FoMoCo CEO Alan Mulally Links Lincoln to Ford Dealers

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: if you want proof that Ford’s water-walking CEO doesn’t “get” automotive branding, look at Lincoln. The Blue Oval Boyz’ upmarket marque is in total disarray. Lincoln lacks anything approaching an effective brand proposition; it’s burning through tag lines almost as quickly and ineffectively as the industry standard for pitiful performance (Buick). Does it even matter? Lincoln’s line of lackluster products simply aren’t good enough to make it in The Bigs. And then there’s the Medusa-class disaster known as the MKT: a poorly-built, misbegotten machine constructed on Big Al’s watch. Automotive News [sub] deployed no less than three writers to talk to Mulally about languid old Lincoln, AND they spotted him the lazy journalist’s and persnickety PR person’s best friend: the Q&A format. Even so, the result is an extraordinary non-outburst from an executive who believes that combining Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealers is a good thing. Check out this exchange:

AN: But is there enough for the stand-alone Lincoln Mercury dealers?

Mulally: I think in the future you will see more and more dualing of the dealerships.

AN: Will we eventually see the stand-alone Lincoln Mercury store go away?

Mulally: I think we’ll see more Ford-Lincoln-Mercury dealerships.

AN: Any tips for how the remaining stand-alones can stay in business and make a profit?

Mulally: I think we’ll just see more Ford-Lincoln-Mercury dealerships.

AN But does that make sense in the metro areas?

Mulally: I think we’ll see more Ford-Lincoln-Mercury dealerships.

Stonewall much? Anyway, there’s lots more mishegoss where that came from. Specifically, a stunning example of the law of unintended anecdote

I’ll share a recent experience: I was driving a Lincoln MKS and visiting a stand-alone Ford store, and I was sitting in the car in front of the showroom for a few minutes. There was a salesman outside on the sidewalk right in front of this Lincoln MKS. and he starts talking it up to a customer, but then the punch line was: “Well, this is pretty much the same as the Taurus, the Taurus actually looks even better. I have the Taurus around the side, and it costs $10,000 less. Come look at the Taurus.”

That wasn’t a Ford-Lincoln-Mercury store, but that salesman saw that Lincoln and he jumped right on it to use it as a sales tool.

To their credit, at least one of the AN writers saw the story for what it was: a convincing argument against combining Ford and Lincoln dealerships.

AN: . . . if the sales guy thinks it’s easier to sell him the Ford, you’re going to sell fewer Lincolns, won’t you?

Mulally: I know your one example. But we’ve got a lot of people that are buying Lincolns, and they love Lincolns. The people that have dualed stores know they want to have an experience that fits the vehicle that they’re selling, so they’ll do it to be successful. They’ll have two different experiences.

Even within the same store?

Yeah, if you go to the stores that are doing it well, they really have an enhanced experience. A lot of stores are doing it very well.

Sorry Ford fans, but how hard is it to understand what Lincoln needs to survive: class-leading products (relative to Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Lexus) and class-leading dealer care (relative to the same players). A Lincoln buyer rubbing shoulders with a Fiesta owner ain’t it. Nor is the MKT.

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Vexner Vexner on Nov 10, 2009

    Did not Chrysler with the K-car platform try the same thing? At least the K-car variants equiped equally cost basically the same thing...but what a way to diminish any brand equity.

  • Bryce Kirby Bryce Kirby on Nov 10, 2009

    Could someone please tell me how many pieces of chrome it takes to make a Ford Flex look like a Lincoln MKT?

  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
  • Mikey My late wife loved Mustangs ..We alway rented one while travelling . GM blood vetoed me purchasing one . 3 years after retirement bought an 08 rag top, followed by a 15 EB Hard top, In 18 i bought a low low mileage 05 GT rag with a stick.. The car had not been properly stored. That led to rodent issues !! Electrical nightmare. Lots of bucks !! The stick wasn't kind to my aging knees.. The 05 went to a long term dedicated Mustang guy. He loves it .. Today my garage tenant is a sweet 19 Camaro RS rag 6yl Auto. I just might take it out of hibernation this weekend. The Mustang will always hold a place in my heart.. Kudos to Ford for keeping it alive . I refuse to refer to the fake one by that storied name .
  • Ajla On the Mach-E, I still don't like it but my understanding is that it helps allow Ford to continue offering a V8 in the Mustang and F-150. Considering Dodge and Ram jumped off a cliff into 6-cylinder land there's probably some credibility to that story.
  • Ajla If I was Ford I would just troll Stellantis at all times.
  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
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