DETROIT — Lincoln is asking its dealers in the 30 top U.S. luxury markets to build stand-alone stores, reversing an effort to consolidate with the Ford brand, after a product revival has given Lincoln confidence that it can challenge top-tier makes.
Lincoln executives say stand-alone stores regularly outsell dualed dealerships and are responsible for most of Lincoln's sales gains in recent years. They cite internal and external surveys concluding that luxury customers prefer buying in a dedicated space.
Lincoln has roughly 150 dealers in the 30 markets that it says account for 70 percent of the industry's luxury sales. Nearly half of those dealers have built or started construction on exclusive stores independently. That, executives say, is evidence of the strength of Lincoln's revival.
The company wants its 78 remaining dualed dealerships in those markets to commit by next July to building stand-alone stores that will be completed by July 2021. Service departments and parts of the business that don't interact with customers can continue to share buildings with the Ford brand.