Lincoln to get own dealerships in U.S.
Ford-Lincoln dealerships in 30 major U.S. markets are being asked by the automaker to split off the luxury brand and give it a dealership of its own, in an effort to boost sales.
The move is based on data Ford has collected that shows customers shopping for premium-market vehicles “want to buy a luxury product in a luxury environment,” Robert Parker, head of Lincoln marketing, was quoted as saying in Automotive News.
Dealerships in Georgia, California and Minnesota who have already moved their Lincoln product into its own stand-alone outlet have seen sales double within months.
“Customers have pulled up and said, ‘This is how it should be,’ ” said the sales manager at the Atlanta, Ga., dealer.
Of the 150 Lincoln dealers in the major U.S. markets Ford is targeting, some 72 have already made or are working to make the switch to split off the brand from their Ford dealerships.
What Lincoln wants is for the other 78 to do the same, and agree to setting up new Lincoln-only facilities by July 2019, with the actual physical locations running by July 2021. Only a separate showroom is needed; service departments and other back-end operations can still be twinned with the Ford-branded part of the dealership.
Lincoln will assist dealers who make the move to relocate and pay them more per car sold, and it won’t let dealers who keep their Lincoln showroom twinned to a Ford one sell Black Label trim Lincolns, unless they do already.
It is unclear whether Lincoln will pursue a similar strategy in Canada, though some of the company’s rivals have. For example, Hyundai’s new Genesis luxury brand has opened several whiteglove stand-alone outlets across the country.
Driving.ca