Alan Mulally wanted to shut down Lincoln last year

4098 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by alcatraz, Jul 8, 2014

alcatraz

Discussion Starter · Jul 2, 2014

Bloomberg says that Ford's former CEO Alan Mulally wanted to ax Lincoln in 2013. It appears that last year Mulally wanted to shut down Lincoln, but then-CEO in waiting Mark Fields and Jim Farley, Ford's marketing boss, convinced Mulally to keep the brand and also created a plan to show that LIncoln is worth saving.

One of the reasons Mulally wanted to get rid of Lincoln had to do with the slow production rate of the MKZ combined with a very expensive marketing campaign. Fields and Farley developed a plan that waited until produced cars were at dealerships before initiating an ad campaign in order to avoid this problem. The MK, for example, will reach dealerships in the fall, and only then will it be marketed.

Thanks to Mark Fields for sticking up for Lincoln, and here's hoping his plan works!

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Truthiness

· #2 · Jul 3, 2014

I wonder what the plan would have been if they shut down Lincoln. Would they have made more luxurious versions of Ford vehicles like they do in Europe?

I'm pretty happy that they didn't shut it down though, just when Lincoln is finally getting back on its feet. This should also spell good things for Lincoln since now the CEO is known to be a believer in the brand with a plan he made himself to try to return it to greatness.

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MKZFan

· #3 · Jul 4, 2014

what they would do after shutting down lincoln is what i'm wondering

it could have been a good opportunity to come out with a whole new brand but that could also take forever but it might also be a good thing.

then there's making ford have much more luxurious vehicles.

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alcatraz

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jul 4, 2014

I can't imagine any established company creating an entirely new brand. That would take so much money to do all the marketing to educate people on the brand and to come up with a brand personality.

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zep

· #5 · Jul 7, 2014

alcatraz said:
I can't imagine any established company creating an entirely new brand. That would take so much money to do all the marketing to educate people on the brand and to come up with a brand personality.

Scion...

What do you think Acura/Lexus/Infiniti were 20 years ago?

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alcatraz

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 8, 2014

Okay that is true, but in the case of Ford they already have Lincoln as a luxury brand, whereas Acura and Lexus and Infiniti were the luxury arms of Japanese brands. Ford would do better to rebrand Lincoln (which is what they did) instead of making a wholly new luxury brand.

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