"Whoever controls the young people will control the future".
This simple and unpretentious quote has always been the core issue of a company. The young generation of users with a strong sense of networking, they are more enthusiastic about communicating, interacting and generating creative content, how to read young people, for those car companies that are immersed in car manufacturing, is it a breeze? The answer to this question is actually not difficult to find, and Lincoln, a century-old luxury brand that has a deep co-creation project with Station B, is one of the best. It can even be said that in the field of luxury cars, no car company can understand this year's young people better than Lincoln.
Centennial Lincoln, All-in Electrification
On February 4, the Lincoln brand ushered in the 100th anniversary, and while it stood at a new starting point for a hundred years, the global automotive industry was also undergoing unprecedented changes and agitation in a century, so accelerating the electrification transformation of the brand and realizing the intelligent upgrading of vehicle products and experiences is the main goal of the Lincoln brand at this stage.
On April 21, Lincoln's first pure electric concept car, the Lincoln Star, officially made its world debut.
Focusing on the present, we can see that the first problem faced by the traditional luxury brand pure electric new car is how to form a difference with the family fuel vehicle products, the most obvious point of which is the design of the front face of the vehicle, and the point of their common entanglement is how to achieve the innovation of the design language while retaining the brand characteristics.
Obviously, Lincoln Star does not have such a tangle, it is very simply electrified, the entire front face shape is integrated, at the same time, we can still feel the elegance and noble temperament that Lincoln has been transmitting to the public on the new body, the Lincoln Star logo in the center of the front face, with a star-like dot matrix light source, it can be seen that for the expression of pure tram beauty, Lincoln gave his own answer.
At the same time, Lincoln Star's biggest breakthrough in design, and the most advanced concept, is the "transparency" that other luxury brands have never imagined. It can be seen that the concept car front hatch is made of color-changing glass, which can be easily switched between transparent and dark colors (it will be darkened when parking, ensuring the privacy of the luggage compartment); transparent side columns combined with a color-changing intelligent panoramic canopy allow more natural light to penetrate into the car, greatly improving the visual transparency of the carriage, giving users a feeling of "sun room".
Therefore, for this Lincoln Star, which is still in the concept stage, we can also glimpse Lincoln's unique insight into the electrification track, which is mainly reflected in the following two points:
First, thanks to the technical advantages of a purely electrically scalable architecture that supports rear-drive and four-wheel drive layouts, Lincoln Star was able to break free from the shackles of traditional combustion engines, transmissions and fuel systems, thereby maximizing the freedom of cockpit space, i.e. bringing immersive cockpit space to users in new cars.
The two-row space is equipped with surround independent seats, independent leg rests, and storage space specially used to place electronic devices or slippers, which are the infrastructure of Lincoln Star as the user's "third space", and the three rejuvenating and comfortable modes will control the sound effects, fragrance and atmosphere lights of the entire cockpit in conjunction with the Lincoln Embrace welcome induction system, and the high-definition animations on the screen are intertwined with the symphonic melody, allowing customers to immerse themselves in the digital "inner realm". Whether it's in a congested environment or enjoying a moment of tranquility after work, the Rejuvenate Comfort Model will create an exclusive "third space" for customers.
Although the "immersive cockpit" in the industry has long been nothing new, but the traditional fuel vehicle is limited by space, structure, so it can not become the best carrier, thanks to the support of the rear drive and four-wheel drive layout of the pure electric scalable architecture of Lincoln Star may truly become the user's ideal "third space", that is, the owner's private leisure place, can also be an extension of the office scene.
Secondly, it is Lincoln's next-generation intelligent connection system, after all, we do not see any physical buttons in the Lincoln Star car, so in order to achieve the linkage between the car and the car, the car and the infrastructure, and to meet the user's assumption of the "third space", the intelligent interaction system is an indispensable key part of the car. In addition, it boasts next-generation leading smart driver assistance features such as Help Me See and Park for Me features.
It is reported that Lincoln plans to launch three new pure electric models by 2025, when more than half of Lincoln's global sales will come from zero-emission pure electric models, and the fourth pure electric model will be available in 2026.
At present, the vigorous development of China's new energy vehicle market, as well as the diversified demand of domestic consumers for pure electric products, means that luxury pure electric vehicles will be a blue ocean for a long time, and the future still has a strong momentum of development, not to mention, from Lincoln Star, we can also see its ability to subvert the existing new energy pattern, which is called "good food is not afraid of late".
A more "younger" Lincoln reinvented the luxury landscape
In the first quarter of this year, China's luxury car market was affected by multiple factors such as "lack of core" and "lack of electricity", and the overall sales volume inevitably declined. According to the data of the Federation of Passenger Vehicles, the cumulative retail sales of the domestic luxury car market in January and March this year fell by 8.2% year-on-year, and seeing the many uncertainties faced by the production and sales of passenger cars in April, the luxury car market pattern is also experiencing unprecedented turbulence.
Lincoln showed a "dark horse" posture in this context, bucking the trend and outperforming the market, setting a record for the best first quarter sales since entering China, reaching 19471 vehicles. Among them, the brand's first domestic model Lincoln Adventurer, with a cumulative sales volume of 10,915 units in the first quarter, carried the role of Lincoln's sales pillar in China; Lincoln Navigator sold 5,105 units in the first quarter, and the market volume and sales rose steadily; lincoln aviators sold 2216 units in the first quarter, with a steady performance.
It can be seen that since the domestic SUV "Three Musketeers" adventurers, aviators, navigators have been listed, Lincoln continues to climb a new peak in sales in China, and this is more in line with the brand strategy of the Chinese market, but also in March this year has a new interpretation, as Lincoln's first domestic car, the new Lincoln Z was officially listed on March 12, as of the end of March The cumulative order volume has exceeded 5600, vaguely showing the posture of a luxury medium-sized car breaker.
Objectively speaking, Lincoln Z takes into account the needs of young Chinese customers for a luxury car, one is that the vehicle must be young and personalized enough at the design level; the other is that at this stage, including consumers and car companies, there are higher requirements for the level of vehicle intelligence.
Don't look at these two needs concisely, but looking at the domestic luxury car market, it is rare to be able to subvert the tradition like Lincoln Z, after all, for traditional luxury brands, the "baggage" on them is too big, so it is easy not to make changes. Today's Lincoln is more like a "new force" in the luxury camp, which also confirms what Lincoln China President Mao Jingbo said before: As the most challenging American luxury brand, Lincoln is innovative, steady in change, and sees new possibilities.
Looking at the luxury mid-size car market, the products of various brands are trying to be close to the aesthetic preferences of young people, and it can be said that everyone is trying to be young, but it seems that they are not young enough.
What will finally further catalyze lincoln Z's product strength and quickly detonate its popularity in the luxury car market is Lincoln's continuous cultivation in the new user operation model and ecology in recent years.
Therefore, there is the in-depth co-creation of Lincoln and Station B at the beginning, the social platform where many young people gather in Xiaohongshu, Weibo, etc., and the cross-border linkage of KOLs in various fields, thus setting off the natural drainage of the (Lincoln) Z trend and winning the attention of young people. It is worth mentioning that Lincoln became the official partner of the B Station New Year's Eve party last year, and the peak number of online New Year's Eve parties belonging to young people exceeded 309 million, and its effect is self-evident.
At the same time, lincoln through digital marketing and fan incubation, in the Lincoln Way App to create a dedicated to the young group of Club Z community, since its launch in November last year, through a wealth of activities and fresh information, has attracted more than 50,000 users to join, the monthly activity rate is close to 70%, which shows the high sense of belonging and enthusiasm of the participating users. And it is the promotion of this group of owners and fans that Lincoln has also been able to book one hot search after another.
Write at the end
After a hundred years of time, Lincoln, under the unprecedented changes in the automobile market in a hundred years, accurately grasped the needs and preferences of young users and the pulse of the development of the times, and while deeply cultivating the Chinese market, constantly improve itself, from products, marketing, services to user co-creation, it can be seen that Lincoln has taken every step very solidly.
So, standing at the new starting point of a hundred years, what kind of luxurious new chapter will Lincoln continue to write? Perhaps, this will be told by a dynamic group of young customers.