Ford CEO: Lincoln will compete with Lexus, BMW and Mercedes

Ford's CEO is confident that Lincoln will soon compete with the world's best.

Ford's Lincoln brand has been an afterthought in the luxury segment for several years now, but company chief executive Alan Mulally sees the division rivaling the world's best within the next three to four years.

Lincoln is planning to launch seven "fully differentiated Lincoln models" by 2015, which Mulally says will be enough to return the brand to its former glory.

When asked which brands Lincoln would compete with once that transition was complete, Mulally responded: "I think all of the luxury brands: Lexus, BMW and Mercedes. We absolutely know how to make luxury vehicles. We've done it in the past."

Lincoln was the U.S.' best-selling luxury brand as recently as 1998.

As Lincoln has yet to show its hand its impossible to determine if the company's future products will win back former buyers that have defected to brand like Lexus, BMW and Mercedes, but the changes certainly couldn't hurt - Lincoln's October sales were down more than 10 percent.

References
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