Lincoln Kills Most Dealers, Turns Remainder Into Boutique Hotels

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

In 1992, the Ritz-Carlton chain won the Baldrige Quality Award for its excellence in customer service. Their idea was to write all customer preferences down, to feed them in a database and to henceforth deliver as expected.

Twenty years ago, I pointed this out to Volkswagen. I was VW’s customer service guru at the time and thought it was a swell idea. Volkswagen enthusiastically adopted the program. It was a failure, what do you expect from a company that retains me as a guru. Also, VW did not want to spend the money on a database. Instead, the Ritz-Carlton ended up running the hotel at Volkswagen’s Autostadt, and giving the occasional seminar to car dealers who still roll their eyes over the “gottverdammte Unsinn.”

Twenty years later, “Ford draws on luxury hotel experience for Lincoln overhaul,” writes Reuters, reporting that “in the plan to overhaul its luxury Lincoln brand, Ford Motor Co is embarking on a new approach, leaving behind the routine ideas of the auto industry and instead taking cues from the likes of high-end boutique hotels.”

Before that happens, Ford is reducing its dealer network to boutique size. Ford announced that it had reduced dealerships of its Lincoln luxury lineup to 325 from about 500.in the top 130 markets. That’s not all dealers, mind you. NASDAQ reminds us:

Ford began to expand its luxury Lincoln line-up at the cost of its Mercury line-up from late 2010. The company has suspended production of its Mercury branded vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2010 and started diverting resources from the brand towards its core Ford brand besides enhancing the Lincoln brand.

At that time, Ford had announced to eliminate a third of its 1,200 Lincoln dealers in the U.S., mostly in urban areas. The company has 700 dealerships in rural areas.

The automaker has asked the Lincoln dealers to upgrade their showrooms and services in order to meet the rigorous competitive standards. Dealers have revealed that the renovations would cost about $2 million per showroom.

Actually, at that time Ford believed that only some 300 Lincoln dealers have a fighting chance. Reuters reported in October of 2010:

Only about a quarter of Ford’s 1,187 Lincoln dealers now have the kinds of facilities that the automaker believes it needs to compete with luxury-market competitors.”

The call to investments met with lukewarm success. “More than half of all Lincoln dealers in the top 130 U.S. markets have committed to upgrade their facilities, creating a new sales and service experience for future Lincoln owners,” Ford announces today in a press release.

Careful, we are talking about the top markets again. Nobody even mentions the hordes of Lincoln dealers in the sticks anymore. They appear to be written off.

Also, out of the “more than half of all Lincoln dealers in the top 130 U.S. markets” only “seventy-five dealers in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chicago already have completed new facilities or major facility renovations” says the press release. We are finally approaching manageable numbers.

From my days as a guru I remember what happens to dealers who don’t follow a manufacturer’s call to pour concrete according to the latest Corporate Identity guidelines: Their bonus payments dry up, the bank wants to see cash, car haulers dump duds on the lots and bring the sellers to the other guy. Sooner or later, all dealers will be up to standard – those who balked, died.

In the meantime, Ford is contemplating how to bring that high-end boutique hotel style to its surviving Lincoln dealers. The first ideas appear a bit pedestrian. Reuters says:

Ford is considering creating four or five standard “rituals” that can be employed by Lincoln dealers throughout the country. One example might be to ask each salesperson to provide potential customers with their personal cell phone number.

Wow. Just wow.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • GS650G GS650G on Feb 03, 2012

    They should just sell cars on the internet and use the dealers for an occasionally walk in, a few test drives, and of course warranty repair. The public hates the car buying experience enough as it is, we don't need wool rugs, wood doors, leatherette couches and bottled water brought to us.

  • Bill A Bill A on Feb 20, 2012

    the "new" Lincoln can be successful if it simply copies the formula others have followed, including those mentioned in the article on on previous posts: 1. Build beautiful vehicles on Ford underpinning, with perhaps unique engines specific for Lincoln vehicles. Most people are clueless about the details - They are attractive to styling, and if the handling and ambience are tweaked to the standard of luxury cars, regardless of underrpinning, they will be accepted. Lincoln should already know this, but 75%+ of clients are initially attracted by styling. One of the big problems with current Lincolns is styling - The front end looks like a baleen whale. 2. Create a halo vehicle or two. If Hyundai can make an Equus, Lincoln should be able to make the equivalent or better for $65,000+. A sports coupe on an existing ford chassis is also an option. There is zero buzz around Lincoln, and these will start the conversation. 3. Service and dealership look do matter. But these wheels have been invented. A. Steal Luxus's service formula and implement it. B. They have probably developed their own dealership look if dealers have been asked to pay for it already, but I agree look does matter. 4. Get the best advertising talent out there and create something exciting. Start with Peter DeLorenzo. He has been just a critic of car ads for so long I'd like to see challenged to come up with something that addresses the bland campaign now ongoing. I have heard that it takes a brand 10 years to overcome adverse public perceptions. If Ford is willing to make the commitment, it could be done with money and a strategy, both lacking until now.

  • AZFelix Hilux technical, preferably with a swivel mount.
  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
  • Carson D The UAW has succeeded in organizing a US VW plant before. There's a reason they don't teach history in the schools any longer. People wouldn't make the same mistakes.
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