheap look and feel, and disposable? That was the North American mindset in the 1960s. Today, "Made In Japan" says Canon, Denon, Panasonic, Lexus, Toyota, Marantz, etc. In other words, leaders in consumer electronics and some automobiles. Times have changed. China still needs to work on that aspect of trade.

carloslassiter - 10/24/2016 5:37:08 PM

+2 Boost

I think it is easier to launch a new brand in this country than it is to revive an old one with a poor reputation like Lincoln, Fiat or Chrysler.

MDarringer - 10/24/2016 7:57:38 PM

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Marketing research points to exactly that.

pepito66 - 10/24/2016 6:52:08 PM

+2 Boost

This particular cases is different because that why the Chinese bought VOLVO to obtain from the brand all about safety experience and so on. This previous action will facilitate their improvement in theirs cars constructions and quality. I always know that and now few years later we start to see the first fruit , this is just the beginning. I remember when Ford bought Volvo first with the same purpose and then sale it to the Chinese.

MDarringer - 10/25/2016 8:51:44 AM

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The new Volvos under Geely are not exactly home runs. They simply are not worth their respective price points. If they were priced like Buicks, they would be fine, but Geely does not understand that Mercedes pricing must bring Mercedes quality and refinement.

F1_Driver - 10/24/2016 10:17:53 PM

+3 Boost

Ah! More Chinese junks, no thanks!