In 2019, Lincoln's all-new aviator was priced at $62 when it was first launchedStarting at 880,000 yuan, although it didn't seem cheap at the time, with the labels of "imported", "luxury" and "V6", as well as the market environment where the domestic BMW X5 has not yet landed and the new force is still in its infancy, this car still caused a lot of shock in the market.
Thanks to the cost advantage of localization and the perfect domestic chain system, Lincoln's various models are very competitive, and are generally tens of thousands of yuan cheaper than the first-tier and even second-tier luxury brands such as "BBA", and at the same time provide large-displacement six-cylinder engine options that are not available to competing products. With the superposition of multiple advantages, Lincoln has achieved explosive growth in sales in just a few years, with annual sales reaching 61,761 units in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 32%, setting a new historical record for the brand in China. In 2021, sales exceeded 91,621 units, a year-on-year increase of 48%, breaking the record again.
However, the good times were short-lived, and in 2022, Lincoln faced serious challenges. The global economic downturn and the impact of the epidemic have led to a decline in consumption power, and the luxury car market has to face the reality of "price for volume". The cost-effective advantage that once made Lincoln proud is gradually weakened, after all, in front of the halo of powerful brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW, even the most luxurious interiors and designs may look dull. Therefore, Lincoln, which was originally aiming at the 100,000 mark, only handed over 7A report card of 930,000 units.
The reason for this is that Lincoln has failed to find an effective breakthrough at the marketing and product level. The biggest problem is that in terms of product updates, Lincoln has entered an awkward period at the technical and design level due to Ford's weak performance on a global scale. For example, in order to cater to market demand, Changan Lincoln launched a special model Lincoln Z, although it is close to the people and has a novel design, which seems to be contrary to Lincoln's previous brand positioning. Subsequently, the adventurer and navigator were upgraded, although a new family design language was adopted, but the original solemn old-school American luxury was replaced by a more youthful and jumpy style, especially the interior of the large screen design, lost the original characteristics and recognition.
Consumers choose Lincoln, often looking at the unique American luxury charm, if just to pursue a large-screen experience, perhaps more people will turn to more cost-effective domestic cars. What is even more regrettable is that the new generation of Navigator had to be downgraded from the higher-level CD4 platform to the C2 platform due to Ford's product strategy adjustment, not only the chassis hardware has shrunk, but the "only one in the same class" V6 engine has also been canceled.
As a result of this transformation, the Adventurer and Voyager, the two former pillars of sales, could no longer take on the responsibility of driving the Lincoln brand. Although the new president, Zhu Meijun, set ambitious goals at the beginning of 2023 and proposed a plan for "secondary speed-up", in the end, Lincoln only completed 7The sales performance of 30,000 units is not only far from the target, but even declines compared to 2022.
In the field of new energy, due to Ford's own slow layout, Lincoln's progress in this field has also stagnated. For a while, the Adventurer offered a plug-in hybrid version, but due to poor sales, it was quietly withdrawn from the market after the change. The Voyager is equipped with a hybrid solution similar to Toyota's THS II system, but this is not a true new energy model.
To sum up, 2023 will be another year of disappointment for Lincoln. If they don't find their own "Lincoln Way" in the future, we may have to witness Lincoln's "second stall" again.