Lincoln - the most satisfying fuel car on the market

The well-known American consumer product evaluation magazine "Consumer Reports" recently announced "The Most Satisfying Cars on the Market", with Tesla, Lincoln, RAM, and Chrysler among the top four on the list.

The magazine is a non-profit organization, has no shareholders, and does not accept advertisements. The organization was established by the American Consumer Union CU in 1936. It is an institution with absolute historical reputation, so it has a long history of influence on ordinary American consumers. The organization makes owner satisfaction scores for new models every year. They conduct customer satisfaction surveys based on new cars that actually have 1-3 years of age, and judge them from driving experience, comfort, on-board electronic equipment, storage space, and price satisfaction.

Among the 27 brands surveyed this time, Tesla was crowned the crown. This result is both reasonable and unexpected. You must know that the long-term champion of the American consumer market for the whole year is the Ford F-series pickup truck (909,330 units in 2018, 896,526 units in 2019, and 787,372 units in 2020). Perhaps it is too familiar with traditional models, or it is a consumer group. With the gradual younger trend, American consumers who accept new technologies and new products have also shown a strong interest in electric vehicles. Among them, the local American brand Tesla is naturally the first to bear the brunt. In this survey, Tesla won 88 High score, topped the list. Of course, the phenomenon of Tesla's hot sales does not stop in the United States, the same is true in the Chinese market. To a certain extent, the consumption habits and beliefs of Chinese consumers are similar to those of consumers on the other side of the ocean. 

The Lincoln model received full marks in the three units of driving experience, comfort, and storage space, and finally ranked second with a score of 79. It can be said that the 4 Lincoln products that participated in the evaluation have not only been widely recognized by consumers, but also submitted a high-quality transcript to the century-old automaker at the beginning of the second century.

This brand named after Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, has characteristics that other brands cannot match. Those who are familiar with history must know that to be named after a president is a supreme honor and symbol. During his tenure, Abraham Lincoln maintained the integrity of the Confederation, abolished slavery, strengthened the power of the Confederation, and promoted the modernization of the economy. The American academic circle and the public called Lincoln one of the greatest presidents in American history. According to Western cultural habits, they will name such an important person in many fields and commemorate them for a long time. In the economic field, the obverse of the one-cent coin is the profile image of Lincoln, and the back of the coin is the Lincoln Memorial, which is often called the Lincoln cent. In the military field, the USS Lincoln Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, which entered service in 1990, is the battleship with the most combat operations and the most practical combat experience among the aircraft carriers of its class. It is still the main ship among the active US aircraft carriers and has created many Record. In the field of transportation, the Lincoln brand created by Henry Leland in 1917 has reached its second century. So far, there is only one Lincoln brand.

Therefore, many American presidents afterwards have been fond of Lincoln models. In history, the first car specially built for the convenience of the president was the Lincoln model-the 1939 Lincoln V12 convertible, called the "Sunshine Special", used by President Roosevelt. Since then, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush and many other US presidents have adopted Lincoln models as their presidential cars, which shows the brand's status in American society.

At the general public level, in 2018, the Lincoln brand sold a total of 103,587 new cars in the United States; in 2019, a total of 112,204 new cars were sold in the United States; in 2020, due to the impact of the epidemic, sales declined slightly, with a total of 105,410 new cars sold throughout the year. It can be seen that the Lincoln brand has been widely recognized by elites and ordinary people in the United States.

With so many highlights, how does the Lincoln brand perform in the world's largest consumer market in China?

As mentioned above, there are many similarities and differences between Chinese consumers and American consumers in terms of automobile culture and concepts. The difference is that Chinese consumers are more critical of products, have higher requirements for product control, younger consumers, and greater acceptance of new technologies. Can Lincoln adapt to such a harsh environment?

Let's take a look at the data for 2020. In 2020, Lincoln’s annual sales volume was 61,761, a year-on-year increase of 32%, becoming the brand’s best sales performance since entering China. In terms of a single model, the new Lincoln Corsair has become the champion of bicycle sales in China for eight consecutive months. China has also become the world's largest market for adventurers, with an annual sales of 31,785 vehicles.

In 2020, a year affected by the epidemic, only Tesla, NIO, Lincoln and Hongqi will achieve both sales and share growth. It has been less than 7 years since entering China in 2014. This achievement not only shows that it has gradually become familiar and recognized by Chinese consumers, but also proves that the "THE LINCOLN WAY" that has been persisting for many years has blossomed in China.

As the second lineup of luxury brands in China, Lincoln has not lost itself in the Chinese market because of its overseas aura. Mao Jingbo, the helm, clearly knows the fierce and cruel competition in the Chinese luxury car market, especially after the outbreak of the 2020 epidemic. Each of her decisions and formulations directly determines the future of the brand. As Mao Jingbo said, sales are only a result, and manufacturers must take every step down to earth to find growth opportunities in the crisis. She said so and did so. In March last year, there was no obvious turnaround in the development of the epidemic. Lincoln did not postpone the listing of domestic adventurers due to various objective factors. The online press conference showed a touch of novelty of this veteran American luxury brand.

After taking the first step bravely and boldly, Lincoln's digital transformation in China became more and more adept and faster. The subsequent more than 30 digital marketing trainings opened up the once relatively isolated sales link. It is hard to imagine that the new business model of “online + offline” that is integrated will happen to a century-old factory. This seems to verify the brand proposition launched by Lincoln in 2020. Neither paranoid, but also unique, re-taking the banner of American luxury is just right for Lincoln now.

The battle of the luxurious lineup will not be upset because of changes in the outside world, but it will definitely advance with the times according to the development of the times. Only by understanding consumers, especially the likes and dislikes of consumers in the digital age, can they find the balance point that matches the brand's tone in order to maintain an advantage in the game.

In this regard, Lincoln did it in the US market. In the Chinese market, it has repeatedly achieved good results. Looking forward to 2021, let us see a better Lincoln, and believe that it will also provide Chinese consumers with better products and services.