A Chinese-Swedish automaker just unveiled a grand tourer concept that accelerates to 62 mph in 2 seconds flat and looks like it rolled out of Maranello. The catch is you can’t buy it yet, and whether you ever will depends on how loud the public gets about wanting one.
At a glance
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Model | Lynk & Co Time to Shine concept |
| Body style | 2-door electric grand tourer |
| 0-62 mph | 2.0 seconds (claimed) |
| Drivetrain | Rear-wheel drive EV |
| Design origin | Gothenburg, Sweden studio |
| Suspension trick | Drops 0.5 inches in + mode, deploys aero kit |
| Brand sales (2026) | 350,495 units, up from 180,127 in 2022 |
Why a coupe from Lynk & Co changes everything
Lynk & Co has spent a decade building SUVs and sedans that most Western buyers have never heard of. Dropping a grand tourer concept for its 10th anniversary is a deliberate provocation. The company is telling the world it can play in the same sandbox as Ferrari and Aston Martin, not just compete with Hyundai and Kia.
The Time to Shine concept is nearly the same footprint as a Ferrari 12Cilindri. That gloss black nose panel and those sculpted headlights borrow heavily from Italian GT language. I find it hard to look at the front end and not see Maranello influence, and that is clearly the point. Lynk wants you to do a double take.
What Lynk & Co isn’t saying about that 2-second sprint
A claimed 0-62 mph time of 2 seconds puts this concept in hypercar territory. For context, a Rimac Nevera does it in 1.81 seconds and costs north of $2 million. A Tesla Model S Plaid manages it in about 1.99 seconds at roughly $90,000. Lynk & Co has not released a target price, but the brand’s existing lineup sits firmly in the premium-not-luxury bracket.
The real story here is the drivetrain layout. This is a rear-wheel drive EV, which is unusual for a car claiming 2-second acceleration. Most competitors throwing around those numbers rely on dual or tri-motor all-wheel drive setups. Lynk says the car uses an AI-powered digital chassis with adaptive vehicle motion control. I’m reading that as sophisticated traction management doing the heavy lifting where mechanical grip leaves off.
That mystery button on the console is the real headline
Every detail about this car is interesting, but the single most compelling feature is a physical button marked “+” on the center console. Press it and the car transforms. The suspension drops half an inch. A rear wing deploys from the bodywork. Aerodynamic elements extend at the front and rear, adding 4 inches to the overall length and generating real downforce.
Here’s the catch that makes it even better. When you activate + mode, the interior screens fold away entirely. You get stripped-down essential driving information and nothing else. In a market drowning in 50-inch pillar-to-pillar displays, a manufacturer deliberately hiding the screens feels radical. It signals that Lynk & Co understands what driving enthusiasts actually want when the road gets serious.
Ferrari charges $400,000 for less — think about that
The design is not flawless. The side profile looks a bit busy, like the designers couldn’t decide between coupe elegance and concept car drama. But from the front three-quarter view and especially from the rear, this thing is stunning. Wide rear fenders flow into a glass panel that stretches from the cabin roof all the way back over the trunk lid. The taillights carry Volvo’s signature Thor’s hammer motif, a subtle nod to the family tree.
That family tree matters. Lynk & Co is owned by Geely, the same Chinese conglomerate that owns Volvo and Polestar. The Time to Shine was designed at Lynk’s studio in Gothenburg, the same city where Volvo has been headquartered for nearly a century. Swedish design DNA is baked into this car at a molecular level, even if the corporate parent writes checks from Hangzhou.
How it stacks up
| Model | 0-62 mph | Drive layout | Doors | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lynk & Co Time to Shine | 2.0 sec | RWD EV | 2 | Transformation aero mode, lowest entry price potential |
| Ferrari 12Cilindri | 2.9 sec | RWD V12 | 2 | Heritage, proven performance |
| Tesla Model S Plaid | 1.99 sec | AWD tri-motor | 4 | Available now, proven sprint time |
| Polestar 1 | 4.2 sec | AWD hybrid | 2 | Same parent company, GT comfort |
The US market question nobody can answer yet
Lynk & Co has already announced plans to enter the American market with an electric SUV. A grand tourer would be a completely different proposition, one that could build brand cachet the way the LFA did for Lexus or the i8 did for BMW. The problem is tariffs, regulatory hurdles, and the current political climate around Chinese automotive imports into the US.
The company is playing it safe by calling this a concept and saying production depends on public feedback. I think that’s partly genuine and partly strategic cover. If demand is loud enough, Geely has the manufacturing scale and the capital to build it. They produced over 2.17 million vehicles across all brands in 2026. Capacity is not the bottleneck. Willpower and market access are.
Why this matters
- Chinese automakers are now targeting the GT and sports car segment directly
- Geely’s Swedish design pipeline rivals any European automaker’s output
- A sub-3-second RWD EV coupe reshapes performance expectations at every price point
The verdict
The Lynk & Co Time to Shine is the most exciting concept to come out of a Chinese-owned automaker in years. It matters because it proves Geely’s empire can produce genuine desire, not just competent transportation. If this car reaches production anywhere near its concept form, Ferrari and Aston Martin will have a new name on their competitive radar. The era of dismissing Chinese automotive ambition as cheap imitation is officially over.
If this car speaks to you, now is the time to make noise. Lynk & Co says public feedback will determine whether the Time to Shine reaches production. Visit their site, contact a dealer if you’re in a market they serve, and let them know there’s demand. The louder the response, the better the odds we actually get to drive this thing.
