Ford says it reduced Lincoln metro dealers to 325 from over 500
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DETROIT (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., aiming to revive its Lincoln luxury line, has cut its dealers in U.S. metropolitan markets to 325, from more than 500, said Mark Fields, the automaker's president of the Americas.
Ford has reduced its dealer count in the nation's top 130 markets so they compete less with each other and more with other luxury automakers, such as Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus brand, Fields said. Ford completed the dealer consolidation on schedule at the end of last year, he said.
"Over the last 12 months, we've been able to consolidate 30 percent of our dealers," Jim Farley, Ford global marketing chief, told reporters at today at the Detroit auto show. "It's been really difficult work, but we're getting to the right number of dealers."
