Lincoln entered the palace twice
If you want to say which brand has the loudest name among American cars, it is definitely Lincoln. But Lincoln cars sold far less well than the name suggests.
In 2005, Lincoln Motor entered China for the first time, when it was placed in Ford's showroom, because the model was old and the price was too high, it did not attract much attention, and after 3 years, it withdrew from the Chinese market.
After that, Ford Motor Vehicles sold Aston Martin, Jaguar Land Rover, volvo, lincoln cars became Ford's only remaining luxury brand. In 2014, Lincoln Motors re-entered China, but sales were still not good, and the annual sales volume was not as good as the monthly sales of the Haval H6.
SUV Three Musketeers
This made Lincoln very sad, knowing that he was working hard, why did he still not get the recognition of consumers? So Lincoln made up his mind, embarked on the road of localization, established a joint venture with Changan, and launched the first localized model last year, Adventurer, and the starting price dropped to more than 240,000.
After that, Lincoln stopped the production of MKZ, which had a bad reputation, and announced: in the future, it will no longer produce cars, and will focus on the field of SUVs, and successively launched navigators and aviators, known as the domestic SUV three musketeers.
From January to November this year, the cumulative sales of the Lincoln brand exceeded 80,000 units, an increase of 54% year-on-year, a new record, of which the sales of the three musketeers of SUVs accounted for 90%.
The core advantages are obvious
The sharply reduced price and high core configuration are the biggest reasons for Lincoln's increase in sales. For example, the adventurer, the whole series of 2.0T + 8AT, and the configuration of the entry-level model, is also quite rich, the price of 240,000, compared to volvo XC40, Cadillac XT4, more competitive.
For example, medium and large SUV pilots, the whole series of 3.0T V6 engines, matching 10AT gearbox, although the starting price is more than 500,000, but in the medium and large luxury SUV, it is already very cost-effective.
This has led to a sharp rise in Lincoln sales, but also let Lincoln see hope, but want to rely on the SUV three musketeers, break through the annual sales of 100,000 mark, I am afraid it is a bit difficult, in order to achieve rapid sales growth, but also need to have a suitable price of the car product.
So Lincoln soon regretted it, and at this year's Guangzhou Auto Show, he launched a mid-level sedan, the Lincoln Z. Priced between 255,000-34.2 million, the main competitors are the Cadillac CT4, Volvo S60 and Lexus ES. The Lincoln Z is a little stronger than them in every way, larger than the CT4, more stylish and sporty than the S60, and more powerful than the 2.0T.
If SUVs support Lincoln's current sales, then the Lincoln Z will also bring a new round of sales growth while filling the gap in the car.
The importance of localization
Looking back at the development of Lincoln Automobile in China, it shows one thing: the localization of models is really very important. The earliest car companies to achieve localization, each of them in terms of sales, achieved a substantial increase, such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda and so on.
On the other hand, some car companies that do not have domestic production, such as Subaru, Chrysler, Dodge, and Alfa Romeo, are relatively unpopular brands in China, and their sales are not high.
If Lincoln could have been localized early, he would not be worried about the goal of 100,000 annual sales now.