Three points are destined, and seven points depend on hard work.
On the evening of December 12, Beijing time, the 2021 F1 season ended in Abu Dhabi. Verstappen completed a miraculous comeback on the final lap to win the race and crown his first annual champion. Hamilton led the race, but was relegated to second place in the final moments, and the eight-time victory failed to materialize this season. Ferrari's Sainz finished third.
This rather unexpected result instantly swept up social media. "It's wonderful!" It is the common evaluation of the vast majority of people. For competitive racing, there's nothing more blood-boiling than a "magical reversal.".
The phrase "seven points of skill, three points of luck" is also very appropriate for Lynk & Co, who has won the WTCR Touring Car World Cup three consecutive titles.
Turn the clock back 3 years.
On December 15, 2019, Malaysia, the 2019 WTCR Touring Car World Cup officially came to an end. With 628 points, 34 points ahead of the second place, the Lynk & Co team won the 2019 WTCR Touring Car World Cup Annual Constructors Championship, filling the gap of Chinese car brands competing in the world's top touring car events, while also creating many records, and also enabling more people to know and understand the new brand of Lynk & Co.
But this is by no means an easy game to win.
Before the start of this race, Lynk & Co team led the second place Hyundai team, but the last race was at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia, which may be rarely challenged by many Chinese fans, but it is the same as the Shanghai International Circuit, the same F1 track, with a long straight, which is quite unfriendly to the BOP (Balance of performance) and the heaviest weight of the Lynk & Co 03TCR. The car weighs as much as one more person sitting on the car, seriously affecting the speed.
Moreover, Hyundai's team is very competitive, and it has four motorhome veterans, including the 2019 Drivers of the Year Championship. The Lynk & Co team did not score a single point in the three-round qualifying round (according to the rules of the race, two drivers in qualifying can score up to 18 points). At that time, the second-ranked, tiger-eyed Hyundai team has achieved 11 points, seeing that the score gap is narrowing a little bit, according to the order of appearances in the regular race decided by the qualifying race, the three regular races of the Lynk & Co team are in the back row, as this continues, the team has a slim chance of winning the championship, which also makes the pressure on Lynk & Co huge.
What to do?
The Lynk & Co team that has invested a lot of energy and participated in the race for the first time will be a very big blow to the brand and user confidence if it returns home. But it's not entirely possible to flip, for example, it rains heavily. Slippery road on rainy days will be more advantageous for BOP heavy cars.
"We were all silently praying for rain in our hearts." Mu Jun, senior director of 02 and 03 models of Lynk & Co Automobile Sales Co., Ltd., recalled.
Unexpectedly, the heavens fulfilled people's wishes. Before the start of the race, it began to rain heavily. Although there were also temporary suspensions due to malicious collisions during the race, in the end, the Lynk & Co team made history and won the 2019 WTCR Touring Car World Cup annual constructors' championship.
Mu Jun said that although the WTCR is a top touring car event recognized by the FIA as on a par with F1 and WRC, before that, there were not many people in the country who paid attention. At the time of the first Moroccan race, the number of people watching the live broadcast online was only two or three thousand, but with the wonderful performance of the Lynk & Co team and the support of the Chinese people for the Chinese brand, by the time of the seventh stop in Ningbo, the number of online people had exceeded one million, and more than 10,000 spectators came to the scene to watch, which can be said to have set off a wave of WTCR and racing.
In the 2020 season, although affected by the epidemic, it was impossible to go to the scene to watch the game, but the enthusiasm of netizens was not reduced, and the number of live broadcasts of each game was 500,000 or 600,000. This year's 8 games, the cumulative number of online viewers has reached nearly 10 million, it can be said that both recognition and recognition, are already very high.
On November 28, 2021, the 2021 WTCR Touring Car World Cup finally ended at the Sochi Circuit in Russia after six months of hard fighting. With a total of 392 points, the Lynk & Co team won the annual constructors' championship, completing the first triple crown in the WTCR Touring Car World Cup, and once again creating a new history of Chinese car brands in the world arena.
Whatever succeeds casually. Moving forward in the face of difficulties can be said to be the best portrayal of Lynk & Co's participation in the WTCR Touring Car World Cup in the past three years.
"We did research, and 90% of the users who bought the Lynk & Co 03 have watched the WTCR game." Mu Jun said that although many people say that the racing culture has not yet formed a climate in the country. But in the hearts of many young people, there is actually a racing dream.
To this end, last year, Lynk & Co announced the establishment of the "Lynk & Co Performance Car Club", and took the lead in entering the "China Performance Car Club" initiated by the China Automobile and Motorcycle Sports Federation. Its original intention is to inherit the spirit of the WTCR track, promote the sports of Chinese cars through resource integration, and provide a club activity platform for performance car enthusiasts to modify exchanges and advocate safe driving.
Joining the "Lynk & Co Performance Car Club" is not an easy task. Because the club aims to attract motor sports enthusiasts, it also sets the entry conditions, that is, the answer score of 80 points (Lynk & Co 03 + 60 points for car owners) to join. Moreover, its activities are not free, and participants also need to pay a part of the money. Mu Jun said that the purpose of this is to eliminate the part of the "wool wool" and leave people who really like motor sports, so that every activity is pure and professional.
At present, the club has more than 10,000 members, of which about 80% are Lynk & Co owners, and the age is mainly concentrated in 18-35 years old.
Because you like it, you play together; because you play together, you will have a further sense of trust. This is the process of faith building, and it is also the best way to use the love of a group of people to attract the attention of the whole people.
Looking at the development history of Civic, Golf R, Audi R/RS series, BMW M and Mercedes-Benz AMG, it is also a "three-way empowerment" of products, brands and users. The Lynk & Co 03 family can be said to be the "standard-bearer" of Chinese cars to march into performance cars at the most appropriate time.
As of now, the total sales volume of the Lynk & Co 03 family has exceeded 200,000 units. Among them, the sales volume of Lynk & Co 03+ has approached 20,000 vehicles.
On August 2, 2019, Lynk & Co 03+ was officially listed, with a price range of 185,800 to 228,800 yuan. The car adopts a 2.0T in-line four-cylinder engine, with zero hundred acceleration time of only 5.9 seconds and a braking distance of 34 meters per 100 kilometers. Although the performance of this model was still only on "paper", it took only more than a month, and the production capacity of 2,000 vehicles that year had been snapped up, and then in order to respond to the voice of consumers, Lynk & Co added several rounds of public sale, which was basically snatched up by seconds.
You know, this price is enough to buy the High-end models of Accord, Camry, Magotan or Audi A3, which further confirms the desire and enthusiasm of a new generation of young people in China for "performance cars".
Mu Jun said that the average age of Lynk & Co 03 users is about 28 years old, basically compared with Volkswagen and Toyota users. In his original vision, the average age of the higher priced Lynk & Co 03+ users should be around 32 years old. Unexpectedly, the real situation was completely different from his idea.
According to statistics, the average age of the owner of the Lynk & Co 03+ is about 23 years old, basically a young man who has a car at home and knows how to use a car. For them, the Lynk & Co 03+ is the "Dream Car" in their minds.
"200,000 cars, 300,000 quality, 400,000 performance", is their favorite sentence when talking about this car. And their target models have also become luxury brands such as BBA. But they are also eager to buy a car that is different from their parents, and Lynk & Co 03+ was born at the right time.
On September 27 this year, the Lynk & Co 03+ Cyan customized version of the model was officially launched, and the price range of the two models was 236,800-256,800 yuan. The car refers to WTCR's champion car, the Lynk & Co 03TCR, with an exterior and partial power upgrade, with zero hundred acceleration time of only 5.7 seconds.
It is understood that the Lynk & Co 03 + Cyan customized version has received widespread attention since its listing, in order to meet the expectations of users, the first batch of public sale of 03 + Cyan custom version has been officially launched on December 15, the second batch of public sales will also be opened tomorrow.
A Chinese their own fashion brand, a product that has won the WTCR triple crown and can match the "god" of golf R and Civic Type R, for these young people, there is nothing cooler than buying a car like this.
They are fans of the national tide. But before that, no Chinese brand car could get into their sights.
"Born at the right time." It was the sentence that Mu Jun said the most. Just like on the occasion of this year's "May Fourth" Youth Day, Station B held hands with Teacher He Bing's speech "After the Wave" said——
Mankind has accumulated wealth for thousands of years
All knowledge, insight, wisdom and art
It's like a gift for you
Science and technology are prosperous, culture is flourishing, and the city is prosperous
The fruits of modern civilization are opened layer by layer and can be enjoyed to the fullest
You have the right that we once dreamed of —the right to choose
What you love is your life, and you are fortunate to meet such times
But the times are more fortunate to meet you like this
……
The rushing "Houlang" is the best witness to China's economic development, and Lynk & Co, which takes "WHY NOT (Challenging Conventions)" as the brand label, has become the favorite national tide automobile brand of "Houlang". According to the latest sales data, Lynk & Co's sales in November were 25,003 units, an increase of 9.67% year-on-year, an increase of 15.18% month-on-month, and the cumulative sales volume reached 624618 units.
This young brand, which is only 5 years old, has gained more fans and love than expected. This is the gift of the times, and it is also the best praise for one's own courage and strength.
In fact, when Lynk & Co 03 was just defining its product, whether to position it as a "sports car" was debated internally for three or four months.
"At that time, among the well-sold cars in China, including Xuanyi, Langyi, Sagitar, etc., were all positioned family cars, with average monthly sales of 30,000 or 40,000; positioning sports cars sold well, only one Civic, with an average monthly sales of more than 10,000." Mu Jun said that in the end, Lynk & Co 03 is still positioned as a sports car, that is, it hopes to break through the "ice-breaking" for Chinese brand cars through quality and performance endorsement.
At that time, the domestic car market was monopolized by the joint venture brand, and the only remaining Geely Emgrand and Changan Yidong had the main sales models within 100,000 yuan. Even today, in the mainstream car market, there are still few "faces" of Chinese brands.
In addition to achieving a breakthrough in sales, in terms of average sales price, Lynk & Co 03 has achieved a historic breakthrough. According to statistics, the weighted average sales price of the Lynk & Co 03 family is 147,000 yuan, while the Civic is only 139,000 yuan, and the Lynk & Co 03 family is 8,000 yuan higher than the Civic.
Positioning a sports car is a "gamble", and the decision to participate in the WTCR is even more a "gamble". Fortunately, Lynk & Co 03 is "betting" correctly.
On this basis, Lynk & Co has fed back civilian cars through racing technology, and achieved the performance of the 03 family through the customized versions of 03+ and 03+ Cyan. The launch of these two products has also filled the gap in China's performance car market, which can be said to be a new thinking on the car market.
It can be said that from the track to the street, allowing more young people to drive the performance car they want is the original intention of the Lynk & Co 03 family.
As the China Automobile and Motorcycle Sports Federation said in the congratulatory message when the Lynk & Co team won the 2019 WTCR annual championship: "This is not only a strong confirmation of the industry level and the strong technical strength of the enterprise, but also the best feedback for the Chinese auto sports industry to forge ahead and forge ahead; this is not only the honor of Geely Holding Group and the Lynk & Co Team, but also the highlight moment of China's auto sports." ”
In addition to the "Lynk & Co Performance Car Club", Lynk & Co has also held events such as "Peak Driver Program" and "Lynk & Co Auto Challenge". On June 1 this year, the Lynk & Co Auto Sports Experience Center settled in Ningbo International Circuit, becoming the first pan-automotive culture trend experience center of Chinese brands that integrates brand display, racing experience, driving training, leisure and entertainment, and further promoting the development of China's auto sports culture.
Mu Jun said that on the basis of professionalism, next year's Lynk & Co event training will increase popularity and fun, hoping that through these activities, more young people can love motor sports. At the same time, the membership of the "Lynk & Co Performance Car Club" will also be expanded to about 20,000 people.
All of this is like the "newborn calf" when Lynk & Co was released in Berlin, Germany more than 5 years ago, and it is also like the "passion" when Lynk & Co 03 was listed on the Fuji circuit in Japan more than 3 years ago, it uses efforts and actions to break through people's imagination again and again to show its technical confidence, product confidence, brand confidence and cultural confidence to the world.
In this sense, the contribution of the Lynk & Co 03 family to China's automotive industry is far undervalued.