Group pulls closer together, enhancing efficiency and growth.
A new joint-venture technology company will be set up between Swedish premium carmaker Volvo and parent company Geely Holdings, allowing for more rapidly-developed next-generation electrified vehicle technology to be shared, and to further industrial synergies already at play within the Chinese conglomerate, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding today.
The MoU covered Volvo Cars, Geely Auto, and Lynk & Co., all three companies that reside under the greater Geely Holding conglomerate umbrella. Subject to regulatory approval, the new joint-venture company will be owned 50:50 by Geely Holdings and Volvo Cars, and will be headquartered in China (with a subsidiary in Gothenburg, Sweden). The joint venture will manage the licensing of the platforms and technologies being shared within the group, and will be tasked with ensuring that component sourcing and procurement costs are kept as lean as possible.
Along with this announcement, Volvo also made public that it has bought a “significant minority shareholding” in sister company Lynk & Co., which is entirely sensible given that the newcomer will be using a lot of Volvo’s drivetrain and chassis developments to underpin their cars. We suspect that the JV is being spurred by the impending launch of Lynk & Co., as it has been reported before that the company’s 01 SUV and 03 saloon will be underpinned by Volvo’s ‘Compact Modular Architecture’ (CMA), and will be motivated by Volvo’s latest range of Drive-E engines.
Launched last year, Lynk & Co. is positioned as a semi-premium global brand, sitting comfortably between the more approachable Geely brand and the undoubtedly-premium position of Volvo. Aside from its middling positioning, Lynk & Co. is also more focused on car-sharing and ride-sharing services than its more conventional siblings.
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