A few days ago, Lincoln Motors released the first pure electric concept car, the Lincoln Star, showing the century-old brand's imagination for the era of intelligent connection and electrification. In this concept car, we did not see the hype of driverless driving, nor did we hear the exaggerated mileage, but saw a series of scenes built around the user, such as "third space" and "inner realm". This play method is somewhat different, which reminds Yipinjun of a word that Lincoln China has frequently mentioned in recent years - "luxury has its own way".
It has to be said that Lincoln has ushered in the "best Lincoln in history" in the Chinese market in recent years. In 2020, Lincoln China sold 62,000 vehicles, an increase of 32% year-on-year, creating the highest sales record since entering China; in 2021, it set a new record again, with annual sales exceeding 91,000 units, an increase of 48% year-on-year. Entering 2022, the sales of first-line luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi have declined and dived (in the first quarter, Mercedes-Benz sales fell by 9.2%, BMW sales fell by 13.7%, and Audi sales fell by 22%), while Lincoln sold 19471 vehicles, achieving a slight increase against the trend.
Some people may wonder whether it is because of Lincoln's small sales base that it has led to over-the-speed growth? Is it because of the launch of three domestic SUVs in the past two years, sales have nearly doubled? It is undeniable that Lincoln's rapid growth is related to these, but if you only see domestic production and see a small base, it will be simplified. Otherwise, wouldn't Infiniti, Acura, and SAIC Audi have more reasons to grow rapidly?
Yipinjun believes that understanding the Chinese market and showing sincerity is the key to Lincoln China's sustainable and benign development. Especially the latter, it is more worth learning from many luxury brands. Taking the power that consumers are particularly concerned about as an example, in recent years, we have frequently seen some examples of mid-level cars equipped with 1.5T engines and large cars equipped with 2.0T engines, and many products are still playing the game of "entry-level version". Whether it is the lack of strength behind this, or the IQ tax of consumers in the name of environmental protection, I am afraid that I understand it in my heart.
At this time, if you look at Lincoln's approach, you will feel full of sincerity: the adventurer is a full line of "50 luxury standards", explaining what is "entry is luxury". The Aviator is equipped with a 3.0T engine and a 10AT gearbox as standard; the Navigator has more than 60 luxurious features to make "luxury all-round"...
Don't take what "second-line luxury can only fight for cost performance" to make excuses for others, sincerity is good for consumers is the biggest luxury. If you don't believe you can look at Volvo, almost sitting in the right place, but the sense of "luxury" is getting weaker and weaker, and the price reduction, maintenance and so on complaining. What's more, Lincoln is not pursuing the short-term interests of "price for quantity", and the control of quality after domestic production and the noble experience brought by Lincoln's Way are also praised by users.
Mao Jingbo, president of Lincoln China, once said that the Lincoln brand is still relatively young in China and needs more accumulation. The fastest way to let everyone know the Lincoln brand and establish brand positioning must rely on products. It is not difficult to see from this that Lincoln, who started late and had a small volume, knew his own path at the beginning, dared to break the unreasonable and unhealthy practices in the original luxury car market, and boldly showed sincerity to be good to consumers.
In fact, Lincoln is not only sincere in product strength, but also in terms of user experience, the "Lincoln Way" also brings users a scarce American luxury experience. We know that Mao Jingbo has nearly 20 years of practical experience in the luxury car market, and has almost witnessed the development of China's luxury car market, which makes her more sensitive to the insight of luxury users. Therefore, in the creation of user experience, Lincoln does not play virtual. Fan Zhaoyi, President of Lincoln Worldwide, once had a high evaluation of "Lincoln's Way": "The 'Lincoln Way' originating in China has become the differentiated advantage of the Lincoln brand in the world, helping us to create a unique customer experience brand image in the global market." ”
In addition, lincoln is equally "real" in terms of dealer network expansion. In order to achieve the highest annual sales of a single store among second-tier brands, it is better to be slow than to sacrifice the interests of existing channels. Because it ensures that dealers obtain stable profits, they can better consolidate the systematic implementation of sales quality and customer experience at the dealer level, and can products and customer experience have a better growth soil.
We can find that Lincoln's "sincerity" to users is not the kind of lip service, but penetrates into all aspects. With the release of the Lincoln Star pure electric concept car, we can also feel the embodiment of "user thinking", not stacking numbers, but paying more attention to the user's experience.
In 2021, the sales of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi have reached the order of 700,000 or 800,000 vehicles, which is almost equivalent to mainstream joint venture brands such as FAW Toyota and GAC Toyota. At this time, it coincided with new forces such as Tesla and Wei Xiaoli rushing in. Consumers' perceptions and demands for "luxury" have changed a lot, how to read the Chinese luxury car market and treat them with sincerity, Lincoln gave us an answer.