This week's snippets of automotive news include news on Lynk&Co's strategy, Toyota Supra, Citroën internet sales and driving modes.
Lynk&Co's strategy:
New subscription-based marque Lynk&Co is aiming to sell cars to “people who don’t want to buy cars”, and boss Alain Visser said this approach has changed the way he recruits. The former Ford and Volvo executive explained: “When I used to recruit people, my first question was: ‘What do you think about cars?’ If they weren’t wildly enthusiastic, I’d tell them no. Now, if they say ‘I don’t really drive’, I usually hire them.”
Toyota Supra:
The development of the Toyota Supra kicked off in May 2012, when the firm’s chairman called the GT86’s chief engineer, Tetsuya Tada, and told him to go to Munich to speak to BMW about a possible joint venture. Two years later, the idea of a Supra was rubber-stamped.
Citroën internet sales:
Citroën will be “operationally ready” to handle 10% of its sales from internet shoppers by 2020, CEO Linda Jackson said – although she has cautioned that the actual number of buyers could be less than that. “Today, the figure is around 1%, and we are launching initiatives to grow that side of the business,” she said. “It is hard to predict how far it will grow, but the goal we have set ourselves is to be able to handle 10% of all cars we sell through our online portals.”
Driving modes:
Are driving modes too complicated and all a bit unnecessary? Not according to Jaguar Land Rover SVO’s dynamics chief Dave Pook, who believes they are essential in offering such a breadth in any given car. “Ten years ago with passive dampers, you just couldn’t get to that level of performance,” he said.
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