On February 4, 1922, the Ford Motor Company bought the failing Lincoln Motor Company for a total of $8 million and expanded its reach into the luxury segment of the automotive market.
The acquisition came at a time when Ford, founded in 1903, was losing market share to its competitor General Motors, which offered a range of automobiles while Ford continued to focus on its utilitarian Model T. Although the Model T, which first went into production in 1908, had become the world’s best-selling car and revolutionized the auto industry, it had undergone few major changes since its debut, and from 1914 to 1925 it was only available in one color: black. In May 1927, lack of demand for the Model T forced Ford to shut down the assembly lines on the iconic vehicle. Later that year, the company introduced the more comfortable and stylish Model A, a car whose sleeker look resembled that of a Lincoln automobile. In fact, the Model A was nicknamed “the baby Lincoln.”
Sources :
Detroit Historical Society Facebook Page
For more detail, see Ford Buys Lincoln : This Day in History
Phoebe Wall Howard, “Lincoln’s Legacy”, Detroit Free Press, February 6, 2022. 100 years ago, Henry Ford bought a brand, yet it was son Edsel who gave if flair.