Jia Mingdi, who has served as president of Lincoln China for almost a year, has been looking for the label that best suits the development of this American luxury brand in the Chinese market.
Perhaps it was the storm of "involution" that gave inspiration. In the first communication with the media in 2025, Jia Mingdi told everyone, "In 2025, we hope to use 'stability' as Lincoln's label. The external market is volatile, and Lincoln will use 'stability' to fight against volatility."
He believes that the two most common phrases used by teammates in the game King of Glory are very suitable for the current situation. One is "Develop slowly, don't waste time"; the other is "Hold steady, we can win."
"Lincoln China's goal in the next two years is to maintain stability," Jia Mingdi said.
The latest statistics from the China Automobile Dealers Association show that in 2024, the overall sales of domestic luxury car brands will decline by about 5% year-on-year. In such an environment, Lincoln's sales in China are also unable to stop the decline.
Jia Mingdi revealed that the start of 2025 was even more tragic than expected, and the price war intensified. However, he believes that for brands seeking long-term development, price wars are of little significance, because no matter how stimulating, people without purchasing power will still not buy cars, but as long as they participate in price wars, it will harm the brand.
According to him, in the ten months since he joined Lincoln, he has focused a lot of energy on basic management rather than price wars. In addition to building and consolidating the system, another key task is to find the brand's characteristics. "We are studying how to define Lincoln through 'stability', convey the brand label more clearly, and find Lincoln's target audience." In other words, we need to clearly tell customers "why they can choose Lincoln."
In Lincoln China's observation, its products and current target groups are consistent with the label of "stability", whether it is "seeking progress in stability", "winning with a sure hand", or "steady happiness".
It is reported that in 2025, at the product level, Lincoln China will launch a new Navigator to meet Chinese consumers' demand for upgraded comfort and intelligence, and bring consumers richer and higher-end car purchase options.
In terms of channels, Lincoln China will also transform and upgrade its current sales network consisting of 113 stores. By adding 1S and 2S stores, the market will be penetrated, and while encouraging lightweight operations, the number of service outlets will be gradually increased to 180, thereby enhancing the coverage of its service network in the national market.
In terms of service, the "Three Musketeers" model consisting of the marketing, sales and after-sales departments will play a key role in the work.
Jia Mingdi said that in 2025, Lincoln will not have any new products other than the Navigator, and gaining market share will rely purely on marketing execution. Therefore, strengthening front-line execution and stabilizing its market share will be the most important thing for Lincoln.
