1969 Ford LTD attacked GM’s hierarchy of brands in multiple ways

(EXPANDED FROM 1/24/2022)

The LTD was one of Ford’s biggest successes in the 1970s because it attacked General Motors’ hierarchy of brands in multiple ways. After failing to beat the popular Impala at its own game, Ford played one-upmanship by placing an emphasis on this top-end series beginning in 1965. Not only did the LTD throw Chevrolet on the defensive, but it also put pressure on GM’s premium-priced brands as Chevy moved upmarket to maintain its sales leadership.

Ford’s strategy worked brilliantly. By 1973 the LTD was outselling the Caprice by almost two-to-one. This went a ways toward neutralizing the Impala’s sales lead — and presumably gave the full-sized Ford a more profitable model mix.

The LTD does not appear to have undercut GM’s dominance of the full-sized, premium-priced field. Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick saw their share of the total domestic market decline less than 2 percent from 1969 to 1973. That was slightly less than the big Ford, which dropped by 2.8 percent. Chevrolet fell the most — by 4.6 percent.

One could argue that the increasing popularity of top-end versions of the big Ford and Chevrolet eroded the rationale for premium-priced cars such as the Pontiac Catalina, Buick LeSabre and Oldsmobile Delta Eighty-Eight.

However, big-car buyers increasingly gravitated to high-end models across the board. This also occurred with the full-sized Chevrolet and Ford, although the LTD saw roughly twice as much growth. The LTD’s share of big Ford production rose from roughly 28 percent in 1969 to more than 48 percent in 1973.

The LTD does not appear to have undercut sales of the Mercury much, if at all. Perhaps the key reason why is that Ford’s premium-priced brand was such a marginal player in the full-sized class. Even at its peak in 1969 it captured only 2.1 percent of the total domestic production.

Also see ‘The 1965-73 Ford LTD may not have impacted Mercury very much’

This helps explain why the Ford Motor Company had more to gain and less to lose by pushing its low-priced brand upmarket.

Good strategy backed by solid design and marketing

The LTD was so effective partly because Ford more aggressively championed the “brougham” look, both in its exterior and interior styling. The LTD came off looking more luxurious than a top-end Chevrolet or Plymouth.

Also see ‘1966-69 VIP: Why Plymouth couldn’t sell brougham’

Ford was also more effective in marketing the LTD — particularly beginning in 1969. One reason why is that the photography in ad campaigns was unusually sophisticated for that era. This served to give the LTD a more luxurious persona.

In addition, the look and feel of the ads had similarities to those by top-end Mercury and Lincoln models. That bolstered the LTD’s stature while also reinforcing the Ford Motor Company’s hierarchy of brands. This was arguably a more effective ad strategy than that used by GM and Chrysler, which made few connections between their brands.

1969 Mercury Marquis and 1968 Continental Mark III (Automotive History Preservation Society)

The advertising for the Chevrolet Caprice didn’t operate at the same level as the LTD’s. As a case in point, for 1969 Chevrolet tried to substitute bravado — “Match this, you other 69’s!” — for actually displaying the Caprice’s upper-crust qualities. Even the photography was rather uninspired.

This strikes me as truth in advertising. The 1969 Caprice wasn’t as luxurious of a car as the LTD. Nor did it help that the styling for the 1969-70 full-sized Chevrolet was undercut by “clown pants” fender blisters. The rear fender skirts on the above-shown Caprice accentuate the weirdness of that feature.

It is thus not surprising that 1969 was the year when the LTD began pulling away from the Caprice in sales.

Even after the big Chevrolet was given a major restyling in 1971 the Caprice continued to fall further behind the LTD in production. In 1973 the Ford surpassed 413,000 units whereas the Chevy produced under 213,000 units.

1973 Ford LTD (left) and Chevrolet Caprice ads. Click on image to enlarge (Old Car Advertisements).

An oil embargo in late-1973 would decimate sales of low-priced big cars — and they would only partly bounce back in the second half of the 1970s. GM would reassert its leadership in the low-priced field with a 1977 downsized design.

Even so, Ford deserves credit for coming up with a better idea that for a time turned what had been one of GM’s greatest strengths — a three-brand dominance of the premium-priced field — into a weakness.

NOTES:

This story was first posted on Jan. 24, 2022 and expanded on July 5, 2023. Production figures, specifications and prices were drawn from the auto editors of Consumer Guide (2006), Gunnell (2002) and Wikipedia (2020). At the time of last posting, the advertisements originally pulled from the Automotive History Preservation Society’s previous website were not available on its new one.

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RE:SOURCES

• Auto editors of Consumer Guide; 2006. Encyclopedia of American Cars. Publications International, Lincolnwood, Ill.
• Gunnell, John; 2002. Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1946-1975. Revised Fourth Ed. Krause Publications, Iola, WI.
• Wikipedia; 2020. “U.S. Automobile Production Figures.” Page past modified Oct. 4.

BROCHURES & ADVERTISING:

• autohistorypreservationsociety.org: Chevrolet Caprice (1969); Ford LTD (1969); Lincoln Continental Mark III (1968); Mercury Marquis (1969)
• oldcaradvertising.com: Chevrolet Caprice (1973); Ford LTD (1973)