2020 Lynk & Co 03+ sedan brought in to Malaysia for commercial shoot, not launching here anytime soon

Late last year, photos of the Lynk & Co 03+ made the rounds on social media, leading some to speculate that the Swedish-Chinese auto brand would be making an official appearance here. Well, that’s actually not the case. In fact, the only reason it came here was for some promotional shoot, and it arrived alongside the 2019 World Touring Car Cup season finale, which took place at the Sepang International Circuit.

Now, the Lynk & Co 03 is the automaker’s first sedan model that debuted at the 2018 Chengdu Motor Show. As a young car brand, its entry into motorsports may seem pretty hasty, but Cyan Racing confidently said the road-going 03 sedan was good enough to be used for the WTCR series. They weren’t joking – Lynk & Co Cyan Racing was triumphant in the 2019 season, becoming the first China team to win an international motorsports event, and did so in its first run.

The 03 TCR race car made 350 hp and 420 Nm of torque from a 2.0 litre engine, but this limitation was only due to FIA regulations. The 03 Cyan Concept however, had its 2.0L engine boosted to 528 hp and 504 Nm of torque, with drive sent to the front wheels through a six-speed sequential gearbox. This enabled a 0-100 km/h sprint time of 4.4 seconds and a blistering top speed of 310 km/h. It even had enough downforce and grip to chart a max sideway G-force of 1.5 G!

As for the yellow car you see here, well, that’s actually the road-legal 03+, which is Lynk & Co speak for “GTI.” It sits on the Compact Modular Architecture that’s jointly developed by Geely and Volvo, with power coming from Volvo’s 2.0 litre Drive-E turbocharged engine.

Three variants are offered there, priced between 185,800 yuan (RM113k) for the entry-level 03+ Mid to 228,800 yuan (RM139k) for the top 03+ Pro Sports Package. Note that the Lynk & Co brand is positioned slightly more upmarket, sitting above Geely, but below Volvo.

All three variants share the same output of 254 PS at 5,500 rpm and 350 Nm from 1,800 to 4,800 rpm. An eight-speed automatic and all-wheel drive are standard, allowing the sedan to do the century sprint in just 5.9 seconds. Not bad, isn’t it?

GALLERY: Lynk & Co 03+