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As if being on the penny hadn't made Abraham Lincoln ubiquitous enough, our 16th president has moved into the non-copper world of motion pictures. Honest Abe is the focus of two biographic films this year—one that may have stretched the true extent to which he hunted vampires—and, starting earlier this month, he's making a cameo in an ad for his namesake automaker. "Introducing The Lincoln Motor Company," the TV spot ends. It's not quite as old-fashioned as a Civil War–era president, but Lincoln's new name is meant to be a serious nod to the brand's heritage. What gives? (You can read a great analysis of the commercial from Car and Driver's own ad man, Don Klein, here.) For more, we talked to Matt VanDyke, the man who has just been appointed to head up Lincoln globally, for the full story on what the change to "Lincoln Motor Company" means to the brand. Why Lincoln Made the Change Officially, Ford's aim is to "return Lincoln to its original branding" and to "restore Lincoln to its luxury status." We can put that in plainer English: Lincoln doesn't sell enough cars, and hasn't since the 1990s. When Ford started selling off its Premier Auto Group brands—Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, and Aston Martin—a few years ago, the primary aim was to raise cash before the financial storm that took down GM and Chrysler. The plan then and now was for Lincoln to be the division of Ford that sells luxury cars, bringing in profits and image for the Blue Oval. Matt VanDyke tells us that Lincoln isn't aiming to sell 250,000 cars—about what the big German players each did this year in the U.S.—overnight. The Lincoln Motor Company branding helps to reposition it, though. "We're aiming to change from 'smart luxury,' " VanDyke says, referring to the way Ford tried to portray Lincoln for the last decade or so as a brand selling cars based on price. "Lincoln will still be a good value, but we want to be considered in the same mindset as a Lexus or Mercedes-Benz," cars that people want because of image or features first. "But for customers who want something different."
Can Lincoln Be a Premium Brand Without a Real Halo Product? Indeed, Lincoln does and will offer alternatives to Lexus and Benz in the biggest segments in the luxury market. The MKZ, MKX, and upcoming compact MKC crossover aim directly at the Lexus ES and RX, two sales behemoths. The difference between Lincoln and Lexus and Benz, though, is that the latter two brands have the LS and S-class, respectively. Those flagship sedans exist not just for sales—those are modest—but to justify the entire rest of the brands' lineups. Sixty-thousand Americans bought a C-class in 2012 because it's a Mercedes, and because Mercedes is the S-class. But it would cost several billion dollars for Lincoln to develop a fully competitive, all-new flagship vehicle, and that's not pocket change for any company. "Those conversations are fun to have," VanDyke says, but for now, Lincoln is oriented toward on the existing core models. "We have to focus on re-launching the brand Lincoln for now. We'll have four new products in the next four years. We have to re-establish MKS and MKX." He also mentions a new product debuting at the Detroit show, which we know to be the Escape-derived crossover likely to be called the MKC. (Lincoln execs, like managers at any car company, would take issue with the word "derived," but that's the easiest way to describe "shares certain significant architectural components" for now. Except we just used all those extra words anyway. We digress.) What Matt VanDyke didn't talk about—but our insiders have—is that there's an internal debate within Ford about using some of the Mustang's architecture for a real-life, rear-wheel-drive Lincoln sedan. We're hearing that it would be technologically difficult to build something larger than a Cadillac CTS or BMW 5-series, so you can wake up from dreams of a Lincoln in S-class territory. The political and financial challenges might be even bigger than the mechanical ones. All told, we're not expecting this to happen. Luxury car brands need great products and great image to be successful, and these days an automaker just isn't considered premium if it's not selling a true high-end, justifiably north-of-$70,000 luxury car. For evidence, just ask Acura, which is undergoing a reboot to now focus on younger, less-affluent buyers, or Infiniti, which thinks so little of its current image it just renamed every model in its lineup after a popular model it hasn't made in over a decade.  Lincoln is using this set of images for marketing. It's not fair to put anything next to that '61 Conti. More Heritage, But Philosophical Rather than Retro The situation, then, leaves us with mixed feelings about the repositioning of Lincoln and the new ad campaign. It's really great to see older Lincolns on screen, from the Mark-series coupes to 1950s and '60s Continentals. But they diminish the look of the MKZ sedan that appears elsewhere in the ad, not because it's generic looking—that rear end is probably one of the most distinctive styling features on the road today—but because it's almost impossible to compete with designs from the Golden Age of American cars. Instead of trying to duplicate those by going retro in designs, we can expect the company to pull more from the philosophy of that era, VanDyke forecasts. "We want to capture the spirit of the older cars," he explained, but "to show that Lincoln has always been innovative" and different. He talks about Burberry as a company that has done a great job of bringing its heritage into the modern era, and would similarly see Lincoln mix contemporary image with old-school class. We'll see that not just through styling, but by Lincoln finally making a big play in social media and through some celebrity connections. (John Slattery, the actor who plays a charismatic white-haired, Scotch-swilling, womanizing ad exec on Mad Men isn't coming back for more Lincoln work, unfortunately.)
Lincoln is still in the midst of a huge project to upgrade its dealer network, from improving physical showrooms to pushing dealerships to improve their level of service. VanDyke says this effort has come a long way and still has more to go, and he's right to make it a priority—a reputation for hassle-free, accommodating service departments helped build Lexus's reputation and fortunes in the 1990s. Dealers won't be changing their signs to reflect "Lincoln Motor Company," by the way. Although it would be hideously expensive, we'd rather see Ford foot the bill for the dealers to do this, as it's a beachhead of brand image in the real world. That small issue is indicative of the challenge Matt VanDyke faces in helming Lincoln, though. The brand's new director unequivocally knows what Lincoln has been and where it should go in the future. Whether anyone can justify undertakings—from dealer signs to new product platforms—that would mean eye-watering costs, however, is the real challenge. from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com | |||
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Friday, December 21, 2012
Why is Lincoln Now The Lincoln Motor Company? We Ask Matt VanDyke, Its New Global Director
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