{"id":122420,"date":"2018-01-12T12:24:15","date_gmt":"2018-01-12T17:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=122420"},"modified":"2018-01-12T16:42:40","modified_gmt":"2018-01-12T21:42:40","slug":"lincoln-double-digit-sales-increase-in-2017-led-by-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2018\/01\/lincoln-double-digit-sales-increase-in-2017-led-by-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Lincoln Double-Digit Sales Increase in 2017 Led by China"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lincoln opened its 100th dealership in China last year and hopes to have that number up to 125 by the end of 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lincoln\u2019s long and winding road back to prominence appears to be leading in the right direction as the luxury brand reported its global sales increased 13% to 188,383 vehicles in 2017 compared with last year\u2019s results.<\/p>\n

The brand has been working diligently to resurrect its product line-up for the last three years, including a focus on sales in China, which is the new haven for luxury brands. Lincoln\u2019s not alone in looking to make hay in China, Cadillac\u2019s been doing it for years as has Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.<\/p>\n

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Global News!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re encouraged by the momentum we are seeing around the world,\u201d said Kumar Galhotra, president, The Lincoln Motor Company, in a release. \u201cThe sales growth demonstrates consumers are recognizing the excellent products and services that Lincoln offers.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, a deeper look at the numbers shows that if it weren\u2019t for China, Lincoln\u2019s sales results last year, would be disappointing. The company set new records in the country posting a 66% jump to 54,124 vehicles sold.<\/p>\n

(China posts a meager sales gain in 2017. <\/em><\/strong>Click Here<\/a><\/span><\/strong> for the story.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

By contrast, the numbers in the U.S., still its largest market, are starkly different. Like most brands, Lincoln\u2019s sales were led by its portfolio of sport-utility vehicles, which enjoyed their best sales year since 2003, with 71,607 vehicles sold in 2017, but that was just a 0.9% increase year-over-year.<\/p>\n

The brand\u2019s best seller is the MKX, but it was up just 0.2% in the U.S. for all of 2017. Lincoln\u2019s cars struggled last year seeing a 2.9% drop as the MKS sedan was phased out and the Continental came online. Overall, Lincoln\u2019s U.S. sales were basically flat, down 0.5% for the year, with 111,159 units sold.<\/p>\n

However, China \u2013 and hopefully updated and new products like the Navigator and Nautilus \u2013 will likely bring Lincoln sustainable results for some time, much like Cadillac has done for General Motors.<\/p>\n

(<\/strong><\/em>Click Here<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>to see more about GM exceeding 4 million in sales in China for the first time.)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Cadillac, which has had 22 months in a row of double-digit sales growth, posted a sales increase of 50.8% to 175,489 units in 2017. Leading the way were the XT5 luxury SUV, ATS-L sport sedan and new XTS luxury sedan.<\/p>\n

Last year, China surpassed the United States as the brand\u2019s largest retail market for the first time. The brand sold 156,440 units in the U.S. in 2017. In time, the same will likely happen with Lincoln.<\/p>\n

The outlook for growth in China is good as Lincoln China continues to expand its dealer network, opening its 100th store in December. The brand plans to have 125 stores open by the end of 2018.<\/p>\n

(China seeks to add AI to 50% of vehicles by 2020.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Click Here<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>for the story.)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Lincoln\u2019s record performance is due to stronger differentiation and the exceptional appeal of its luxury line-up. Lincoln MKC is the top seller in China, while a total of 10,501 Lincoln Continentals were sold there last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lincoln enjoyed a 13% sales increase in 2017, led largely by a 66% leap in China. In fact, if it weren’t for China, Lincoln’s outlook would be markedly different. Find out why at TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4389,"featured_media":75366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122420"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4389"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122420"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=122420"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=122420"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=122420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}