Interesting move by Lincoln

Upstairs Chris

Upstairs Chris

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http://jalopnik.com/5963960/no-car-at-the-lincoln-stand-is-newer-than-1961

It's like they are aware that there current lineup is terrible. This isn't the kind of action a company on the verge of being chopped takes though. To me it says, "Hey look, our current cars suck and we know it, but this is what we came from, and this is the kind of greatness were going to try and get back too."

Instead of re posting what I've already said, I'll just link you to this.
http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/showpost.php?p=2037249406&postcount=13

I still strongly feel we will see a rebirth of Lincoln within 5 years.
 
LOL... "Lincoln was once the Cadillac of cars, now it's the Mitsubishi of luxury brands at best."
 
Five years is wildly optimistic. Doubt they could do it in less than 7 to 10 years. At this point it may not be worth it.

Best case I can see is as follows - new Mustang is 2 years away. If a Lincoln is to be built off of that chassis it would take another 3 - 4 years. That's just one decent model 5 to 6 years away.

Reviving the brand will take longer than that. Cadillac is already into the 10th year (16 if you count the Catera as the start, which I would) of their revival plan and IMHO they are just getting close to reviving the brand. I think once the third generation CTS is released in 2014, Cadillac will be what it once was. So 12 to 18 years depending how you count.
 
i drove a Catera for a while. it was kinda fun actually. build quality was awful and we dumped it asap, but fun nonetheless.
 
pragmatic said:
Five years is wildly optimistic. Doubt they could do it in less than 7 to 10 years. At this point it may not be worth it.

Best case I can see is as follows - new Mustang is 2 years away. If a Lincoln is to be built off of that chassis it would take another 3 - 4 years. That's just one decent model 5 to 6 years away.

Reviving the brand will take longer than that. Cadillac is already into the 10th year (16 if you count the Catera as the start, which I would) of their revival plan and IMHO they are just getting close to reviving the brand. I think once the third generation CTS is released in 2014, Cadillac will be what it once was. So 12 to 18 years depending how you count.
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Perhaps I should have elaborated more. I didn't necessarily mean a total and complete revival. More so of the signs of an honest effort really, an attempt at least. I think if this is indeed the agenda of Ford, then I believe we will see the beginnings of it within 5 years.
 
Chris,

I read your analysis in the other thread regarding Lincoln and you did have a lot of valid points there.

I personally think even if they pushed restart button within the next 5 years, most of the German car companies will be offering more for less by then. They will find themselves in the same position as they are currently in.
Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Jaguar are all coming out with a few new models within the next 2 years. And, you will start seeing a lot of diesel cars that average over 40 mpg by both MB, BMW and Audi very soon. It will hard to get consumer's attention once that happens.

The management at Lincoln is just not effective at taking advantages of serendipities. I really hope I am wrong about Lincoln and truly want them to make a comeback, but i suspect only time will tell.
 
I still say the LS was the best attempt of a modern Lincoln by far.

Not these baleen whale fwd tuxedo fords!
 
From this video at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, it seems that Lincoln is looking to offer "a better, personal, automotive experience (Sales and service?)". It does not seem that it is looking to be the most luxurious, the sportiest, or even the most technical cars out there. Lincoln seems to want to be a brand selling an "experience".

Youth or "enthusiest" type drivers are not a primary focus. IMHO

http://youtu.be/5nnDZ58KIiU?t=34s
 
I just hope they can get it together like the blue oval side of the house. I'd be upset to see Lincoln hit the chopping block.

In that video you posted I do like that rear end, although it appears to not leave much for trunk space.
 
Back in the day (1/2001) when Lincoln hosted a mini-seminar & autocross in Irvine and then VP of Marketing, Jim Rogers explained Lincoln's thinking with the LS. He said they did a study and the average Lincoln buyer was ~62. They did another study 10 years later and the average buyer was ~72. He said it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that lincoln would be out of buyers real soon! The LS was supposed to attract the upper 30something to early 40s German (BMW) buyer. Lincoln even acquired a 5-series to base-line the LS. The dealer network had everything to do with the demise of the LS; they were selling them as baby Continentals to blue-hairs. Very few dealers knew what they had and how to sell it!

IMHO, Lincoln is in critical condition on life support. I have seen NOTHING to convince me to buy a Lincoln now, nor in the future. With the exception of 2 Plymouth Arrows, a Mitsubishi Sapporo and a Civic I have owned nothing but Blue Oval offerings. That will end with my next purchase. I am leaning heavily toward the Genesis (5.0, of course!)!
 
pragmatic said:
new Mustang is 2 years away. If a Lincoln is to be built off of that chassis it would take another 3 - 4 years.
Click to expand...

why is that, there was not much time between releases of the MKS/Taurus, Edge/MKX, Mazda6/fusion/Zepher, Expedition/Navigator... they design and build the car pretty much at the same time to be more efficient. hell ford used to kick the newest and best out with the Lincoln first, like how the Mark 8 came out with the mod motor a year before the mustang did!
 
LS4me said:
Back in the day (1/2001) when Lincoln hosted a mini-seminar & autocross in Irvine then VP of Marketing, Jim Rogers explained Lincoln's thinking with the LS. he said they did a study and the average Lincoln buyer was ~62. They did another study 10 years later and the average buyer was ~72. He said it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that lincoln would be out of buyers real soon! The LS was supposed to attract the upper 30something to early 40s German (BMW) buyer. Lincoln even acquired a 5-series to base-line the LS. The dealer network had everything to do with the demise of the LS; they were selling them as baby Continentals to blue-hairs. Very few dealers knew what they had and how to sell it!

IMHO, Lincoln is in critical condition on life support. I have seen NOTHING to convince me to buy a Lincoln now, nor in the future. With the exception of 2 Plymouth Arrows, a Mitsubishi Sapporo and a Civic I have owned nothing but Blue Oval offerings. That will end with my next purchase. I am leaning heavily toward the Genesis (5.0, of course!)!
Click to expand...

So true!!!
 
BlackLS06 said:
I still say the LS was the best attempt of a modern Lincoln by far.

Not these baleen whale fwd tuxedo fords!
Click to expand...

But! But! What about...

lincoln-mkr---03_ab_450.jpg



Oh MKR... *sigh*
Honestly, I thought this car was gonna be epic. Then I saw the interior :yuck:

Mini continental? No wonder the LS marketing was a flop..
 
1LoudLS said:
why is that, there was not much time between releases of the MKS/Taurus, Edge/MKX, Mazda6/fusion/Zepher, Expedition/Navigator... they design and build the car pretty much at the same time to be more efficient. hell ford used to kick the newest and best out with the Lincoln first, like how the Mark 8 came out with the mod motor a year before the mustang did!
Click to expand...

Ford will not allow Lincoln (nor should they) to offer a badge engineered Mustang. If that's what they are going to offer then why bother, just ax Lincoln and spend the money making better Fords and offer an option package on the Mustang that makes it more of a personal luxury coupe.

If a Lincoln is to built off of the Mustang chassis it would need to be a four door and similar in size to the LS (if anything the market for a slightly smaller car is probably larger). As far as I know none of the work on such a vehicle has been started.

Ford has been making the current Mustang since 2005 and working on its replacement for 3 or so years already. Even with 3 years the are just offering a restyled 2005 with few mechanical changes (IRS about the only real mechanical change). With this as a track record I doubt a 4 door Lincoln based on the 2015 chassis could be released before 2018.

That being the case, if the current Lincolns (based on warmed over Fords) don't sell well, I don't see Ford keeping Lincoln around for five more years of dismal sales. If the current Lincolns do sell well over the next 5 years there is no reason to offer a sportier RWD car that has less profit potential than the current (Fords with lock washers to bring back an old saying) line up.
 
Ranchero50 said:
The LS was pretty much a chassis design for the '05+ Mustang
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Yes and no. Ford started with the LS but by the time they were done little remained. None of the suspension is common. According to an article in CarCraft on the 2005 Mustang (see below) only some floorplan stampings carried over. Front and rear suspension is from Mazda 3 and Volvo S40 (same front, and rear with a solid axle with trailing arms using the same attachment points as the IRS rears in the Mazda and Volvo)

From CarCraft:
"This new chassis, designated D2C and known as S197 when underpinning a Mustang, shares some floorpan stampings with the DEW98 chassis, the foundation of the Lincoln LS and '02 Thunderbird, but the suspension architecture more closely resembles Ford's DC1 chassis, a global endeavor developed in conjunction with Mazda and Volvo. The D2C's front MacPherson struts and rear trailing arms use the same attachment points as those found in Mazda 3s and Volvo S40s. While those cars have four-wheel independent suspensions, the decision was made early on to build all versions of the upcoming Mustang with a solid rear axle, to the delight of drag racers and horror of nearly everyone else."

Read more: http://www.carcraft.com/featuredveh...g_model_comparison/viewall.html#ixzz2DedXiDjg
"
 
right now is to early to tell the good indication of lincoln will start with the new 2013 MKZ if that car sells well and the new 2015 MKS has similar style then it will buy them some time until they get their linup ready with a RWD platform. if the MKZ dont sell well then they will be in trouble so lets wait and see one other thing they should do fast is a new NAVIGATOR or as they will call it the LINCOLN MKN LOL.
 
voyeur said:
From this video at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, it seems that Lincoln is looking to offer "a better, personal, automotive experience (Sales and service?)". It does not seem that it is looking to be the most luxurious, the sportiest, or even the most technical cars out there. Lincoln seems to want to be a brand selling an "experience".

Youth or "enthusiest" type drivers are not a primary focus. IMHO

http://youtu.be/5nnDZ58KIiU?t=34s
Click to expand...

More than 8 minutes of blah blah blah blah before they unveiled the car. That won't cut it mister.

This reminds me of my first real bicycle, a Huffy "Thunder Road". Looked like a motocross bike advertised like a motocross bike, and had a number board nerf pads and all like a motocross bike. However, there was a little sticker on the seat post that read "Caution! Not for off road use" (Not a real bicycle)

They should have stickers on Lincolns that read "Caution! Comparing this vehicle with real Sports Luxury Sedans will lead to embarrassment and an uncontrollable urge to sell this Bitch!"
 
I'm subscribed to the Lincoln page on facebook. Every day i'm reminded of how they think the new mkz is so great. They post about it pretty much everyday.

But today They posted something a little different., Caught my attention.
Its a video saying "get ready" and implies that we will see something new in 2 days on DEC 3rd. They show the current 2013 mks (i think) and then the interior of the 2013 mkz, but then at about 31 seconds, they show an interior which i have not seen before. Its not the 13 mkz because it does not have push button gear selector, and it appears to have real leather dash.

Anyway I know were probably a long ways away from seeing something any of us would want to buy from lincoln, but I still get excited about seeing what the next car they design will look like. Maybe its the anticipated small Lincoln car based on the focus or whatever or possibly the small suv based on the escape. Could be a concept, or even a 2014 mkx. who knows.. I can dream that its a v8 rwd flagship, but very unlikely.

who knows.. here's the video and i guess well see in 2 days.

Get Ready - YouTube


edit. I guess the interior at the end is the current mkx. I just dont know why they would post this video unles is was in anticipation of a new car reveal.. I hope so
 
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T-Money said:
You'll never see that produced by lincoln. That was a concept car from way back in 2007. Since then lincoln has a new designer and a different design direction for their cars.
Click to expand...

And a different model target. All they're interested in now is producing FWD appliances with the latest electronic gizmos. "Fun to drive" isn't in Lincoln's vocabulary anymore.
 
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