50% of all Lincoln vehicles sold in the US in 2018 were built in the US.

With all the recent talks about Trade Wars and the GM strike, it is important to acknowledge that, while many of the other OEMs have increased the number of Mexico built cars sold in the US, Ford and Lincoln have actually decreased that proportion.

Overall, Ford, as a company, decreased the numbers of cars it imported from Mexico by 37% between 2011 and 2018. In actual numbers, the decrease is from about 400,000 vehicles in 2011 to just above a quarter million in 2018. It may not be significant, but it is against the trend, it is opposite to what other manufacturers are doing. There were 11 OEMs with assembling operations in Mexico, in 2018, comparing to just 8 in 2011. All of them have increased the volume of cars exported to the US, or will increase it. The exception is Ford.

As a percentage of total US car sales, Mexico built vehicles accounted for almost 15% in 2018, compared to just above 10% in 2011. The trend has been up for most years.

When it comes down to each individual manufacturer, the proportion of Mexico built cars, sold in the US, versus their total US sales, that proportion varies among the 11 OEMs from 0% for BMW, which only opened their Mexico plant in 2019, to almost 60% for Volkswagen. On the other hand, while the proportion of Mexico built cars, out of Volkswagen's total US sales is high, it hasn't changed that much, where others, like Honda, for example, have increased dramatically. The average among the 11 OEMs is at 19%, which is above the industry average of 15%, when accounted for all sales, including companies that don't sell in the US any cars produced in Mexico.

The amount of Mexico built vehicles sold by Lincoln in the US - their proportion was at 19%, in 2018. With the Lincolns built in Canada in 2018 at roughly 30% of the total US sales, the remaining half was produced at US plants (Chicago, Louisville, Flat Rock).

Although at 19%, the proportion of Mexico built cars out of the total Lincoln cars sold in the US in 2018 was average, among OEMs with operations in Mexico, it has in fact continually decreased since 2013, when it was at 40%.

After a low of 23.7% of total US sales (2013), Lincoln cars built in the US have gained ground reaching above 50% in 2018.

We might say that the decrease we see at Ford and Lincoln is mainly due to the change in taste of US customers, who have massively switched to SUVs and CUVs in recent years. Since Lincoln and Ford build more sedans in Mexico, that proportion has decreased as a result of the market changes. But, this is also a company strategy, because there have been many chances when they could have moved (or started) production of more SUVs and CUVs to Mexico (Aviator, or Corsair, for example), to reduce the labor costs, but they haven't done it. Of course, there are other reasons in place, like avoiding the higher tariffs, for example, so much discussed recently, but in the end the strategy remains, and we don't see Ford and Lincoln receiving enough credit or appreciation for their choice. Again, this is a company that "braved the recession without taking any money from the federal government."