American car giant, Ford, is set to sell its iconic luxury brand sometime in the second half of 2014.
One of Lincoln's current SUV range Image: Ford Lincoln |
CEO Alan Mulally announced that Ford would produce the classic marque in the company's third assembly plant in the city of Chongqing. The carmaker's Chinese unit will begin meeting with dealerships toward the end of this year to develop interest in the Lincoln line.
“Introducing Lincoln in China marks the next step in our expansion in Asia and our commitment to serving customers in the luxury market”, said Mulally, hoping to garner some of the booming luxury market currently dominated by European brands Audi, BMW and Mercedes.
Mulally aims to boost global sales by 50% from 2010 to eight million units by 2015 and sees the Chinese luxury sector as a key piece of the puzzle. Luxury sales are forecast to make up nine percent of the overall market by 2020, surpassing the US volume of more than 2.7 million units.
Ford has been playing catch up in China, after a cumbersome three-way joint venture - now likely to be dissolved - with Chang'an and Mazda limited production and hampered expansion. The American carmaker is currently building five plants across China in order to double production capacity to 1.2 million units a year.