Dubai: Even premium automotive brands have not been immune to a pared down look, by bringing out compact versions which they believe stand a better chance with a younger generation of buyers. But just don’t expect Lincoln to be part of that melee. The luxury marque within the Ford Motor Co.’s stable prefers to draw a line which it does not intend to cross in the craze for smaller premium cars. “Clearly, Lincoln’s design concept is to establish a pricing power and buyer support for our larger vehicles and not to go down,” said Matt Van Dyke, Global Director for the brand. “Sure, we have seen other manufacturers do more with their smaller vehicles, such as the CLA (from Mercedes) or the A3 (from Audi). But the way I see it is that those smaller models are getting bigger.”
Lincoln has thrown down a marker for how it will define small, through the utility vehicle MKC which has just hit the showrooms in the UAE and the Gulf, Starting prices for “premium-utility” vehicle is Dh160,000, and is the second of the all-new models Lincoln has introduced in the last 12 months, with the MKZ sedan being the other.
The MKC — sporting a 2.3-litre with 285hp in an all-wheel drive format — is central to Lincoln’s aspirations to build up the volumes. It’s price tag instantly makes it a genuine contender in the premium smaller SUV space (a wheelbase of 105.9cm), but still leaves enough pricing differential with the German competition. This is the category which has maintained year-on-year growth rates of 25 per cent globally since 2012.
The Middle East has been one of the standout markets for the Lincoln brand in recent times. Volumes had tripled in the last five years, and expectations are for maintaining a 25 per cent annual gains right through 2019. (For those Lincoln purists in the Middle East attuned to immense scale, the new Navigator will soon make its presence felt, while the all-new MKX crossover is expected by 2016.)
Yet, these are crucial times for Lincoln. The brand is reclaiming momentum in the US after a rather lacklustre showing in 2013. Recently, it roped in Matthew McConaughey, fresh from a stellar turn in the HBO series ‘True Detective’, as the man at the wheel to ratchet up Lincoln’s brand aura.
Outside of the US, by year end, it would have given concrete shape to its retail presence in China through a string of stand-alone showrooms. The manufacturer has placed high visibility in China as paramount in its global aspirations. It is also the market where the brand skews towards a younger buyer demographic, of around 37 years and quite a radical departure from the 50 plus average in the US.
Ford is betting big money — a budget of $1 billion — on the Lincoln “resonating across the globe”. That plan calls for the introduction of one new model each year. “Earlier, Ford’s focus on luxury brands was geared towards Jaguar and Land Rover, Volvo and Aston Martin in the past,” said Van Dyke. “That’s changed now and what’s being done is build a new Lincoln.”
But it would be a build up where Lincoln can aspire to be a stand-alone brand in its own right. Some of that is clearly being seen in the latest models, and that will be more apparent going forward, says Van Dyke. “Lincoln models will have its own powertrain, its set of unique features that will mark out the brand as a genuine, all-market luxury brand,” he added. “What the change is about is not going after sales leadership in this category, but having the models that luxury vehicle buyers want to own.”
