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Lincoln is once again looking at ways to stand out from parent company Ford
and establish itself as a credible player in the luxury segment. The
company has returned to its plan for standalone showrooms to give its
sales and image a boost.
In 2018, Lincoln asked 150 Ford-Lincoln dealerships
in its 30 biggest American markets to make plans for a standalone
showroom by July 2019, and inaugurate it by July 2021. Of those stores,
72 signed on — but the others resisted, partly because the move requires
investing millions of dollars. Lincoln put the campaign on hiatus in
December 2018, and now Automotive News has learned it's ready to relaunch the plan after finding a middle ground that satisfies both executives and store owners.
The publication said dealers
gained more freedom to choose how big of a store they build; square
foot requirements are no longer tied to the market size. Lincoln also
agreed to treat dealers who don't comply more fairly, notably by
reducing financial penalties, and it made the aforementioned deadlines
more flexible. Standalone Lincoln stores must now be completed by July
2022.
The move makes sense, at least on paper. As Autoblogreported in 2018, research shows dealers with standalone showrooms sell more cars. The handful of Lincoln retailers that sell cars
in purpose-built showrooms have seen their sales increase considerably
faster than those who display the firm's models next to Ford-badged
vehicles. Customers "want to buy a luxury product in a luxury
environment," explained Robert Parker, Lincoln's head of marketing, at
the time.
Lincoln was historically tied to Mercury, though the Continental also incongruously shared showroom space with the De Tomaso
Pantera during the early 1970s. Lincoln moved under Ford's roof when
Mercury was done away with in 2011, and it began experimenting with
standalone stores in the early 2010s.
