Lincoln says about 40,000 people have expressed interest in purchasing the company’s all-new Continental flagship sedan. The 2017 Lincoln Continental was unveiled earlier this year at the Detroit auto show and is scheduled to arrive in dealer showrooms this fall.
Lincoln says it is working closely with dealers to turn those “hand raisers” into actual buyers. The company plans to announce a more formal blueprint on that front in the coming weeks.
“We’ll have extensive prelaunch activities,” Matt VanDyke, director of global Lincoln, told Automotive News.
Neglected for years, dealers say there is a palpable buzz surrounding the Lincoln brand thanks to the pending launch of the Continental. “People are asking a lot of questions about the car,” said Dan Marks, chairman of the Lincoln National Dealer Council. “This is the most buzz I’ve seen in a long, long time.”
It remains to be seen how many of the hand raiser will turn into customers, but the Continental should provide Lincoln with a shot in the arm. After selling more than 100,000 vehicles in 2015 — a first for the brand since 2008 — Lincoln sales have surged 16 percent to 24,905 units during the first quarter of 2016.
Images by Brian Williams.
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