Recently, the luxury car market is still quite lively, first there are red flags to end the years of Kay, Lei dispute, among the second-line luxury top seats; then there is a cautious Infiniti, less than 2 days to quickly change the image spokesperson; Acura was more exposed to withdraw from the domestic market, RDX, CDX tears sold.
And in the recent "MotorTrend" review: Lincoln sold 86.929 vehicles in the United States, down 18% year-on-year, creating the lowest point since 2013, Matryoshka's own flagship model, to obtain a more systematic design language, itself is no problem, but not all design will be as successful as BBA, from adventurers, navigators to aviators, Lincoln's mid-to-high-end models are not characteristic enough, product upgrading is also a little slow.
However, in the domestic market, Lincoln's sales in 2021 exceeded 90,000 vehicles, an increase of 48%, becoming the fastest growing luxury brand, the contrast is obvious, but the reputation is still not optimistic, especially after the latest mid-level car Lincoln Z was listed, the voice of forum netizens was one-sided, saying: Disappointed by the price, the new car is not worth the price.
To know that as a luxury brand intermediate sedan with a wheelbase of 2930mm, the Lincoln Z sold at 252,800 has almost created a new low in the same level, which should have been extremely valuable, why would it be disliked?
The strength is not enough to reduce the dimension to make up, success and failure are adventurers
Of Lincoln's annual sales of 91,621 vehicles, the Adventurer sold more than 50,000 vehicles, a veritable pillar. As the successor model of the MKC, the adventurer is positioned overseas as the same compact luxury SUV as the Q5, XC60 and XT5, but after the domestic production, it has not adjusted its value like other competitors, and even dropped some.
Before Lincoln domestic adventurers, the car Jun also did an analysis: if like the previous MKC, maintaining a threshold of more than 300,000, the future of the new car is more worrying, because in addition to power, it has no obvious advantage over competitors in terms of design, space, etc., not to mention Lincoln's brand appeal is relatively weak, at almost the price, there is an obstacle to consumers accepting new species.
Later results, everyone also knows that the starting price of domestic adventurers of 246,800 yuan is nearly 100,000 yuan cheaper than the previous MKC, directly avoiding frontal fighting. And directly positioned at the compact level, at the same price, its product strength is obviously better than GLA, Q3, etc., which also forms a new competitiveness, to meet the entry-level luxury car buyers, there are faceless needs.
At the same time, the pricing of late navigators and aviators, although not as exaggerated as adventurers, is also lower than the threshold of competitors. Perhaps this is also the cleverness of the marketing team, they know what domestic consumers want, and they understand what kind of appearance the Lincoln brand that missed the golden period can exchange a place in the market, which is quite low-profile.
It is precisely because of this consumption of brand power that everyone has higher expectations for the value of Lincoln's mid- and low-end new cars. First of all, objectively speaking, the Lincoln Z, which pre-sold more than 25 before, is very reasonable and arouses the interest of potential users, and everyone's subconscious is waiting for a bigger surprise at the official price, after all, as an SUV model, the threshold for adventurers is only more than 240,000.
But the official selling price of the Lincoln Z, which has not changed much, has brought a sense of gap, which is also the result of the backlash of misplaced competition. For Lincoln, the low price for the market is certainly not the ultimate goal, let Lincoln Z slightly maintain the tone, for the follow-up compact model is inevitable, but the consumer's spit also proves the crisis of brand power.
The Chinese and U.S. markets are very different, Lincoln has space but lacks "weapons"
"MotorTrend" analyzed the reasons for Lincoln's decline in sales in the United States: in addition to the impact of the environment, core shortage and other influences, the slow speed of product updates, matryoshka family design obsolescence is also an important factor, gorgeous, solemn design is very suitable for navigators, but put on the navigator, adventurer and other low-end models, but slightly old-fashioned, and the advantages in reliability, retention rate and value are not prominent enough.
For the domestic market, Lincoln has both room for improvement and the challenge of insufficient products.
On the one hand, the domestic market is different from the US market, compared to the latter's preference for SUV models, our demand for models is more balanced, whether it is first-line luxury brands such as BBA, or second-tier luxury brands such as Cadillac and Volvo, medium-sized cars and medium-sized cars are the support points for sales. At the same time, although Lincoln's growth rate is relatively fast, there is still a certain gap compared with opponents with annual sales of 200,000 + such as Cadillac, which is also a room for improvement.
But on the other hand, because Lincoln stopped the car business in China, it is equivalent to "a self-severed arm" in China, there is no car license to play, like Lincoln Z to launch a special customized model for the domestic market, it is also a helpless move, which is the previous BBA and Cadillac, Volvo and so on have not tried. Although it can make up for the lack of product lines, the consumption of brand power is another challenge.
Horizontal and vertical comparison, counting the lincoln Z just listed, Lincoln domestic models only 4, according to the compact sedan, medium and large class sedan, coupe SUV and other distinctions, Lincoln at least lack of 4 models, car Jun even doubts: in the future, Lincoln will copy a Ford EVOS, and adventurer, Lincoln Z to form a trident, further deepening the price range of 250,000-300,000 yuan.
In this way, for the mid-to-high-end models of 300,000-500,000 yuan, the sales pressure may be greater. At the same time, consumers' expectations for low-end customized models will be higher, and cost-effectiveness is indeed a good weapon, but how to ensure market share at the same time, reversing the image is equally important for luxury brands, otherwise the burden on the body will become heavier and heavier.
summary:
Finally, in consumer reports this year's reliability survey, Lincoln ranked first among the 28 brands surveyed, although the data is only for the U.S. version of the model, but the stability of domestic models remains to be seen.