Following its entrance into Vietnam late last year, Lynk & Co Vietnam has now officially launched the 01 and 05 SUVs in the country, alongside the unveiling of its flagship showroom in Ho Chi Minh City.
Starting with the Lynk & Co 01, the C-segment SUV in Vietnam will be offered in a single variant, priced at VND999 million (approx. RM191k), making it fairly price-competitive with most of its key rivals within the segment, including the all-new Honda CR-V, Hyundai Tucson, and Peugeot 3008.
The Lynk & Co 01 is built on the same Geely Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) platform as the Volvo XC40, although it measures slightly bigger than the Volvo at 4,512 mm long, 1,857 mm wide, and 1,673 mm tall, with a wheelbase of 2,734 mm.
Over in Vietnam, the C-segment SUV will be offered solely with a 2.0-litre turbocharged inline-four engine, which outputs 218 hp and 325 Nm to drive the front wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.
Equipment highlights for the model in Vietnam includes the full LED headlights, 3D LED tail lights, 19-inch alloy wheels, a panoramic sunroof, and functional roof rails. Inside, the fairly traditionally-styled dashboard (with physical buttons and knobs!) features a 12.8-inch touchscreen infotainment display, alongside a 12.3-inch instrument cluster, dual-zone automatic air conditioning, an electronic shift-by-wire gear lever, as well as an electronic parking brake.
As for safety, the advanced driver assistance suite on the Lynk & Co 01 consists of features such as adaptive cruise control with “Queueing Assistant”, traffic jam assist, autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, and emergency lane keeping assist.
The Lynk & Co 05, essentially the coupe-fied version of the 01, meanwhile retails at VND1.599 million (approx. RM307k). It’s also powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged inline-four engine, though the power output is raised here to 254 hp and 350 Nm. In contrast to the 01, the 05 will also boast an all-wheel drive setup, though the eight-speed automatic gearbox remains unchanged.
In terms of equipment, the Lynk & Co 05 largely mirrors that of its sibling, although it does get a bigger set of 20-inch alloy wheels to complement its sportier image, and in the same vein the roof rails have now also been deleted.
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Befitting its higher price tag, the Lynk & Co 05 does get a more extravagant interior, highlighted by its Nappa and nubuck leather upholstery, full powered front seats with an additional four-way lumbar support adjustment for the driver, LED ambient lighting, an additional wireless charging pad, as well as a 10-speaker Harman Infinity sound system.
The 05’s safety kit is also more feature complete, with the addition of lane keeping assist, blind spot detection, rear cross-traffic alert, as well as a semi-autonomous parking system.
As part of Geely’s new ‘Smart Geely 2025’ strategy it announced back in November 2021, the company has confirmed that the Lynk & Co brand will also be making its way into Malaysia. The launch of the Lynk & Co brand in Malaysia could mark a pivotal milestone for the company, as it could become the marque’s first right-hand drive market.
ALSO READ: Lynk & Co enters Vietnam, Philippines next – Coming to Malaysia soon?
