Ford Struggles to Remake Lincoln

[Bruce Nunnally]

Dearborn --The refashioned Lincoln MKX that Ford Motor Co. unveiled at the North American International Auto Show last month may have brought the automaker one step closer to realizing its vision for the luxury brand, but dealers still are questioning the Lincoln strategy.

Lincoln did comparatively well last year, with demand dropping 22.8 percent while sales in the luxury segment overall fell 24.5 percent, according to Autodata Corp. But the rocket-like resurgence executives expected when they ordered a complete redesign of the brand in 2005 has failed to materialize.

Lincoln was supposed to overtake its sister brand, Mercury, become the dominant partner and ultimately eliminate the need for Mercury. Instead, Mercury continued to outsell Lincoln, and Ford now plans to add a small car to the Mercury lineup for 2012.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100216/AUTO01/2160369/1148/?source=nletter-business#ixzz0fk7sPkts