Lynk & Co is a new automotive brand from Chinese firm Geely which also has its own Geely brand as well as Volvo and Lotus in its portfolio.
At the moment, Lynk & Co is working on developing small SUVs and sedans before moving on to other models. There's already a problem, though, as the name Lynk & Co has Ford throwing the side eye and calling foul.
According to Automotive News (subscription required), Ford feels that the Lynk & Co name is much too close to Lincoln. To that end, Ford is looking to oppose the trademark application filed by Geely for Lynk & Co in the United States, as it believes the name will end up confusing customers.
Lynk & Co's design language also shares a vague resemblance to Porsche's, but that's not the issue today.
Lynk & Co logo
The brand's first models will be the 01 SUV and 03 sedan, both of which will ride on a platform developed with Volvo and destined for the Swedish brand's next-generation compacts. Additionally, the electronic backbones of these vehicles will come from Volvo.
The Lynk & Co vehicles are certainly interesting, and they should prove popular if priced right. We should mention that the company is promising lifetime warranties, though none of the details of the plan have been released yet.
Production will take place in China where sales will start later this year. Lynk & Co hopes to be operating in Europe in 2018 and in the United States in 2019. They'll have to get over this tussle with Ford, though, if they want to keep the brand name intact, at least in the U.S.
Mercedes-Benz and China's Chery were recently involved in a similar tussle over the EQ name, though both parties were able to amicably reach an agreement.
