Lincoln Motor President: Sedans May Be Dying Here, But They Sell Big in China
*By Hope King*
The future of the sedan is parked on shaky ground in the U.S.
But according to the president of the Lincoln Motor Company, the car model is still major in China.
“We’re in a little bit of different situation because in China — sedans are still 50 percent of the market.” Joy Falotico told Cheddar Wednesday morning at the Los Angeles Auto show.
Falotico confirmed that Lincoln as of now has no plans to stop producing or innovating sedans, but reiterated that demand differs by country.
Falotico’s comments to Cheddar come at a moment when automakers are reducing their inventory of sedans in favor of larger, higher profit margin vehicles, like trucks and SUVs.
Ford, for example, can generate profits that exceed $10,000 per Super Duty pickup truck, according to [estimates]( https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-12/ford-will-pump-out-more-profitable-big-suvs-to-fund-its-future).
Earlier this year, Lincoln’s parent company Ford ($F) announced it will stop investing in future generations of the Taurus, Fusion, and Fiesta for North America. GM, as part of its [cost-cutting](https://cheddar.com/videos/general-motors-cutting-corners-for-employees-cars-and-production-plants) initiatives, earlier this month announced it will halt production of six sedans — the Cadillac CT6 and XTS, Buick LaCrosse, Chevrolet Cruze, Impala, Volt — by the end of 2019.
Lincoln’s Navigator, a luxury SUV, was redesigned for the first time in over a decade last year. Of all the Lincoln models, which include the MKZ and Continental sedans, and the MKC, Nautilus and Aviator crossover, was the only model to post a year-over-year sales increase in October.
“Sedans are a very important part of our lineup,” Falcotico said. “We have the MKZ and Continental and they’re both ’17 model years. We’ll be happy to continue to sell those.”
As popular as sedan may be in China for Lincoln, the brand is still losing money in China, where it launched about [four years ago](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ford-motor-results/ford-accelerates-cost-cutting-plan-will-drop-most-u-s-sedans-idUSKBN1HW2UH).
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/sedans-remain-important-part-of-lincoln-lineup).
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