$1 Billion Says: Akerson Is Dead Wrong! Lincoln Lives!
Lincoln, once the conveyance of presidents and Hollywood moguls, hasn’t been doing too well lately. In May, Lincoln sold just 7,399 vehicles in the U.S., about the same as Volvo, a brand that Ford had sold to the Chinese. The average buyer’s age of a Lincoln sold in 2010 edges up to the wheelchair-demographic: 62. Despite ample Panther-love doled out by TTAC, Lincoln is losing customers left and right: According to White House historians at the Wall Street Journal, every president from Calvin Coolidge through George H.W. Bush rode in a Lincoln limousine. The new prez defected to a Government Motor’s Beast.
The matter even attracted attention from Ford’s cross town rival GM. Its CEO Dan Akerson had some ungodly advice: “They are trying like hell to resurrect Lincoln. Well, I might as well tell you, you might as well sprinkle holy water. It’s over.”
Ford was faced with a tough decision: Keep it or kill it? And the decision is:
Lincoln lives!
Ford “is making a revival of its ailing Lincoln luxury brand its top priority,” reports the Wall Street Journal.
“Later this year, Ford will begin a sweeping make-over of the 96-year-old brand, to give staid Lincoln a new identity as a producer of high-tech, understated luxury cars.”
According to Reuters, Ford “is spending $1 billion in an effort to develop a new generation of vehicles for its struggling Lincoln brand.” That’s a bargain as far as luxury cars go. The development of Volkswagen’s Phaeton was rumored to exceed $1 billion, and we all knew what that got Volkswagen.
Ford will get “seven new or redesigned Lincolns” for the money, writes the WSJ. The first ones, arriving in November, are redesigns of the MKS sedan and MKT SUV. An all new MKZ will in late 2012. “The four remaining vehicles won’t be launched until 2013 or 2014,” says the Journal. That billion will need to last for a while.
In lieu of all-new cars, customers will get features: Self-tuning suspension systems, hands-free controls and entertainment systems, retractable, all-glass roofs and computerized sound-reduction technology.
Lincoln has to fight the perception that Lincolns are nothing but blinged-up Fords. That fight will continue for a while.
Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s head of global product development, told the Journal that the “seven new Lincolns in the pipeline will still share parts with Ford models, but he promised they will have unique exterior panels, headlamps and other touches to give them a distinct look.”
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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Just a short matter of time before there are no standalone Lincoln dealers. The combination of killing Mercury and Lincoln's meager volume makes a standalone Lincoln dealership a money losing proposition. Ford's announcement a couple of weeks ago that Lincoln dealerships either needed to spend $1mm to update or take a buyout was Ford's way of ending Lincoln & former Mercury standalone dealerships. A much less expensive route than GM took buying out Oldsmobile dealers but then Ford had the advantage of two franchises in each store. When Ford killed Mercury they effectively eliminated all LM standalone stores. Ford intends to market Lincolns through select Ford dealerships. After the dust settles and the Lincoln stores are all gone watch Ford reduce the $2mm upgrade requirement for Ford dealers that want to sell Lincolns. While Ford's path forward with Lincoln won't gain any appreciable marketshare it will be profitable because of the minimal expense Ford incurs offering Lincoln models based on Ford products built on the same assembly lines as the Ford product. From Ford's business profitability standpoint they made the right move with Lincoln. From the standpoint of re-establishing Lincoln's viability as a player in the luxury car market they will not but the brand is already so damaged it's probably quite an accomplishment on Ford's part to continue to profit from Lincoln. As I've said on other posts, there is no business case for Ford spending the money it would take to produce exclusive Lincoln models. Lincoln is gone as a contender in the luxury car market. The handwriting was probably on the wall several years ago when Ford closed the Wixom, MI Lincoln assembly plant.
Z in MKZ stands for Zepyhr. X stands for Crossover. And while we're at it, because I'm sick of people saying that the MK names don't mean anything, don't stand for anything, they do! The MKS stands for Mark Sedan and the MKT means Mark Touring.