Today’s Chinese car market can be described as a "two-fold sky of ice and fire". On the one hand, the sales of new luxury brands such as Ideal and Ask World have risen one after another, and on the other hand, the sales of traditional luxury brands such as Lincoln and BMW have declined. According to the latest sales data, Lincoln sold only 4,260 cars in China in August. Although it has increased slightly compared with 3,916 cars in August last year, it is still at a low level.
From January to August this year, Lincoln’s cumulative sales in China were only 35,299 vehicles, with an average monthly sales volume of less than 4,500 vehicles. Compared with the sales in January to August last year, the sales volume fell by 11.8% year-on-year. According to this trend, Lincoln’s sales in China this year will experience three consecutive declines, casting a shadow over the development prospects of the entire brand in China.
This sales situation has made Jia Mingdi, the new head of Lincoln Motor in China, much questioned by the outside world. Jia Mingdi succeeded Zhu Meijun as president of Lincoln China in April this year. Before that, he had been working for SAIC Motor Group, and successively served as the general manager of SAIC Volkswagen Automobile Sales Co., Ltd. and the general manager of SAIC Audi brand business department. Jia Mingdi once led SAIC Volkswagen to become the first car company in China to break through 2 million sales, and won the title of passenger car sales in China for four consecutive years. It can be seen that its ability is not too big a problem.
During this year’s Chengdu auto show, Jia Mingdi told the media: "Lincoln pursues high-quality sales, does not rely on sales figures to determine success or failure, and does not participate in price wars." Such a statement was interpreted by the outside world as being unable to recover sales. After all, as the head of the company, Jia Mingdi is responsible for sales and profits. But the problem of Lincoln’s car is not a day cold. Jia Mingdi has only been in office for more than four months. Even if he takes a strong medicine, it may not be effective immediately.
Lincoln Motor is actually an old friend of Chinese consumers. It has entered China through parallel imports as early as the 1980s, but it withdrew in 2008 due to dismal sales. Lincoln Motor made a comeback in 2014, just in time for the growth boom of China’s auto market. In 2016 and 2017, sales reached 32,600 and 54,100 vehicles, respectively, an increase of 179.95% and 66.24%. In 2018, Lincoln Motor took advantage of the heat and established a joint venture with Changan Automobile to establish Changan Lincoln, officially starting the process of domestic production in China.
In the next few years, Lincoln’s sales in China continued to grow, climbing from 55,300 in 2018 to 91,600 in 2021. But in 2022, Lincoln suddenly encountered Waterloo, and the annual sales fell sharply to 79,300, a decline of 13.43%. This is not the end. In 2023, Lincoln’s sales in China further declined, only 73,000.
When Mao Jingbo was president of Lincoln China, through a series of marketing and product planning, Lincoln’s car sales in China achieved continuous growth, but with Mao Jingbo’s departure, Lincoln’s car sales immediately declined, and the new coach Zhu Meijun failed to stop the decline, and then Jia Mingdi took office. From the current situation, Jia Mingdi is quite a firefighter, but today’s Lincoln cars can be described as "difficult to return", Jia Mingdi’s prescription has not yet worked.
Lincoln Motor’s current sales difficulties in China have a lot to do with its product structure. Although it is undeniable that the rise of new power car companies has taken a part of the traditional fuel vehicle market share, the more intense the competition, the more you can see the strength of a car company. Lincoln Motor itself has many shortcomings, which no one can detect when it is downwind, but when it is downwind, these shortcomings will accelerate the decline of Lincoln Motor.
Lincoln’s current models on sale have been around for some years, and they urgently need to be improved in terms of product strength. Moreover, Lincoln is currently selling mainly fuel vehicles. Today, with the popularity of new energy, Lincoln still does not have a pure electric model that can be played, which is somewhat incredible. Compared with traditional car companies such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volvo, Lincoln’s transformation speed is relatively slow, let alone compared with Chinese car companies.
Jia Mingdi’s past record is very good, and his ability has long been proved, but at Lincoln Motors, there is no sign of making a big deal. As for the reason, as outsiders, we have no way of knowing, but from Jia Mingdi’s "I also want to open" statement, it is not easy to change this long-established traditional luxury brand.
Source: Automotive Finance