CEO of Lynk & Co optimistic about future in Europe

Alain Visser, a Belgian who had worked 36 years in the car industry and has held senior positions at Ford, General Motors and Volvo, has felt "culture shock" since he became CEO of Lynk & Co Europe seven years ago.

"It's a culture shock," said Visser, with a smile on his face while sharing his experience at Lynk & Co, owned by China's Geely Auto Group.

When his friends asked him what the difference between General Motors and Ford was, he replied that it's the same, just a different logo. But when they asked what the difference between GM and Geely is, he said "it's speed".

"It's shocking, it's shocking, it's shocking," said Visser, adding that he is not exaggerating.

"What took me three months to get approved at any of the previous companies that I had worked with takes a week with Geely, it's just unbelievable. It takes a week here," he said.

Visser expressed that his colleagues who came from other car companies often joked that a year at Lynk & Co is like seven years at other car companies.

He has been credited for inventing the month-to-month subscription model at Lynk & Co, a model that has now been copied by many other car companies.

The monthly membership allows people to have a brand new car at 550 euros ($585) a month that also includes insurance and maintenance. Members can cancel any time and can also use a sharing platform to share their cars when they are not using it, thereby lowering their monthly cost.

Visser expressed that after many years in the car industry, he felt that it was an opportunity to do something radically different when asked by Geely to start a new brand in 2016 in Gothenburg, Sweden, also the headquarters of now Geely-owned Volvo.

He explained that the subscription model was based on the research of global trends.

People now spend more time doing things instead of buying things and they feel experience is more important than ownership, citing the example of vacation rental company Airbnb, which would have been regarded as crazy idea 20 years ago.

He added that there is also greater need for mobility and sustainability.

Visser felt it was hypocritical for car brands to claim sustainability by just offering electric cars.

"If your business is built on selling as many cars as possible that stand still for 95 percent of the time, that's not sustainable," he said.

The company's monthly subscription model offers Lynk & Co 01, a 5-door plug-in hybrid compact crossover SUV. Customers only need to make one choice between two colors: black or blue.

While the company also sells cars, Visser said that most people have chosen subscriptions.

Instead of the traditional showrooms, Lynk & Co gets most of businesses online or at its 11 clubs in European cities.

The clubs, unlike car dealerships, look more like a bar and a lifestyle shop, and are places for people to catch events, meet other members, find local art and explore brands that Lynk & Co executives say inspire them in work.

While Lynk & Co is well known in China, Visser said it is still new to Europeans and many people have discovered the brand through the clubs.

Despite being relatively new, he is satisfied that Lynk & Co delivered about 30,000 cars in Europe last year.

Statistics shows that Lynk & Co's brand awareness in Europe is only 7 percent. Visser said that makes him optimistic because the company delivered 30,000 cars last year with only 7 percent awareness.

"You start thinking about the potential once people really know us," he said.

The Netherlands, Italy and Germany are now the top three markets in Europe, but Visser said that Germany will soon become No 1.

Visser said as sister brand of Geely-owned Volvo has helped Lynk & Co in Europe, Lynk & Co's funky style has also been a plus for Volvo.

He expressed that Europeans are surprised by the good quality of Chinese made cars coming to Europe.

"I think the reputation of Chinese products is rapidly changing from cheap copies to original and high quality," he said.

According to a recent study by PwC, up to 800,000 Chinese-made cars could be sold in Europe by 2025, most of them full-electric vehicles.