During the 1960s, Ford sought to develop a new flagship vehicle as a successor for the Continental Mark II. While the Lincoln Continental served as a close competitor to the Cadillac de Ville series and Chrysler Imperial, while Cadillac shifted the Cadillac Eldorado to the personal luxury segment in 1967, a segment that Ford exited in 1957 after the withdrawal of the Continental Mark II. As a response, in April 1968, the Continental Mark III was released as a 1969 model. While not officially a Lincoln, the Continental Mark III was marketed and serviced through the Lincoln-Mercury dealer network. Over a number of various names considered for the vehicle, Continental Mark III was chosen, as Henry Ford II felt the Continental Mark II did not have a proper successor (thus restarting the nomenclature).