Over the past few years, Ford has made it quite clear that it wants to shrink its Lincoln dealer network, shedding underperforming locations at the same time. Such a move makes sense in the world of luxury vehicles, which are a bit more niche, expensive, and competing in a world where consumers want more of a boutique experience than the traditional mass market dealership model provides. As it turns out, the Lincoln dealer network is also considerably larger than its chief rival’s – Cadillac – which is another sign that perhaps it needs to be downsized.
According to GM Authority, Cadillac global chief John Roth recently revealed that GM’s luxury brand has around 200 standalone dealerships across the U.S. at the moment, which handles around 60 percent of the brand’s total volume. Cadillac also has 367 dealers that share space with at least one other GM brand as well, though they only make up around a third of its sales.
By comparison, the Lincoln dealer network consisted of around 637 dealers as of the start of 2023, along with 145 standalone stores – a total of 782 locations where U.S. customers can buy a vehicle from that brand, or 215 more than Cadillac. That’s certainly a massive difference, and lends some credence to Lincoln’s desire to shed some of its stores. In fact, back in 2023, then-Lincoln President Dianne Craig touched on that particular strategy in many ways.
“We have too many dealers,” Craig said at the time. “If we’re going to be a successful luxury brand, we need brand-exclusive facilities. Most of the dealers we have are still dualed. We love them as our Ford partner, but we need to focus on having that brand-exclusive experience. At the end of the day, all I know is we have too many. I’ve had many conversations with dealers over the last four months, many that are my personal friends, that don’t want to give up the brand because they love the brand. “But … if there’s not an industry there to serve, does it really make sense for them to go on this next evolution with the investments they’ll have to make for EV? Or just focus on Ford? We want to do the right thing for them as business partners.”
Representing the compact pickup's best quarter ever.
The Mustang's got a head start, though.
Interest-free financing and more on all-electric full-size pickup truck.
The lowest-mile example we've seen in some time.
Outrunning some serious machinery in the process.
Though it expects to offset that loss via energy storage systems.
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When searching in non-metropolitan areas to purchase a Lincoln one has to think in terms of looking in a 150-mile radius to find the lowest price. Rural dealerships cannot compete and are unwilling to swap units from other dealerships unless you pay hundreds to have the unit you want delivered. I rented a car and purchased my 2025 Nautilus from a dealership four hours away and still saved several thousand $. Hopefully my local dealer will provide good service!