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More than one third of Lincoln's dealerships say "no thanks" to brand's electric future


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Foolish to out it mildly. I know it requires additional upfront costs. But there will come a day, in only a few short decades where most new cars are evs. Lincoln especially is a perfect brand for electrification. They're brand is sold on being quiet, refined, effortless. Evs are perfect for them.

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Lincoln exists only because the Ford family want it to do so and without Chinese sales it would have died with Mercury.

 

So if Ford is taking Model E sales to  online ordering, you can bet the same is coming to Lincoln

and with less future maintenance, many Lincoln franchises are going to become less than worthless.

 

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I don’t think that’s unique to Lincoln dealers. There’s a local dealer who owns both a Chebbie and a Buick/GMC dealership, and he’s currently running a TV ad that’s not exactly pro-electric. Sitting next to him on his desk you can see his computer monitor, which has a full screen image of an EV on a flatbed, something he points out in the ad.

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A few thoughts on this:

1) the arbitrary sign up date is stupid.  They’re going to make EVs regardless of how many dealers sign up, why this “sign up or else” mentality?  Let them sell ICE until they’re not made and if they don’t want to go EV then, bye.

2) it may not entirely be the dealer’s choice…I mentioned this in the other EV thread…the local Ford/Lincoln dealer….which was planning on building a standalone Lincoln dealer (I’ve seen the blueprints myself) - closed entirely because they couldn’t get the required power to the actual dealer location.  And that’s in a heavy Lincoln area.

3) there were part issues so it’s hard to truly gauge sales results, but Lincoln’s sales haven’t exactly taken off despite great new product.   Though if you ignore outgoing sedan sales, Lincoln’s sales were flat for the year.   That said, with no new ICE products slated, and EV products at least a couple years off, I understand trepidation to commit big bucks right now to an uncertain future, which reverts back to point 1 - why the arbitrary sign by date “or else”

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2 hours ago, The Handler said:

No way all of those are standalone. 

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the ones opting out are mostly Ford-Lincoln stores.


I can only think of 2 near me that are standalone, and one of those I’m pretty sure is the same ownership group as the ford dealer across the street. 

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2 hours ago, The Handler said:

No way all of those are standalone. 

There are 600 total but only 72 are stand alone dealerships 

 

2 hours ago, The Handler said:

I wouldn't be surprised if the ones opting out are mostly Ford-Lincoln stores.

 

Thats fair enough, losing 2/3s of your dealer network is not good, online sales of BEVs is another issue.

Without servicing and used car sales, most dealerships are going to shrivel up and die.

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3 hours ago, T-dubz said:

Who knows how long Lincoln will be around. I don’t blame them for not wanting to make the investment. 

Some dealers are definitely skeptical of Ford's commitment to Lincoln. They were promised a full line-up initially. 

Edited by The Handler
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1 hour ago, The Handler said:

Some dealers are definitely skeptical of Ford's commitment to Lincoln. They were promised a full line-up initially. 

Absolutely correct, so now those folks are being told to spend $1 million up front to qualify for BEV Lincoln…

Not quite magic beans but getting close….

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1 hour ago, twintornados said:

The headline can also read;

"Almost 2/3rds of Lincoln dealers embrace a BEV future"

 

Thank you twintornados. 2/3rds works out to about 400 dealerships. That's more than sufficient to serve Lincoln customers in the U.S. market as the brand goes all-electric.

 

For comparison, the leading U.S. domestic premium car brand, Tesla, has 221 retail stores, galleries, and service centers in the U.S. as of January 2023.

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5 hours ago, rperez817 said:

 

Thank you twintornados. 2/3rds works out to about 400 dealerships. That's more than sufficient to serve Lincoln customers in the U.S. market as the brand goes all-electric.

 

For comparison, the leading U.S. domestic premium car brand, Tesla, has 221 retail stores, galleries, and service centers in the U.S. as of January 2023.

How does that work if Lincoln becomes a BEV only brand, that is ordered on line and has sweet FA servicing?

What are those 400 dealerships buying for a million bucks?

 

Those 70 odd dedicated Lincoln dealerships must have a lot of faith in Ford’s word….

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2 hours ago, jpd80 said:

How does that work if Lincoln becomes a BEV only brand, that is ordered on line and has sweet FA servicing?

What are those 400 dealerships buying for a million bucks?

 

Those 70 odd dedicated Lincoln dealerships must have a lot of faith in Ford’s word….


I know the dealer guys here don't like when we talk about it, but my gut really says the old dealer model's days are numbered. Tesla seems to be doing well with their format. Franchise laws and dealer markup BS over the last couple years has soured a lot of people on that form factor.

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21 hours ago, T-dubz said:

Who knows how long Lincoln will be around. I don’t blame them for not wanting to make the investment. 

Hasn't Lincoln experienced quite the turn around in terms of sales and brand perception? They're not challenging mainstream brands for sales figures, but I thought they were doing decently well compared to 5-10 years ago. Maybe I'm wrong son. 

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1 hour ago, DeluxeStang said:

Hasn't Lincoln experienced quite the turn around in terms of sales and brand perception? They're not challenging mainstream brands for sales figures, but I thought they were doing decently well compared to 5-10 years ago. Maybe I'm wrong son. 

US Lincoln sales for 2022 were 83,486 versus 1,780,978 sales for Ford brand vehicles

Thats like just over 4% of Ford’s sales

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23 hours ago, twintornados said:

The headline can also read;

"Almost 2/3rds of Lincoln dealers embrace a BEV future"

Here's that article, cast as a glass half (er, 90%) full, as you suggest. This one from "Electric":

 

https://electrek.co/2023/01/13/over-half-of-lincoln-dealers-opt-into-fords-ev-program/

Ford’s EV program coming to hundreds of Lincoln dealers covering nearly 90% of sales

 

...Over half of Lincoln dealers opt into Ford’s EV program

Up until now, we haven’t caught wind of how many Lincoln dealers would be involved in the transformation. According to a new report from Automotive News, 59% of them have joined Ford’s “epic journey” to invest up to $900,000 to sell EVs.

 

Of Lincoln’s 600 US dealers, 356 are opting in, including all standalone dealerships. A spokesperson from the company told Automotive News: "This gives Lincoln a robust network of retailers who have agreed to take the necessary steps to prepare for our brand’s transition towards electrification and better serve our EV clients."

 

Meanwhile, the 356 Lincoln dealers account for 88% of the brand’s sales volume, with about 90% of them located in the nation’s top 130 luxury markets...

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16 hours ago, DeluxeStang said:

Hasn't Lincoln experienced quite the turn around in terms of sales and brand perception? 

 

15 hours ago, jpd80 said:

US Lincoln sales for 2022 were 83,486

 

Here are the U.S. sales figures for Lincoln Motor Car Company (thank you jpd80 for the 2022 total). In the past 6 years, it achieved a YOY increase only once, from 2018 to 2019.

  • 2022: 83,486
  • 2021: 86,929
  • 2020: 105,410
  • 2019: 112,204
  • 2018: 103,587
  • 2017: 111,159

Here are the China sales numbers. China became Lincoln's largest market in 2021. 2022 sales numbers for China aren't yet available, but they should exceed Lincoln sales in the U.S. market.

  • 2022: (not available yet)
  • 2021: 87,953
  • 2020: 39,185
  • 2019: 46,629
  • 2018: 55,315
  • 2017: 54,124

In terms of brand perception, it is quite good in China, less so in the U.S. Lincoln's initiatives in both markets for "electrifying its entire portfolio of vehicles by the end of the decade" should improve consumer perception of the Lincoln brand. Details on some of those initiatives were mentioned in this press release from June 2021. Lincoln Accelerates Brand Transformation; Plans to Deliver a Full Portfolio of Connected and Electrified Vehicles by 2030 | Lincoln Media Center

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The dealer in my home town had their Lincoln franchise pulled. Small town, rural farming community, didn't warrant spending $$$ on a standalone building when they have Ford, Chrysler, Jeep, and Ram all in one building. They also have no interest in EV's. I doubt they have the local infrastructure to handle DC fast chargers. Nearest one is 30 miles away.

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