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Q&A with head of Lincoln National Dealer Council


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Fuzzymoomoo, true. I found interesting the following Q&A in particular, especially the third sentence in the answer:

 

Is there still room for a Continental in the U.S. with consumer preference shifting toward utilities and pickups?

Council thinks that the sedan side of the business still has a place within our lineup. I know the segment that Continental plays in has taken a drastic hit, so it's just not Lincoln who's seen sales down in that segment. But the other luxury competitors we compete against are not leaving that space. I think one thing that helps Lincoln in that equation is sedans in China. It's been announced sedans are a huge part of Lincoln's plans in China. How that goes into play with North America, where those units are produced, I don't know, but the hope as we go forward is that sedans continue to play a part in Lincoln's lineup in North America.

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On 1/28/2019 at 12:22 PM, fuzzymoomoo said:

Not a ton of new information but it's nice to see them finally having a plan for Lincoln and following through with it. 

I would like to know why there are so few Black Label dealers.  There are very few in all of Northern California.

 

 

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39 minutes ago, msm859 said:

I would like to know why there are so few Black Label dealers.  There are very few in all of Northern California.

 

 

Well, in order to be a Black Label dealer, the dealership had to upgrade their facilities to whatever standards Ford/Lincoln has for BL dealers.  So if said dealerships aren't willing to invest in that upgrade, they won't be BL dealers.

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2 hours ago, rmc523 said:

Well, in order to be a Black Label dealer, the dealership had to upgrade their facilities to whatever standards Ford/Lincoln has for BL dealers.  So if said dealerships aren't willing to invest in that upgrade, they won't be BL dealers.

Just checked and within a 300 mile radius of Sacramento, CA there are 20 Lincoln dealers and only 3 Black Label dealers.  That is a pretty small take - 15%.  Plus that area probably has 10-15 million people.  Obviously the dealers are not believing the return would be worth the  "investment."

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2 hours ago, rmc523 said:

Well, in order to be a Black Label dealer, the dealership had to upgrade their facilities to whatever standards Ford/Lincoln has for BL dealers.  So if said dealerships aren't willing to invest in that upgrade, they won't be BL dealers.

They also have to pay $100,000 (I think), though they get that back to some extent through higher payment from Lincoln. There is also a new rule that came into force late last year, part of Lincoln's efforts to force stand-along dealerships. In the major metro areas to become Black Label a dealer needs to be stand-alone. Existing combined Ford-Lincoln BL dealers are grandfathered from this new requirement. Tons of Navigator sales (and I predict we'll see that as well with Aviators) end up being Black Label, so there is growing interest.

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