Volvo Cars and Geely formalise technology sharing and setting up of Lynk & Co

Premium carmaker Volvo Cars and Geely Holding, the Chinese car group, have completed the formation of two new entities to share existing and future technology and provide the economies of scale that will allow them to more rapidly develop next-generation electrified vehicle (EV) technology.

The agreements, signed at a ceremony in Ningbo, China, formalise the strategic priorities, management teams and targeted synergies for the collaboration within the group. A new technology joint venture, called GV Automobile Technology (Ningbo), is to be set up, 50/50 owned by Volvo Cars and Geely Holding and headquartered in China with a subsidiary in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Lars Danielson, former SVP of Volvo Cars and CEO of Volvo Cars Asia Pacific, will become the chairman of GV Technology, which will seek synergy benefits for Volvo Cars, Geely Auto and Lynk & Co through two units controlling technology access as well as procurement.

A separate Lynk & Co company, fully responsible for the Lynk & Co car line, will also be formed, jointly owned by Volvo Cars, Geely Holding and Geely Auto, with a newly constituted board of directors.

An Cong Hui, President and CEO of Geely Auto, has been named chairman of the Board of Lynk & Co and Håkan Samuelsson, president and CEO of Volvo Cars, will serve as board director alongside Daniel Li, executive vice-president and CFO of Geely Holding and Feng Qing Feng, Group vice-president and CTO of Geely Auto.

“These joint ventures will create significant value for our automotive brands. We aim to deliver global economies of scale by facilitating closer cooperation between our brands on shared vehicle architectures, powertrain development and electrification, while offering synergies that will enable Lynk & Co to achieve its full potential,” said Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Holding.

Volvo Cars will hold 30 percent equity in Lynk & Co, while Geely Auto will hold 50 per cent and Geely Holding 20 per cent of the new company. Volvo Cars and Geely already share technology, most notably the Compact Modular Architecture (CMA), which is being used by Volvo Cars for its soon-to-be-announced smaller range of 40 series cars and by Lynk & Co.

“We look forward to expanding our cooperation with Lynk & Co. It will be beneficial for both companies,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo Cars.