Volvo to build Lynk & Co vehicles at Belgium plant

Stockholm

VOLVO Car Group will make cars for Lynk & Co at its plant in Ghent, Belgium from late next year, it said on Monday.

The Lynk & Co brand is co-owned by Volvo Cars' owner, China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd, and its two carmakers Volvo and Geely Auto. It began sales in China last year, with Europe set to follow in 2019 and the United States in 2020.

"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," Volvo Cars chief executive Hakan Samuelsson said in a statement.

Production of the Lynk & Co cars in Ghent will help underpin production volumes, cost efficiency and employment at the plant, the company said. Ghent, which employs about 5,000 people, and Torslanda, in western Sweden, are Volvo's two European plants.

A senior Lynk & Co official told Reuters last year that the brand was considering building its vehicles in Ghent as well as at the factory Volvo has under construction in South Carolina.

The joint production with Lynk & Co will generate economies of scale related to the common platform, or compact modular architecture, being used by both brands, Volvo said. REUTERS