Lincoln Motor Co. shed a record 100 U.S. dealerships in 2023 and plans to slash 100 more this year as it seeks a smaller, more profitable retail network.
By year end, Ford Motor Co.’s luxury arm expects to have roughly 400 stores, about 40 percent fewer than in 2021 but still more than most other luxury brands have.
The brand is offering Lincoln retailers — mostly those still coupled with a Ford store — buyouts that vary on a case-by-case basis, Lincoln President Dianne Craig told Automotive News. She wouldn’t reveal how much money Lincoln is offering but said the packages include sweeteners such as more Ford-brand inventory and special incentive plans for loyal customers.
It marks an escalation of Lincoln’s efforts to increase sales and dealership throughput by shrinking its network and having fewer showrooms dualed with the Ford brand. Lincoln has 164 standalone stores, including 58 built in a new style it calls “vitrine,” and plans to add 23 vitrine stores this year.
“For us to have a healthy and competitive premium franchise, we need to make sure our retailers have competitive throughput, and we need to make sure our clients have a wonderful experience when they go into our brand-exclusive stores,” Craig said. “We have many, many dealers who were only selling one or two Lincolns a month, almost all of those out of a dualed facility. That’s not right and ultimately not good for the Lincoln business if we’re going to compete with the premium brands.”
After a mid-decade revival, Lincoln has struggled to maintain momentum and pivot to the electric vehicle age.
The brand’s U.S. sales have declined in each of the past four years, including a 2 percent drop in 2023 amid a stop-sale on the Aviator related to quality issues. Last year’s total of 81,818 was about 4,000 fewer than in 2011, when General Motors’ then-CEO, Dan Akerson, quipped that someone should “sprinkle holy water” on Lincoln.
Despite the shrinking footprint and falling sales, Craig said Ford is “committed” to the brand and that dealers should be optimistic.
“You certainly can’t base the last few years on the future of Lincoln,” she said. “2023 was not where we wanted to finish. ’24 is going to be a breakout year for Lincoln.”
Craig pointed to the newly redesigned Nautilus as well as a freshened Corsair, coming updates to the Aviator and an expected redesign of the Navigator this year.
“By the end of this year, we’re going to have a freshened portfolio,” she said. “That’s why we’re so excited about what’s to come for Lincoln.”
Chris Poulos, chairman of the Lincoln National Dealer Council, said Craig and other leaders have kept the group apprised of the consolidation plans.
“The council has been supportive of this process since we started talking about it,” Poulos said. “I think the company has gone through it in a very thoughtful and respectful way to get to the point where we’re at today at 500 stores, and I think they’ll continue to be thoughtful and respectful going forward to get to 400. It’s faster than I expected, but I’m really pleased with the direction it’s taken.”
He said he believes the cuts are necessary.
“If we’re to create an experience for a client that has very high expectations then you can’t co-mingle that with a mass brand,” he said. “The decision for the retailer is: Do I want to invest in a standalone facility and does that make sense for me? Or do I focus on my Ford business?”
Craig said the decision to shrink the network is not based on whether dealers signed up for Lincoln’s EV certification program. The program is essentially on hold as the brand rethinks its strategy, even as the Ford version of the program moves forward.
“It comes down to the luxury industry, and if you have a luxury industry to support a viable Lincoln business, then those are the markets we targeted, whether it’s an EV, hybrid or ICE,” she said.
Lincoln last year had the highest dealership count among its luxury peers, according to the most recent Automotive News dealer census.
Lexus’ sales nearly quadrupled Lincoln’s last year with fewer than half as many dealerships. Cadillac outsold Lincoln by about 65,000 with 73 fewer stores at the start of the year.
Craig said Lincoln “did a lot of benchmarking” across the industry to reach its 400 target and knows dealers need to be profitable.
“We want them to be able to invest in their people and processes to deliver a wonderful client experience,” she said.
Craig said Lincoln’s network could fall below 400 dealerships next year.
“The industry is dynamic,” she said. “The most important thing is we know we need to move to those brand-exclusive stores. That is going to be the key area of focus. We’ll settle on a number probably in 2025.”
She said it was important to continue having one-on-one conversations with dealers to determine whether they should stay with the brand.
“We want to help them very transparently in working through the considerations,” she said. “This is a partnership. We’re going to treat that process with an incredible amount of compassion and respect for how long they’ve been serving the Lincoln brand.”