Lincoln going global?

[CV News]

Filed under: Etc., Marketing/Advertising, Ford, Lincoln


Bringing his experience heading Lexus with him when he defected to Ford, Jim Farley's got his eye on some premium-Toyota style brand growth. Ford's past party line has been that the Lincoln nameplate is strictly for North American consumption, but Farley's been conferring with other Forders like Peter Horbury about taking Lincoln worldwide. Lexus is enjoying rapid growth in markets like Russia and Saudi Arabia, so it's not a new concept for Farley, and Horbury has previous global-brand experience, as well. Whether Ford intends on turning Lincoln into an American Lexus (whatever that might mean) isn't clear, but our domestic luxury marques sometimes enjoy a better reputation elsewhere - witness Buick's stature in China (Counterpoint: witness Cadillac's stature in Europe). The newly unveiled MKS is a good weapon to shoot across the globe, riding on a platform that originated at Volvo. We don't think Lincoln will swipe customers from Volvo, as they're likely different groups of buyers - so what it really may mean is more potential buyers to snap up Ford's production capacity.

Thanks for the tip, throwback!

[Source: Auto News - sub req]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments


More...

[Joeychgo]

I think Jim Farley is going to be the best thing to happen to the Lincoln brand in a LONG time.

[sickmint79]

with the usd going to crap, our exports should pick up. although i think the nations above may be pegged to the dollar and importing our inflation. but usd going to poop means we should export more vettes to europe. and bmws should go up in cost here.