Q+A: Amy Marentic

How has Lincoln Motor Co performed in China this year?

Our performance this year has been incredible and beyond our initial projections. Lincoln is now China's fastest-growing luxury auto brand. Overall sales in the third quarter reached 8,546 vehicles and the total sales of the first three quarters reached 20,996 vehicles. SUV sales were also very strong, growing 247 percent in October year on year.

This performance is strong proof of our solid products and business strategies, including The Lincoln Way and The Virtual Lincoln Way. It also highlights our competitive product portfolio. Our strong performance in China contributes to our vision to become a global luxury auto brand.

What do you think underlies your success so far?

There are three factors driving our achievements in China: the growing recognition of and demand for personalized services from The Lincoln Way; our competitive product line-up; and our growing retail network, with 53 Lincoln stores and three branches as of today.

How are you looking to enhance The Lincoln Way?

We always seek out aspects of the The Lincoln Way that can be further improved, both on the customer experience level and the product level.

At the Guangzhou Auto Show 2016, we announced new functions of The Virtual Lincoln Way, an online extension of our core brand. Now, customers can select their vehicles and make a down payment to reserve their vehicles through WeChat, Tencent Holding Ltd's social media app. Our At-Home Test Drive feature, first available in Shanghai, will expand to Beijing by mid-December and more cities, including Guangzhou, in the future.

On the product level, as you can see in the new Lincoln MKC model, we always listen to our customers and continually upgrade our products to ensure an easier and more joyful ride.

(China Daily 11/21/2016 page12)