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Dealer Council Feed Back on Lincoln Brand

14K views 190 replies 27 participants last post by  syr74 
#1 · (Edited)
For Lincoln dealers, 2013 started as a tough year when production problems and quality glitches forced a three-month delay of the MKZ sedan, a car they needed badly. Bill Knight, who is entering his second and final year as Lincoln dealer council chairman, believes better times lie ahead in 2014.


Knight talked with Staff Reporter Bradford Wernle.


Q. How was 2013 for Lincoln dealers?

A. Clearly from a volume standpoint it wasn't what we had planned or what the objective called for. Year-over-year the volume was flat in a luxury industry that continues to grow, so it certainly was not what the company or the dealers wanted.

But if there's a bright spot, profitability for the Lincoln dealer improved 30 percent in 2013. A lot of that can be attributed to some of the invoicing actions that we took back in 2012.

We're certainly not where we want to be on volume. But it has been awhile since profitability for Lincoln dealers was up 30 percent.

How does 2014 look for Lincoln dealers?

There's a lot of positive news about the MKC. The reaction of the press to the unveiling has been really positive. It shows the continued commitment on the part of the company to provide differentiated vehicles for Lincoln. The MKC is the best example of that. The MKZ got criticism from the media that it was too close to the Ford Fusion. We're not hearing any of that on MKC.

It's an incremental product for us, which we need, and it hits at a very exciting time. The segment it hits, there just aren't a lot of players. This is the type of product that sets us up well as we continue the journey.

In what areas would you like to see improvements?

We continue first and foremost to challenge the company to increase the breadth and depth of the product lineup, whether it's a third-row SUV or CUV or a small sedan.
We recognize it just takes time. We continue to have dialogue with the company to get throughput for the dealer network.

Any specific vehicles you'd like to see added?

The thing we don't have is a mid-sized SUV or CUV that has a third row. We don't have a volume entry in a third-row SUV. As those segments continue to grow, when you look at the other luxury players moving down to that B- and C-car segment, those are things we hope the company can look at going forward.

What about the MKT? Sales have been very slow.

It is certainly polarizing. From a dealer perspective, we're not in a position to tell the company we don't want certain products. The MKT fills a small niche. It's certainly not providing the volume or throughput we need. We are selling some of them. We're anxious to see what the company's plans are.

The MKZ launch was delayed. Lincoln has admitted the launch was botched. How well has Lincoln recovered from that episode?

I think the company learned a lot from that. It certainly wasn't what the company planned, nor was it what the dealers expected. But we got through it.

The company did some unprecedented things by providing cash payments to the dealers most affected. Clearly it was something we didn't anticipate and don't want to go through again. It showed we can have collaboration and constructive conversations. The company will take those lessons learned and apply them to the launch of the MKC. We're confident that it won't happen again. They were launching the MKZ right after the Fusion. The Fusion was a complicated launch, and that got more complicated because of the MKZ.

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/201...-lincoln-sees-better-days-ahead#ixzz2rSShNMge
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#169 ·
Lincoln needs a true mainstream 3-row crossover... MKT is too niche. MKX also needs to adopt a sportier stance / image, since the MKC will be helping on the bottom end. With the aspirational Navigator on the top, they'll cover all bases in the market.

They also need a better MKS, without a doubt. Longer, lower, wider. With the new Lincoln horizontal grill, that would be a great look.



Speaking of which, I'd love a true convertible as well. Glass-roof MKZ is a great start.

Do they need a compact sedan? I don't think so.
 
#171 ·
Lincoln needs a true mainstream 3-row crossover... MKT is too niche. MKX also needs to adopt a sportier stance / image, since the MKC will be helping on the bottom end. With the aspirational Navigator on the top, they'll cover all bases in the market.

They also need a better MKS, without a doubt. Longer, lower, wider. With the new Lincoln horizontal grill, that would be a great look.

Speaking of which, I'd love a true convertible as well. Glass-roof MKZ is a great start.

Do they need a compact sedan? I don't think so.
I agree on the MKT. Whether they keep the name or not, the actual product should be proportioned more like the Explorer, not the Flex (I like the Flex more than the Explorer personally, but that's irrelevant). I guess we'll see what happens with the new MKX and MKS, the latter which needs to be a massive improvement. The MKS is nowhere near the mid-luxury competition. The final result should be something ironically like a Kia, the K900. Big and roomy, tons of technology, except of course it'll probably still be Taurus based. The XTS is proof humble foundations don't have to make a forgettable product.

As for the compact sedan, won't they need something below the MKZ? That would be a noticeably large volume gap to leave open for any modern luxury brand, regardless of what the product ends up being. It won't be long before inflation takes the MKZ's base price to 40K, and they'll have no sedans below 40K.
 
#174 ·
In this segment / price range, that's a lot of investment for comparatively little return. If I were Lincoln, I would much rather get the Navigator / MKS right than worrying about a compact sedan.
 
#176 ·
Really? I thought a well sorted compact would help with some volume, though I agree with your point about Navigator/MKS.

By the way, do you have any inside "poop" on when the next MKS breaks cover? I'd be very interested to see it.
 
#182 ·
wescoent said:
...I'm still not sure on the sub-MKZ sedan. Could you imagine the roaring laughter if Lincoln brought out a Focus-based sedan, even if it was measurably better than the CLA and A3? RWD in that segment is a no-go... the investment relative to the return is catastrophically awful.

Maybe a Lincoln Capri, in the spirit of the 1950's road-racing Lincolns, based on the Focus, and effectively being a better Focus ST.
Amphibian said:
...The Focus-based Lincoln sedan I originally was thinking of was more for the CLA crowd, though Verano/ILX-sized. The Mustang-based Lincoln sedan would be more for the 3-Series/ATS, starting at maybe 31K for the 1.6T, 35K for the 2.0T, and 40K for the 2.3T.
just-imho
the LincStang(s) will be well-above the ATS engines
my best guess is the base model will have the 2.7EB (hopefully with minor front electric motors for anti-slip Awd...no batteries needed nor included) and start around $50k.

re: a MkFocus, I'd much rather see a Grand-CMax-based MKE(nergi & lectric) swoopysedan starting around $40k with twice the Focus-Energi's 7.6kWh batteries + a 1.5EB;
the top-spec Electric Tesla-challenger would top out near $70k.

Amphibian said:
Lincoln related question:

Is the 2.7TT EcoBoost in the new F-150 the engine that was supposed to be a Lincoln-exclusive small turbo-6? Or are they two separate (or two variations) engines?
there are 2 versions of the Nano v6 = 2.7 and either a 2.9-or-3.0
but-imho
there probably won't any truly-exclusive Lincoln engine,
just an engine for each model that won't be in the corresponding Ford model (like the Z has the 3.7, the Fusion doesn't;
and
the coming Fusion-ST will ge the 4cyl 2.3EB but the Z-Sport will get the Nano-v6 2.7EB)


&
TY for the E386 mention, Wescoent!
imho it's downfall involved the Volvo-Yamaha v8
 
#185 ·
I haven't read much about the Q5, but I'd suspect the crossover segment's utilitarian nature makes for an easier comparison for Lincoln, e.g. the difference in quality and execution between the best 50k luxury sedan and the worst is vast compared to the same metric for crossovers. It's not a connoisseurs market, and the appeal is more badge and cache driven.
 
#190 ·
asrapid1 said:
But what about red label?
ALL THO iirc, red label HAS been trademarked
I'm hoping that was just prevent anyone else from jumping on a LABEL-kick

We're having major discussions about performance badging at FiN (Link)...well *I* am...

here's my "idea!!
along the lines of my fully customized/bespoke [WhiteLabel] (as the ONLY other "label")
what IF
the had a (literally) a red portfolio in the dealerships which had all the details about their performance editions??
Lincoln reps could even talk about the "red portfolio" BUT NO badging or package nomenclature would appear on the vehicle or even the OrderGuides
...tho maybe the owners would have a mini red "insert" (or lining?) in their Owner's Manual"
 
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