J.D. Power releases its U.S. Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study – which measures customer satisfaction with automaker websites for both mass market and premium brands – on a semiannual basis. Lincoln has historically fared quite well in that regard, having previously ranked in first place among all premium brands in the summer 2022 version of this study. But while the industry as a whole experienced an increase in website satisfaction in the new winter 2023 study, the same cannot be said of Ford – which ranked below the mass market segment average – or the Lincoln website, either.
This time around, the Lincoln website ranked near the bottom of this particular study with a score of 710 out of a possible 1,000 points, which places it behind a number of rivals including Land Rover (749), BMW (742), Infiniti (740), Acura (734), Audi (731), Mercedes-Benz (730), Porsche (730), Tesla (724), Lexus (720), Cadillac (718), Jaguar (714), and the segment average of 722, though ahead of Genesis (703), Alfa Romeo (695), and Volvo (687). Meanwhile, the premium segment as a whole rose by 11 percentage points.
J.D. Power’s U.S. Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study determines these scores by examining four key measures – information/content, visual appeal, navigation, and speed. The winter 2023 version of the study is based on the responses of 10,487 new-vehicle shoppers who indicate they will be in the market for a new vehicle within the next 24 months and was fielded in October-November 2022.
“In today’s shopping environment, manufacturer websites must have a robust set of tools for shoppers to use,” said Jon Sundberg, director of digital solutions at J.D. Power. “Not only is it important to have the tools, they also need to be easily discoverable, well-designed and intuitive to use to significantly drive brand consideration.”
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Comments
Lincoln website, Lincoln vehicles, Lincoln image… Everything in Lincoln is way below average and way below the brands Lincoln intends to compete with. No sedan, no EV, no appealing design, while MB, BMW, Audi, Cadillac, Jaguar, Lexus, etc. do have a complete lineup and an appealing design. Lincoln pathetic incomplete lineup is just a bunch of stuffed up Ford boring cookie cutter SUV´s and crossovers. Lincoln today is not the shadow of what it once was when it really was a serious rival in the premium cars segment.
I go to the Lincoln website and Ford website quite frequently. Both leave much to be desired. It’s hard to find information on vehicles, like specs, comparing trim levels. They always have fine print telling me for more information to contact my local dealer. I don’t want to contact those yahoos until I am ready to buy. I want the information up front.
The Build My Lincoln site is painful. The Inventory Search is almost worthless. It doesn’t give you the correct search options and it doesn’t narrow your options down. It’s like it thinks you are only looking for one feature.
The Lincoln web site is an unmitigated catastrophe. Lincoln management should remove that “website” and they should immediately fire that turkey that allowed this web site to be published.
I’m inclined to agree. It’s one of the worst. And that’s when it’s working properly.
If Lincoln/Ford truly want to go customer order sales model, the Lincoln site needs major work.
Take the Corsair for example. The exterior pictures are in dark murky “goth” environments so one can’t really see what the color looks like. The grey interior appears black because those shots are really about demonstrating the dashboard light show, not the dash and seat colors. You have to look at reviewer’s pictures taken in sunlight to see colors in true perspective. But then those may not be the configuration one wants. The option packages are confusing as to what’s in and what’s not.
If the Lincoln website is now this bad, how did it finish in first place just ast year?
I don’t get it.
Initially I was intrigued by the Lincoln site. However, once I began working in earnest to “build my car” it became an evolution of frustration, particularly in regards to selecting options. It got to the point where a dealership trip was necessary. Perhaps that was the point… confuse the buyer into
a showroom. Then at the showroom you learn the harsh reality that specific orders can take up to 5 months, so you’ll settle for whatever happens to be on the lot. 🤔