Lincoln, DiDi Partner on New Luxury Chauffeur Experience in China
Photo: Lincoln
Lincoln Motor Company has launched a new luxury chauffeur experience in partnership with DiDi Chuxing, a leading global mobile transportation platform. The Lincoln Way on the Road program uses Lincoln fleet vehicles and DiDi’s clientele to offer drivers in China an exclusive, premium ride-hailing service.
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Ford Motor Company China Senior Manager of Smart Mobility Nicole Yin made the partnership happen after seeing an opportunity to create synergy between DiDi, which caters to premium customers, and the Lincoln brand. She put forward a business model in 2019 and got it approved “at astounding China speed,” resulting in a contract for the purchase of 100 Lincoln fleet vehicles. Supporting her in the proposal were names like Lincoln Asia Pacific and China President Mao Jingbo and Lincoln China Marketing Senior Vice President Li Pengcheng.
Lincoln, DiDi luxury chauffeur service delivers nearly 15,000 rides
Photo: Lincoln
Even with the spread of COVID-19, Lincoln and DiDi pushed ahead, launching 30 fleet vehicles in Shanghai in January and 20 each in Beijing and Hangzhou in May. The other 30 vehicles will roll out in Chengdu at the end of this month.
“New mobility products also need synergy in the core business strategy, and we navigated the best way to find the balance,” said Yin.
Thus far, the collaboration has proven quite fruitful. Lincoln says that customers in Shanghai have taken more than 11,000 rides in a Lincoln vehicle since the start of the program, and that total rides in Beijing and Hangzhou totaled 2,500 by the end of May.
While the Lincoln Continental is the fleet vehicle of choice for the partnership with DiDi, the program also includes the possibility of being secretly upgraded for free to a Lincoln Navigator SUV.
Customers can book a ride in a Lincoln one of three ways: Lincoln Way WeChat, the Lincoln Way App, or DiDi Luxe.
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Kyle S. Johnson lives in Cincinnati, a city known by many as “the Cincinnati of Southwest Ohio.” He enjoys professional wrestling, Halloween, and also other things. He has been writing for a while, and he plans to continue to write well into the future. See more articles by Kyle.