The Lincoln Experience

Sometimes I get the feeling the last twenty years never happened... Today was a case in point.  I was reading the current issue of Automotive News.  The cover featured a story about Ford closing 200 Lincoln stores and pressuring the remaining dealers to upgrade their facilities to provide an experience comparable to Lexus, Mercedes and BMW.  If this isn't a case of the generals trying to fight the last war, I don't know what is.  It is worth noting that when Lexus and Infiniti designed their retail "experiences" the Internet wasn't even a sparkle in a car buyer's eye.  Since then much has changed. And more change is coming.  Traditionally defined luxury facilities risk becoming expensive liabilities. Luxury to today means a seamless, respectful experience.  Often at the venue of the consumer's choosing. Expensive facilities don't factor in. Many dealers I talk to get this. They know the pressure they get from the automakers to upgrade facilities, or to improve survey scores, or to support training for their salespeople, is all based on an unchanged view of the sales process.  A sales process that today largely does not exist.  Someone is going to figure this out.