Ford announced that Lincoln dealers will have until early January to make a life-or-death decision: they have to meet the brand’s new standard and invest more or simply lose the franchise. It’s not a secret anymore that Ford will drop 200 of its almost 1,200 franchises, in order to rehabilitate the sagging luxury brand. Ford wants to reduce the number of dealers found in metro markets.
"Dealers will decide," said Mark Fields, Ford Motor Co.'s president of the Americas. Currently, less than 35 percent of all Lincoln dealers meet Ford’s standards, and in order to make the brand more competitive fords needs to increase U.S. sales, sales per dealership, loyalty rates and residual value.
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