Lincoln, Ford's luxury brand, is considering manufacturing cars in China as its sales continue to grow in the world's largest auto market. This gives them a great opportunity to create for themselves a bigger market share and increase their profits.
China is the most important car market in the world
China's emerging car market is favored by almost every car manufacturer because it is the biggest and fastest growing in the world. According to Best Selling Cars, the sales in August were up by nearly 30%, more than double the size of the European Union market.
Chinese customers have been buying cars a lot that Lincoln's car sales in the country tripled in the third quarter to 8,546 vehicles. Knowing this, Ford Motors is looking to increase Lincoln dealerships from previous estimates of 60 to 65 in a couple of months, with 80 planned by the end of 2017, as reported by Reuters.
Lincoln could shorten the gap with its competitors
If Lincoln finally becomes the latest automaker to build in China, they might be able to shorten the distance with German and American competitors like that also manufacture vehicles in the country, like Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen or Cadillac. In fact, the General Motors sold about 77,000 units this year, three times Lincoln´s sales.
However, this is not going to be an easy journey for Lincoln. If they want to make this important leap, they will have to partner up with a domestic automaker in accordance with Chinese law. Although it is a situation that they need to study very carefully, this would give them the benefit of not paying hefty taxes on imported vehicles, and seduce customers with a nice price, as reported by CNET.
"You're always looking for ways to optimize your business," Lincoln China President Amy Marentic told Reuters.
