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Well, yes, GM had a plan for Cadillac and it's working. That seems to be the ONLY plan GM has had for years. Ford, unfortunately has a plan for Lincoln - not to follow Cadillac up market, and let such customers look at Jaguar.
I'm not sure that's all that flawed - except in my case, where they used to make the perfect car for me, and now they don't, and the Jaguar is just a little too low for my taste (to the ground I mean).
BTW, the low to the ground thing is passe--the new Jaguars resemble the old ones, but they are no longer "low". Good or bad, it is one identifiable Jaguar trait the new ones have abandoned, even while keeping the old Jaguar look. Thus the new ones aren't as sleek looking as the old ones, even while being more modern. I wonder if that hasn't also been part of the reason their sales have dived.
BTW, while I don't like the Impala, LaCrosse and LeMans, this is an example of platform sharing where the triplets do not look at all like one another. If only Ford could figure that out.
I think in the long run it works better for GM. Moving Cadillac, which everyone knows is GM, back up-market kind of pulls the whole GM reputation up. Relying on Jaguar, which many may not associate with Ford, for the up-market brand does nothing to enhance Ford's panache.
Their Jaguar fiasco is ego-fueled and is nothing more than a piece of corporate jewelry.
Jaguar has indeed consumed $6Bn of Ford Motor's corporate cash. It has yet to make a profit for Ford. What is not true is that its reliability is low, the new Xk/XJ chassis have consistently scored in the top ten for J.D. Powers customer satisfaction and reliabiliy, and Harbour Associates ranked the Castle Bromwich and Gaydon plants as some of the best in Europe---certainly number one in the Ford Motor Empire. The same is true of Wixom where Lincoln will be built for 15 more months.
The V/H aluminum architecture at Jaguar/Astons is an industry leader along with the use of aluminum substructures. The Jaguar bodyshell weighs 60% less than its steel counterpart, weighing roughly 220Kg or 400 pounds. The weight difference in the bodyshell is equal to the weight of all the passengers in the car. The performance curve is therefore enhanced as a result. The variable platform used by both allows quick design and production of varients, the Rapide being done in six months from a drawing to a driving car. Jaguar/Astons also represents the first of CAD/CAM Rapid Prototyping method at Ford, which provided demonstration of the technology that was subsequently used for Zephyr. The net result is that the current XK Coupe/Convertible has a bodyshell with 30% less components and welds required with greater rigidity---3,000 welds versus 5,000, and an equal change in the type of extrusions and aluminum castings required. Build tolerances were increased according to Russ Varney, the programs engineer for Jaguar---"We were able to build 7 prototypes instead of the 100 it used to require...the first was nearly perfect. We were able to get to that last .01%" Jaguar/Astons represents a new level of quality that Ford Motor here-to-fore has never been able to achieve since the 1960's. Aston/Jaguar also has its own engine casting plant in Cologne (Koln) Germany---able to make precision V12 and high performance V8 engines. These motors could be used for Lincoln...
Jaguar has lost money for Ford because it expanded far too rapidly, going from a brand that sold 8,000-25,000 cars per year in America over the decades and then attempting to sell ten times that many all while expanding its customer base that it never had before. Too much too soon. Had they built the XJ/XK and improved its reputation for quality and performance first, and then offered a 'mini' Jag that would have worked. As its stands, dealers were flooded with cars that the public was unsure of, and in some cases never wanted. One reason why the Reitzle Expansion and Revival Plan for Lincoln was rejected: it took money away from Jaguar, and Ford executives thought they could make it their corporate BMW...without understanding the instrinsic appeal of Jaguar...(having pushed and driven some of the finest Jags from XK150's, E 4.2Litre and V12 convertibles, to name a few I have a fair understanding of the marque.) Plus, the Brown's Lane plant was built in 1919 and infrequently modernised---why they switched to Castle Bromwich. In short, investment costs required were twice what was needed, and the market wasn't ready to accept 150,000 Jaguars where it used to sell 50,000 worldwide.
If anything, Ford Motor has the resources and the people to build V12 Lincolns again, using aluminum variable architecture, appeal to the traditional blue-blooded American Lincoln driver, all while retaining the style for which Lincoln was once noted. They could easily market cars as Zephyr for $29,000 and add horsepower, likewise sell a Lincoln at $49,500-59,000 with high performance V8's, and an exclusive V12 in sedan and convertible form. Imperial is coming...and they will equipe the new car with V10 and SRT8 engines. Where is Lincoln? The late shift at Hermisilio and Chicago...that is all that remains.
Simply put...there's no champion at Ford Motor for Lincoln. They are clearly trying to downgrade the brand...much like Oldsmobile at GM. If they succeed in implimenting their current plan...it will take more than the blue-jeans set to save it. All they will need to decide it what inscription to put on the headstone, and the press release announcing the end of Lincoln.
DouglasR
(Sources; Ward's Automotive, Edmunds Online)
And aluminum bodies, though light and strong, are still very expensive to insure and repair. I can't help but think this may be a factor affecting sales. Along with the lukewarm Jaguar styling. The new XJ body was increased several inches in height in an attempt to overcome the packaging difficulties the low-slung Jaguar sedans have always had. At the same time, they tried to copy the old look. The result was a car that both looked too much like the previous generation and at the same time lost some of the sense of sleekness the old inefficient packaging afforded. (Or in the case of the S Type, introduced a more upright and chunky profile while still providing only a very tight back seat for the size.)
Proposed Jaguar concepts correct some of those deficiencies of style and cannot get here soon enough. I could see Lincoln, Mercury, and Jaguar all toast in the next few years.
Last year Ford Motor made an overall profit of $3.374Bn, with the Finance Arm making $4.392Bn and the Auto arm losing $1.018Bn in North America. Ford made $646 per car on financing, and lost $492 a car building it. Another L1.3Bn was funnelled into Jaguar, roughly $1.6Bn. Total Revenues were $154.5Bn, with an average sales price of $22,729 per vehicle. Ford Motor was profitable in Europe, the Pacific/Asia, South Americas and Africa. It lost $1.552Bn in North America, and PAG Group overall lost $100Mn last year. In America Ford sold two trucks for every car it sold, 2,129,280 to 1,038,876 sales. PAG sales dropped from 212,000 last year to 198,000, though revenues increased from $7.847Bn to $8.002Bn. PAG lost $255Mn last year and posted a small profit of $46Mn on sales, but that was erased by write-downs and further cash infusion to Jaguar.
Had Lincoln remained with PAG, separating it from Ford-Mercury, cost sharing for Astons/Jaguar could have been spread out over another 150,000 units. Lincoln could have benefited from the cross-sharing of technology that Astons/Jaguar hold. Lincoln could have appealed in a very unique American manner to the marketplace while benefiting from the design and engineering represented in Astons and the Gaydon Plant. Lincoln could likewise have been marketed overseas, much as 300, Buick and Cadillac are today---in Europe and Asia. None of those suggestions were accepted.
If the current XJ/XK are not accepted and Jaguar sales continue to drop by the double digits they are experiencing, there will be less cash for future development of either brand---profits from Zephyr being drained off for Jaguar. It is not the product at Jaguar that is necessarily bad, it is the marketing approach which is often regarded as a joke---even by Britons.
The same holds true with the trashing of the venerable Zephyr Name. Zephyr sales dropped the second month after production began so The Glass House panicked and changed the name for Geneva. Silly! Soon Lincoln will just become a panopoly of alphabet soup: Z, S, NL, etc. No romance there---and Nissan will inevitably challenge the use of the Z name.
Wixom is being closed not because the plant can't build a great car, it is being closed because Ford is unwilling to upgrade and revamp the plant---they could do for Wixom what was done at Crewe for Bentley---no, it is being closed because there is nothing new for Lincoln to build in its place. So the numbers look bad as Town Car rolls into its ninth year without another refreshment or replacement. All Bill Ford Jr. is doing with respect to Lincoln is creating customers for Cadillac, Buick and Imperial.
DouglasR
(PS, thanks for the compliment; Sources: Ford Motor Annual Report 2005)
Positioning of Lincoln seemed to be one of PAGs problems - didn't want it to get too upmarket and drain sales from Jag, so they didn't do anything w/ Lincoln. Now, it's going downmarket, it seems.
Rumor has it that a separate facility for Imperial and Challenger is being considered at Brampton...though I have not enough confirmation to make that a fact, Chrylser is spending another $1Bn for its North American Operations in 2006. That Chrysler is planning to go up-market is without doubt, and they will not make the Maybach Mistake...Mr. Zeitsche will see to that. Expect it to sell in the $50K price range---above Lincoln and below the V Series Cadillac---with twice the power punch of Lincoln and a match for Cadillac.
Imperial alone is the reason why the downgrading of Lincoln, (and subsequent elimination if the next generation of Lincolns fails), is now so important with respect to Lincoln's future. Yes, they are planning something on the Ford 500 chassis, but that alone will not be enough. They have all the resources at their disposal and still enough design and engineering talent to make Lincoln a real player in the marketplace. Dr. Ulrich Bez at Astons should be put in charge in addition to his Aston/Jaguar duties.
Sadly, come 2020, 100 years after the first Lincoln was built, I doubt given the current and immediate plans within the Glass House for Lincoln, that there will still be a serious Lincoln rolling off the assembly line, if at all. If Ford wants to play the name game, they should name their next serious Lincoln Model L-II in honor of Mr. Leland's accomplishment and its development under Edsel Ford. Ford Motor still has access to $25Bn in cash to develop Lincoln. Will Mr. Mays and Mr. Horbury make the case?
DouglasR
Get rid of that Hemi nonsense!
America wants V-6 front wheel drive Luxury cars!
I guess the success of Dodge, Chrysler and Mercedes prove him wrong about his fantasy that frustrated Lincoln buyers will turn instead to Jaguar.
No, they'll turn to a different manufacturer.
So, I'm driving a Lexus now. Shame on you,
Bill.....
I just don't believe consumers view Lincoln in the same league as Lexus, MB, BMW and Audi for the moment. On another board several months back there was a poll as to where in prestige various luxury brands fit. Sadly, Lincoln did not make it on anybody's list. Let Lincoln re-establish itself as a viable high luxury contender and then challenge the upper price and performance end at that time.
My diatribe, comments, complaints, etc., are not directed towards the entry level of the market for Lincoln---Zephyr and its soon-to-be uprated engine are fine in the lower braket. Lincoln simply can't compete at the top end. And therein lies its doom. We aren't talking about a Pontiac or a Buick...this is Lincoln which once led the industry.
There remains an even more serious issue: Take Lincoln out of the picture and Cadillac (plus a renascent Imperial) are all that will remain of the domestic luxury marques. Our country once was the world-wide leader in the segment. Our country once was the home of the Springfield Rolls-Royce plant, and its generally accepted that American made Rolls-Royce were improved upon the British Derby built chassis. They were certainly better looking. Only Cadillac seems now to understand that to stay at the top rank, you must lead, you must incorporate within your design time honored traits---that no front-wheel drive car has ever attained save Errett Loban Cord's 1936 FWD Cord. Great Cars at the top of the market simply aren't front wheel drive, though the chance for any fwd car to better its rwd or awd counterparts is slim. If I am spending big dollars for a car, fwd will NOT be part of the equation---that is reserved for runabouts, mini-vans, and the occassional sports car. There's nothing wrong with a good performance V6 in an fwd chassis, it can be quite invigorating and fun. But Luxury and fwd have never been the seu que non of great luxury marques. Chrysler would not now be selling 13,000 300's per month with no let up, if there were not an army of Americans who feel as I do, that we have been neglected for a long time.
Make no mistake, habour no doubt: a portion of Americans (roughly 27%) love fwd cars, for that is what they grew up with...but the majority of them purchase cars whose motive power passes through the rear wheels. All of the great luxury cars today and in the past, 99% of them (save Cord, Toronado, and Eldorado) have been rear wheel drive. I've had the occassion to work on both formats, and if I am spending $100K plus for a car, fwd won't be part of the equation.
Lincoln needs, as it always has, to have part of their traditional base maintained...Cadillac lost a great deal of their market when they stopped making rwd cars. Lincoln survived and succeed in part because they never did. The LS would have been awful had it been fwd, that car succeeded because it was rwd. It is this base with which I speak. A fwd Lincoln is OK, but won't save the company.
The sad truth is that Ford Motor Company has not only the resources, the cash, the engineers, and the design talent to make a great Lincoln and Continental again, but that there is no one person standing up for the marque within the walls of the Glass House. If anything, William C. Ford Sr. should say something.
The chance is now to build a new factory, or revamp Wixom. The chance is now to build a great new Lincoln based on Rapid Prototyping, ICEM/Surf computer technology for virtual manufacture, incorporate the finest that the industry has to offer and let the public judge. The chance is now to checkmate the competition before it is too late. It's more than a war of attrition in the marketplace. Jobs, careers, futures, and the answer to the question of whether America will continue to lead in the markeplace wrest within the decisions they make with respect to Lincoln.
I for one will never save my money for a 'Red Flag' Limosine built in Bejjing.
DouglasR
Thats why the rear wheel drive CTS is a big hit with Cadillac.
No, they'll turn to a different manufacturer.
Cadillac did a good job enticing this Lincoln fan.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
RWD need not be that complex or expensive. Look at Mustang. Lincoln did it for decades without having to overengineer the thing. Even so, the LS could have worked with more upmarket styling and interior, and a few more models based on it. The 2 seater Thunderbird was late, and a blunder...that was no way to build volume for an expensive chassis.
So now there is nothing on the way in the foreseeable future beyond a warmed over Navigator to go up against a completely new Escalade, the MKX which is another fancy Ford, the FWD V6 fancy Ford MKZ, the FWD based AWD fancy 500 MKS (which also emulates a lot of Japanese machinery), and another as yet unnamed MKS-type sedan with even longer overhangs. Great.
Before Lincoln could now do a Cadillac-style line-up switcheroo, sales would have to increase a lot and Jaguar would have to stabilize. Instead we are more likely to see a requiem for both.
The Ford division can pretty much cover the ground Mercury and (now) Lincoln occupy. Volvo can provide some luxury sales (albeit not RWD for now), and later Ford, if it survives and prospers, could resurrect either a Continental or an XJ rear drive luxury sedan a la Imperial.
Some nice deals on the XJ, given it is not selling really well.
Originally, the XJ was going to be my "Sedanola move" when I divorced the Navigator (it was an amicable divorce). But when I tried it out - it was hard for me to get out of - too low to the ground, and the door opening was a tad small. The Town Car is perfect in height and size - but the interior is only "Near Luxury" or maybe Near Livery, now. Doesn't work for me.
Rocky
Lincoln is still considered a Luxury brand by many people.. and a Lincoln buyer im sure would never consider setting foot at a Hynudai dealership no matter how good Hynudai makes its cars.
But Hyundai has begun to take the Toyota tactic of covering many segments of the market (econoboxes all the way to Avalon and Land Cruiser). Hyundai choice and quality continue to improve.
Hyundai does not seem to have any intention of becoming a luxury division. At the same time, when I do replace my present sedan, I will cross-shop Lincoln, Hyundai and others that provide a package that can meet my wants and needs.
5 years ago, I would absolutely not have - and would have been insulted if YOU compared a Lincoln to an Acura - because the Lincolns were luxury, and Acura has never truly been luxury - no V8 engines for one. However, things have changed. Acura is getting some real style inside going now, good features, and while still lacking an engine, Lincoln has moved down significantly, cheapening the brand to the point, that I now would consider them at par. Near, luxury. :sick:
We differ on that opinion, but then, that's why they're called opinions. I thought the TL was just too much - too many textures and materials, too many angles, too much bling. My wife said "it's very Japanese, very "Transformer" cartoon." Someone here used the phrase "Tokyo by night" and I think that's pretty accurate. I actually prefer the more understated current and future Lincoln interiors to the Acura. I did like the Lexus ES330 interior, though.
However, I'm a fuddy-duddy, and I miss the spartan interior of my Volvo 240.
As for rebadging - I don't get why Ford gets such a bad rap for that. Everybody does it. GM does it, Chrysler does it, Even Toyota does it to a limited degree, Hyundai does it, in a less obvious way.
Perhaps Ford is currently the King of Rebadge these days - but.....
US auto makers have no one to blame for themselves for their troubles. In the early 80's Reagan manipulated the currency market in an effort to curb Japanese imports. The Yen became very expensive. US auto makers responded by upping the price of their cars, piling benefits on the unions, and bloating their companies. Nothing (or nearly nothing) was put into advanced development - as is clearly evident now.
Nothing wrong with platform sharing. But if a struggling company like GM sees fit to take three relatively mediocre cars sharing the same platform like the Impala, Grand Prix and LaCrosse and not share one bit of external body among them, then I suspect they are taking a cue from those companies whose sales keep increasing year after year.
BTW, Elena Ford's approach to saving Mercury only raised sales from truly awful to bad, where they have now stalled. Lincoln may need Mercury, but on one else apparently does.
It was clearly just a V-6 front wheel drive, fleet sedan wearing a mask trying to dress up like something it wasn't.
Come to think of it, that sounds like the Zephyr, or whatever it's being called now.
Once they had ruined the Continental name with that embarassment, I guess I never paid attention again--Neither did the car buying public.
It was still the worst car Ford made. And it never recovered until about 98 - by then it was too late.
Rocky