Automotive News - April 22, 2019 - 41

APRIL 22, 2019 * 41

FORD

term for a desire for status, pomp and harmony. That means more intricate detailing in the
grille and lamps as well as more shiny chrome.

New design, innovation
centers on tap in China

Digging deeper

in 2018, the first annual decline in nearly three
decades. But GM's deliveries in China fell 9.9
percent to 3.64 million vehicles, while Ford's
plunged 37 percent to 752,243. As both lost
ground, Japanese and German rivals gained
market share.

Better tailoring
Ford and GM are now trying to better tailor their
Chinese operations and products to local needs.
At the Shanghai show, for instance, GM resurrected the Chevrolet Trailblazer and Chevrolet Tracker nameplates for the Chinese market.
Other than their names, the crossovers appear to share little to no DNA with their predecessors sold in the U.S., which GM discontinued in the 2000s. Designed especially with China in mind, neither vehicle is expected to be
exported to the U.S.

Ford is not bringing global designs to China.
Above, the U.S. version of the Escape.

But for Ford, the urgency to localize is especially acute.
"We have for a long time been very proud
about global design, making sure there is a very
recognizable design language for Ford," Slatter
said. "But the reality is, times have changed."
As part of the overhaul, the carmaker plans to
launch more than 30 Ford and Lincoln vehicles
"tailored to Chinese consumers" in the next three
years, more than 10 of which will be electrified.
"The first example of this is the Escape," Slatter said. The treatment of the front and rear fascia embodies daqi (DAH'-chee), the Chinese

LINCOLN

Lincoln's road back
2014

Now, 'It's more about
seduction than attack'

Matthew McConaughey hired as

spokesman

Kumar Galhotra named president of

continued from Page 1

Lincoln

and repressing the instinct to obsess about
climbing the sales chart.
Lincoln emerged from the recession as the
country's No. 8 luxury brand, according to the
Automotive News Data Center. It was No. 8
when the revival effort began in earnest in
2014. At the end of last year, it was still No. 8
among traditional luxury competitors, and
ninth when including Tesla. No matter.
"I think of us more as a luxury boutique
than a luxury shopping mall," Joy Falotico,
Lincoln's president, told Automotive News.
"We certainly want to grow volume, especially in China. But it's all about doing it in a
healthy way."
Along the way, Lincoln backed off a commitment made under former Ford Motor Co.
CEO Mark Fields that its global sales would
hit 300,000 by 2020, and a sales strategy that
included reducing fleet deliveries and company cars to improve profitability last year
contributed to its biggest U.S. sales decline
since 2009. But in the first quarter of 2019,
sales jumped 11 percent thanks in large part
to a wave of fresh product that includes the
redesigned Navigator SUV and the Nautilus
midsize crossover that replaced the MKX.
The next wave comprises the Aviator large
crossover arriving this summer and the Corsair in the fall.
Executives have been mum on plans for the
MKZ and Continental sedans, although analysts expect those vehicles to be dropped in
North America as Lincoln leans into utilities,

Plant overtime

2015
MKZ sedan freshened with new

mesh grille

2016
Continental sedan replaces MKS

2017
Navigator SUV redesigned

MK naming convention ends

2018
Joy Falotico named president of

Lincoln

New leadership team appointed in

China

Nautilus replaces MKX midsize

crossover

2019
Aviator large crossover goes on sale

Corsair replaces MKC compact

crossover

much like the Ford brand has done.
"It appears they've accepted who they are,"
Jeff Schuster, president of global forecasting
at LMC Automotive, said in an interview.
"They're not a volume premium brand that's
going to be everything for everyone. That's
OK; you don't have to be everything to everyone to still be successful."
Executives say Lincoln is built around the
idea of "quiet flight." While other brands focus on performance, Lincoln wants to stress

truck
truck

General Motors

FCA NA
truck
truck
truck
truck

Ford Motor Co.
Chicago
Dearborn, Mich.
Kansas City Truck (Mo.)

Sales begin in China

Kentucky Truck (Louisville)
Louisville (Ky.) Assembly

Week ending April 27

Jefferson North (Detroit)
Sterling Heights, Mich.
Toledo (Ohio) North
Warren, Mich.

Ford is also catering to China's particular
technology needs. It has teamed with Baidu -
commonly known as the Google of China - to
develop an in-vehicle infotainment system
called Sync+ that is powered by artificial intelligence and Chinese language voice recognition.
To deliver those products, however, Ford has
to establish deeper Chinese roots.
So Ford is establishing a China-dedicated
design center this year. The company envisions
it as one day having more than 100 people focused exclusively on styling cars for China.
Ford also is repurposing its Nanjing engineering center to focus more on designing vehicles for China rather than simply turning out
Asian regional products.
As part of that assignment, the China team
has started development of a global product
for China that someday might be exported to
other markets or manufactured in other countries. But the project is unique in being born

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Arlington, Texas

truck

Bowling Green, Ky.

car

Ingersoll, Ontario (CAMI)

truck

Lansing (Mich.) Delta Township

truck

Wentzville, Mo.

truck

Hyundai Montgomery, Ala.

car/truck

Note: Overtime could be daily, Saturday or both.
Source: Automotive News Data Center

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tranquility and the idea of the vehicle as a
sanctuary.
The Corsair, for example, features a dual-wall
dashboard in the engine compartment to reduce vibrations and sound, and it has a
brand-specific rear suspension to improve
driving feel.
"It's more about seduction than attack,"
Lincoln's design director, David Woodhouse,
told reporters.

Michael Wayland contributed to this report.
cles," she said. "We're not like some other
manufacturers who don't have mass-market
brands, so you see them continue to extend
their lineup. That's not us. Having said that,
we're looking at derivatives that make sense."

Focus on experience

Lincoln's biggest challenges, Falotico said,
were changing perceptions and raising
awareness about the brand, and maintaining
sales discipline.
Robert Parker, Lincoln's marketing managKeeping it fresh
er, said customer service experiences have
With all four Lincoln utility vehicles sporting
been at the center of its strategy.
the brand's latest design language by year end,
"The experience is going to give us a much
Falotico said the product strategy will turn to
longer runway," Parker said. "If we let the exelectrifying the lineup and keeping it fresh.
"We've had to redo our whole phiperience go in favor of the volume,
it's a very short leash. The next cycle,
losophy of the cycle plan and add in
a customer might not come back for
an experience and service cycle plan
another one."
and smaller packages that give you
Lincoln in recent years has added
something new to show the customfree pickup and delivery, as well as a
er," Falotico said. "They're very sensipersonal driver service to chauffeur
tive to the freshness of the product."
customers in their own vehicle and
She declined to offer specifics of
run errands when they're busy.
how much the brand might speed up
Parker said Lincoln is more conproduct development but said it Falotico: Battery
would add more performance pack- EV in the works
cerned with customer-satisfaction
metrics than overall sales figures,
ages and special editions than in the
where it ranks in the middle of the luxury
past. The Corsair, for example, won't offer a
market's 15 brands and isn't threatening to
swanky Black Label version or a plug-in hyleap Infiniti, Acura or Cadillac anytime soon.
brid variant at launch, though both are ex"There's no cheers at Lincoln that 'We're
pected later.
number 8!' " Parker said. "We're going to sell
Falotico also reiterated Lincoln's plans to
more Lincolns, clearly, with Aviator, Nautilus,
add a battery-electric vehicle but said she's
Navigator and Corsair, but we're not looking
happy with the seven-vehicle lineup (which
to chase some lofty sales goal or give anybody
includes the low-volume MKT crossover bea number. Instead of having a trophy case for
ing retained as a carryover fleet alternative to
sales, we have a trophy case for experience.
the Aviator).
We've essentially disassembled those sales
"We have a vehicle in every segment, except
trophy cases and built the experience trophy
the luxury performance segment, so we feel
case and said: 'Fill that up.' " a
we have roughly the right number of vehi-

MAZDA

Diesel billed
as differentiator
continued from Page 3

sold advanced diesel engines in markets around the world, including Japan and Europe. Guyton sold the
motor as a differentiator for Mazda.
"We do things differently in order
to try and do them better," he said
during the presentation. "Now, Mazda's unique diesel engine is a great
example of this. And what makes
Mazda's diesel technology so remarkable is we designed the combustion process itself to produce
very few harmful emissions in the
first place."

continued from Page 4

and bred in China.
Ford also looks to better leverage product development with its local joint venture partners. Ford
and Jiangling Motors Corp., for example, teamed
to create the Territory crossover for China.
"We are underindexed on that, compared
with other manufacturers," Slatter said.
Ford will establish in China what it calls an
Innovation Center as a kind of advanced research outpost to capture the latest local
trends, and it will team with local tech providers. China leads the world in some emerging
automotive technologies, especially infotainment connectivity systems.
"The idea is to look into the future and pull
some of those things forward," Slatter said.
To be sure, rivals such as Volkswagen, Honda
and even GM have long been laying deep local
roots like the ones Ford outlines in its 2.0 plan.
"There are no reasons why our business
should not regain momentum and be really
successful again here in China," Slatter said.
"This is just the beginning of what will be a very
strong pipeline of technology and product." a

Diesel fans "didn't have a
product in a crossover in
the range of a price they
could afford."
Masahiro Moro, CEO
Mazda North America Operations

Mazda said it worked with federal
and state agencies to ensure that the
diesel motor meets all the required
emissions standards, but diesel vehicles (with the exception of work
trucks) were not popular in the U.S.
even before Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal erupted in 2015.
Masahiro Moro, CEO of Mazda
North America Operations, said in
an interview that the company isn't
necessarily going after frustrated for-

mer VW customers, "but there are
diesel fans. ... [and] they didn't have
a product in a crossover in the range
of a price they could afford."
Last year, sales of the CX-5 rose 18
percent in the competitive U.S. compact crossover segment, which saw an
overall increase of 8.6 percent. With
150,622 deliveries, it ranked No. 8.
While other automakers pursue
electric vehicles to meet regulatory
goals, consumers aren't big fans yet,
Moro said, so why not at least offer
diesel technology, which is capable
and a good fit for U.S. consumers.
"I think everybody was zigging and
we're zagging - so that is always
Mazda," he said. a
Jamie Butters contributed
to this report.

Automotive News - April 22, 2019

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