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Lincoln Bucks Conventional Wisdom With Future Flagship Plans | Edmunds.com
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Lincoln Bucks Conventional Wisdom With Future Flagship Plans | Edmunds.com
As Lincoln reinvents its brand, the automaker's strategy for a flagship vehicle likely will be significantly different than Cadillac's and that of the German luxury automakers.
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Lincoln is not a luxury brand, it is a re-badged Ford. The 2015 Navigator is a old suv with a new grill. I think ford has lost it's design team and is just using any idea they can get.
No Frill Luxury Brand is Lincoln. I think less popular and very less world are interest buy to trash new brand Lincoln. If Lincoln will move to China. it will be only Chinese Market. Lincoln will sentence to China for life.
@ Kokomojoe - I agree. The MKS is there top sedan, and it's based on an outdated Taurus that's no longer competitive, and the 3.7 liter option is really the only difference maker between the MKZ and the Fusion, and the Fusion looks better.
Lincoln could easily use Infiniti as a guideline to bring in some reputable success with enthusiasts. Redesign the MKS, call it the Continental, and make it a super luxury sedan with solid performance, even if Ford needs to use a redesigned version of the current Taurus chassis. There is no reason why they can't at least gain K900/Genesis sedan buyers with at least a historical nameplate. The MKZ should use a stretched version of the new Mustang chassis to provide both a sedan and coupe using some retro design inspiration from the 1960's Lincoln vehicles.
Ford has several options that appeal to the masses and enthusiasts, but Lincoln has become the new Mercury, and not in a good way.
The other day a commercial was on tv, with Lincoln comparing itself to Lexus. I asked my housemate, who's not really into cars, what he thinks of when he thinks of Lincoln. He thought for a moment and then said "umm...old people's car?" I replied that yeah, and that's part of the perception they've been trying to overcome. Then I asked him if he thought of it as a luxury brand and he said "Yeah, sort of, but it ain't no Lexus or BMW!"
Then, I asked him what he thought of when he thought of Cadillac, and the first thing that popped into his mind was the Escalade.
Anyway, if my housemate is any representation of the mainstream car buying public, Lincoln has a long way to go, to reinvent itself!
What is a Mark C, anyway? A rebadged Escape?! IMO, if you're going to be a luxury brand, this is NOT the way to go. However, Cadillac is guilty of this as well, with the SRX. And when you figure that other upscale brands re-badge things like CRV's, maybe it's not so bad. And perhaps the only reason BMW and Benz get away with their low-end cute utes is because they don't have downscale versions they're also peddling, as GM and Ford do with the Escape and Equinox.
I have to respect that a big car company like Ford has the resources to accurately gauge the wants and needs of their Lincoln brand’s target demographic. However, if I was president of Lincoln, I would resurrect some retired names and largely discard the MK-whatever nomenclature. Town Car would be my luxury barge – with other brands tending to emphasize a sporting feel, I’d make this one plush and cushy: think Rolls Royce, but of a size similar to an S-Class or 7-Series. Continental would be a “mid-size” luxury car, with a little sportiness thrown in, along the lines of a GS or E-Class, and probably based off the Taurus platform. 3.5L ecoboost as the top engine. Mark IX would be along the lines of a TL or Lacrosse, again emphasizing luxury over sport. FWD, powered by NA and FI 4’s. Now, as something of a “halo” car, I’d bring back the LS, based off the Mustang platform (so, RWD), with Mustang engines. It would definitely be more sporty, potentially on par with a 3-Series, and MUST include a drop top. As for the Navigator, I’d bring lightness to the platform, but there would be no radical departures. The MKX would be rebadged Aviator, and the MKC… I might rename Mariner (to resurrect a Mercury name). For S&G I’d toss out a one or two year run of a Mariner Marauder, with AWD and the ecoboost 3.5L. Yeah.
The LS was Fords last real ditched effort of a competitive luxury car was the LS which was designed by Helmuth Schrade and powered by Fords newer 3.0 all aluminum dura-tec V6, with the Jaguar based 3.9 V8.
I agree with Grrenpony on a couple of points. Drop the MK this and that name and think more upscale. Bring back the Continental name plate, and use the Coyote 5.0 V8 with DI and VVT, and use the 2.3 Eco-Boost as the base model. Make it a tweener car that is above a 5 Series but not quite an S-Class or 7 Series, and think luxury at an Equus price tag, perhaps slightly higher. Next get rid of the MKZ and bring back the LS or even Zephyr name and use the Mustang chassis and stretch it, also utilize the 2.3 Eco-Boost and an updated 3.7 liter V6 with of course VVT and DI for a top end model to at least challenge the 3/4 Series, Q50's of the world.
Also, Ford needs to do what Infiniti and Lexus have done and separate themselves from their lesser brand by having separate dealer lots.
GM has come a long way with Cadillac with the ATS and CTS, and hopefully Elmiraj. Lincoln however is very lost.
One of my coworkers, a longtime Lincoln fan, bought an LS when they first came out, and unfortunately it was so troublesome that he he swore off Lincoln forever and now leases Acuras. He started off with two used Mark VII's, an '87 that he bought, IIRC, in 1989 or so and then a '92 he bought used in '94. Those were both good cars, and he took each one up to around 175,000 miles before trading.
Well, he bought a V-6 LS when they first came out...2000 I think? It was nothing but trouble. I forget the issues now, but I think it had coolant problems and then the transmission went out, and then something else went bad. So they worked out some kind of deal where he got into a 2001 LS with a V-8 for a really good price. He never had any problems with it, but the first one scared him enough, that he traded the second one at 50,000 miles, leased a 2003 (I think) Acura TL, and has stayed with them ever since.
Shame, as I liked the LS. I thought it was a more noble effort than that Caddy that Zigs!
It's sad that Ford (who makes really nice products) can't seem to figure out how to create a luxury brand from their better platforms. Rebadging is as old as the hills and won't go away anytime soon, so figure out how to make it work. While you're at it, dump the silly MK this & that. It's been around a couple of years and I still can't figure it out.
I think there is a lot of copycat in most companies and professions. For many years BMW has been known for it's number series and M-B for it's letter series. But that doesn't mean you can jump into that for any vehicle line-up. Lincoln is particularly confusing and thus, hard to figure out or recall. I understand the significance of Mk to Lincoln and some of its successful or respected models. But this mishmash is ridiculous. What does the letter after Mk_ mean? Is it status, type of vehicle like sedan vs. truck? How do they relate? Does an MKZ trump an MKS because it's letter is higher or the opposite because an MKT cost more than an MKS, yet an MKZ cost less??? I don't think these monikers will ever stick with consumers like Continental or Premier did in the past. But in all fairness, some of the Asians are just as guilty.
I think Cadillac's convention, at least, makes a little sense, with ATS, CTS, XTS, as the cars get bigger the further you go up the alphabet, with the first letter. And I'd presume that "TS" is "Touring Sedan"?
The whole MK think really bugs me too. It's easier to simply say "Mark". Easier to type it, too, because I don't have to hold down the shift key to type two letters! As for what they mean, I guess MKZ is "Mark Zephyr", MKS is "Mark Sedan", MKT is "Mark Truck". MKX is "Mark X-over". And MKC is "Mark Cute-ute"?
I'd really love to see Lincoln be reborn and recapture some of its former glory. But for the time being, I think Lemko summed it up best a few years ago when he joked "Lincoln: What a Mercury SHOULD be!"
I think Lemko summed it up best a few years ago when he joked "Lincoln: What a Mercury SHOULD be!"
I think Lemko is spot on. Probably fits better than equating a Lincoln to a Buick.