Navigator Four-Wheels Lincoln to Luxury Leadership
12 January 1998
Navigator Four-Wheels Lincoln to Luxury Leadership
DETROIT, Jan. 12 -- The Lincoln Navigator sport-utility
vehicle has edged Lincoln into 1998 model-year luxury sales leadership -- a
first for Lincoln, Ford Motor Company's luxury sales division.
Beginning with the new model year in October and continuing through December,
Lincoln sold 51,187 luxury vehicles, including Navigator. For the 1997
calendar year, total Lincoln retail sales were up 28%.
"Navigator was the right vehicle for Lincoln at the right time," said Jim
O'Connor, Ford vice president and general manager of the Lincoln-Mercury
Division. Speaking to industry leaders and news media at the Automotive News
World Congress in Detroit today, O'Connor explained that Navigator has meant
much more to Lincoln than 26,000 incremental sales.
"Navigator is one of those impact vehicles that breaks new ground and has
the power to change the way people think about Lincoln," O'Connor explained.
"We knew from the crowds around the Navigator when we first introduced it at
the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last year that we were
onto something big. But Navigator exceeded even our expectations, nearly
doubling our original sales projections," explained O'Connor.
In retrospect, a full-size luxury sport-utility vehicle seems like a
natural. But when Navigator was announced, not all luxury manufacturers were
convinced that SUVs would be accepted by consumers as true luxury vehicles.
"Navigator has clearly redefined luxury transportation and been a powerful
magnet attracting a new breed of customer to Lincoln," O'Connor told the
congress.
According to Lincoln sales research, Navigator buyers are younger, more
affluent and include a higher percentage of women, compared to Lincoln owners
overall. The median age of early Navigator buyers is 50, median income is
$130,000, and 47% are women. Two-thirds did not replace a Lincoln, Mercury,
or Ford vehicle when they purchased their Navigator. And 31% were first-time
visitors to a Lincoln-Mercury dealership.
In order to get better acquainted with these customers, Lincoln sent a
camera to every Navigator owner, along with a note from Jim O'Connor asking
them to "send us your favorite picture of how you use your Navigator."
Lincoln received several hundred photos showing everything from his-and-hers
matching Navigators to the Delaware man pictured with his Navigator and the
family fleet and wrote: "Navigator rides smoother than the 1997 Silver Spur,
it turns more heads than the 1979 Corniche, and it's quieter than the 1959
Bentley."
"We were so amazed by the response that we created a display and let
Lincoln-Mercury employees vote for their favorites. The pictures put a face
on the new breed of customer that Navigator is attracting to Lincoln," said
O'Connor. "And once they arrive, we have the strongest Lincoln product lineup
in the marque's 77-year history waiting for them."
The flagship Lincoln Town Car was completely redesigned for 1998 with
dramatic new styling and significant handling enhancements. The front-wheel-
drive Continental received a significant freshening for 1998 and the Mark VIII
luxury sport coupe was freshened for 1997. The impact of Navigator has even
been felt on the Mercury side of the showroom. Sales of the Mercury
Mountaineer compact SUV are up 70% over last year.
"Lincoln is on the move," said O'Connor. "No one in the industry has
higher owner loyalty than Lincoln (47% for Town Car). Now, we are positioning
ourselves for the future. The Navigator is building awareness of the new
Lincoln. And, in early 1999, the Lincoln LS will give us the missing link to
compete with the best in the world as a full-line luxury marque."
SOURCE Lincoln-Mercury Division
