Lincoln Continental will cease production at the end of the year and will only be sold in China for one more year

In 1939, at the request of Edsel, the son of Ford founder Henry Ford, Lincoln built a new Continental model based on the Lincoln Zephyr. Production at that time continued until In 1948, after an eight-year suspension of production, Continental continued to produce nine generations of models. The current Continental model kicked off the revival of Ford's luxury sedan division. It was originally unveiled as a concept car at the 2015 New York Auto Show. However, with the decline in global sales and the rise of SUV models, Lincoln recently confirmed that the iconic Continental sedan will follow in the footsteps of the MKZ and cease production after 2020, thus giving the Lincoln brand a full SUV lineup. However, before the mainland Continental is officially delisted, it will be sold in the Chinese market for another year, until 2021.

With the discontinuation of the Continental, the Mustang will become Ford and Lincoln's only sedan in the U.S. market. Other models include SUVs, pickups and commercial vehicles. "Lincoln's future investments are focused on growth segments and will have a complete SUV portfolio, including pure electric SUVs." Lincoln spokesperson Annika Saldeda-Wycoco confirmed. Even in the Chinese market, the current Continental Continental will not launch a successor model. "China's demand for large sedans is also shrinking, but it's not growing at the same rate as the U.S.," Lincoln spokesperson Angie Kozleski said.

The suspension of production of the Continental is not surprising. In 2016, after more than a decade of discontinuation, the current Lincoln Continental was revived. Although it attracted people's attention when it was first launched, it did not translate into strong sales. In 2017, the first full-year sales period on the market, 12,012 units were sold, which was the best performance of the Continental. However, in 2019, its sales volume was only 6,586 units, which was a significant improvement. of decline.

It is worth mentioning that the Lincoln Continental is built using Ford’s aging CD4 platform, which is the same platform as the Ford Fusion (known as Mondeo in China), Ford Edge (known as Escape in China) and Lincoln Navigator Nautilus . Considering that the Ford brand has announced that the Fusion, Fiesta, and Taurus will also be discontinued in the U.S. market, and there are rumors that the successor models of the Edge and Nautilus will adopt the electric vehicle route, the Ford and Lincoln brands are actually adopting the same strategy.

After the Continental is discontinued, Lincoln will focus on creating new crossovers and SUVs, such as the Aviator and the Corsair. The first pure electric crossover in the future will be the Mark E, which is expected to be launched in late 2021 or early 2022 and officially launched on the market in 2022. Kozleski said he will share more plans for Lincoln's future new vehicles later in 2020.