From a mysterious start-up a year ago to a record-breaking company today, Lynk & Co is living it up in the auto industry. The Geely-owned car brand that prides itself more on being a connected and sharable mobility brand than a traditional automaker has made headlines for receiving 6,000 orders for the 01 SUV, all in a span of 137 seconds. The record sales event occurred after Lynk & Co’s first online store started pre-selling the 01 SUV on November 17. What was supposed to be a three-day sales event took less than three minutes to complete, a startling pace for a company that only has one model in its portfolio, and is itself barely a year old.

You’re not alone if this development caught you by surprise. I had high hopes for Lynk & Co and its 01 SUV, but I didn’t think that the car’s pre-sale would go like this. Selling out 6,000 pre-orders of the SUV in under three minutes is remarkable no matter the process behind it. Not surprisingly, Lynk & Co is leveraging that publicity by opening sales of the car online and through 150 brick-and-mortar boutiques spread out all over China. The company has never been shy about offering a unique experience for its clients.

It’s offering the 01 in China for just under $24,000 for the base model and a little over $30,000 for the range-topping version. More importantly, the 01 can also be owned through a subscription platform that relies on a menu of connectivity options, including a dedicated app store for its cars, a personal cloud for the driver, and the distinction of having the “world’s first in-car share button.” According to the company, the in-car share button is a shareable digital key that lets owners share their vehicles with other people so they can borrow the car for their personal use.

For now, the 01 SUV is only available in China with Volvo-sourced gas engines. The automaker does have plans to bring the SUV to other markets where electric powertrains will come as standard features. Those models will also feature more tech and connectivity features, putting their expected prices at a higher plane compared to the first wave models that are already available in China.

The reliance on technology and connectivity sits at the crux of Lynk & Co’s whole existence. It’s a risky way to live by the proverbial sword of the industry, but it also has plenty of advantages, especially if the company is able to live up to the rising expectations people will inevitably have for it.

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