Ford (NYSE:F) Confirms Number of Lincoln Dealership Cuts

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) has been talking about cutting Lincoln dealerships for several months, and today confirmed they're going to slash the number of existing Lincoln dealerships from 434 to 325.

That represents the exact number Ford communicated to its dealers last October, but they had never officially confirmed the numbers until today.

The cuts will primarily be focused on the 130 top metro areas in the U.S., which account for close to 85 percent of the luxury vehicle market, although smaller dealerships will be cut as well.

Ford will be putting new minimal requirements in place in order for dealers to be allowed to continue selling the luxury car, which sales have been anemic in comparison to luxury offerings of competitors.

Ford marketing chief Jim Farley said, "If we don't get the throughput in the major metro markets right-sized, then the transformation of Lincoln is going...to need a different plan. This transformation is going to hinge on several things working including the (dealer) network."

Ford was trading at $16.19, up $0.47, or 2.99 percent, as of 2:30 PM EST.