The recently renamed Lincoln Motor Company has pegged its sales goals for 2013, with the brand saying that a sales increase of 18 percent would constitute calling 2013 a good year.
Since Lincoln sales peaked two decades ago, the brand has seen sales declines of around 60 percent. With that loss, industry analysts predict that even an 18 percent increase may not be enough to revive the struggling brand. “An 18 percent increase from this point will probably be a modest increase,” said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry analysis at TrueCar.com. “For them to show any kind of momentum, they need to have a 25 percent-plus year.”
Though sales are important, Ford’s VP Jim Farley says that Lincoln is not aiming to be the luxury volume sales leader, rather the brand wants to lead the industry with new interesting designs.
The new Lincoln MKZ has just hit the market, and dealers are saying that pre-orders of the car are the highest they have seen since the Navigator launched in the late 1990s. Lincoln also has plans to market its own version of the Ford Escape, called the MKC, which the brand hopes will enjoy good sales.
