Lincoln Continental is Dead?

Joeychgo

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 2, 2004
Messages
6,050
Reaction score
118
Location
Chicago, IL
2017-Lincoln-Continental-610x336.jpg


It’s not something a Lincoln aficionado, or even anyone with a general appreciation for history, wants to hear, but sources with knowledge of Ford Motor Company’s product plans claim the Lincoln Continental is headed for the grave.

Speaking to Ford Authority, the sources claim Lincoln’s full-size flagship sedan won’t see a second generation, with parent company Ford choosing to pull the plug and discontinue the slow-selling model instead.

Weak sales and the high cost of developing the model seem to have played a role in the decision. The automaker invested over $1 billion to bring the model back to the market in late 2016, the sources say, and the model’s slow sales aren’t refilling the coffers.

If true, it’s not exactly a shock, as other vehicles built on the same CD4 platform —Ford’s Fusion and Lincoln’s MKZ — don’t seem to have a future, either. Ford hasn’t committed to the production of those vehicles after 2020, and recently halted the development program for the next-generation Fusion. Nor will any new Fusion hail from China or Europe, the company states. (The longer Continental rides atop a modified version of the CD4 platform.)

While some Fusions and MKZs undergo assembly in Mexico, the Continental is an all-American affair, rolling out of Michigan’s Flat Rock assembly plant.

17LincolnContinental_18_HR-610x407.jpg


Hope for a next-generation Continental sprang from Ford’s development of the modular, and very versatile, CD6 platform, which can be configured for front-, rear-, or all-wheel-drive applications. However, a source close to the company tells TTAC that, as of now, the platform isn’t expected to underpin any passenger car, just the upcoming rear-drive 2020 Explorer and its Lincoln crossover sibling.

Under former CEO Mark Fields, the CD6 platform was expected to form the basis of the next-gen Fusion, MKZ, Mustang, and Continental, the source said.

Despite the fanfare surrounding its launch, Lincoln’s reborn Continental couldn’t escape the curse afflicting other passenger cars. As popularity of trucks and SUVs grew, something had to give. Lincoln passenger car sales fell 32.6 percent in the U.S. in February, and 36 percent over the first two months of 2018, dragging down the brand as well as Ford Motor Company as a whole.

Continental sales fell to the lowest point ever last month, sinking below the figure recorded in its first month on the market (September 2016). Just 751 of the big sedans left U.S. dealer lots in February, with Canadians buyers only snapping up 31. Last year, the Continental’s first full year on the market, volume reached 12,012 units in the U.S. and 576 in Canada.

In contrast, Cadillac’s aging (but recently refreshed) XTS front-driver recorded 16,275 sales in the U.S. last year, down from over 22,000 the year before. Canadians picked up 729 versions of the less-prestigious sedan.

We’ve yet to receive confirmation or denial of the Continental’s discontinuation from Ford, though media reps are always loathe to comment on the company’s future product plans. We’ll update this post when we hear back.

17LincolnContinental_07_HR-610x255.jpg


Source: Death Comes to the Lincoln Continental? - The Truth About Cars
 
Don't know......I do know that the sedan market is on a downward spiral for awhile now. Nothing new here. My gut is telling me they used this as a key indicator to really pull even harder for the next gen. It may get that tri-lateral chassis: FWD, AWD, and RWD (D6). By compiling what they had learned for the current gen the next gen will be even better. If they feel like continuing from a cost stand point. I read some where that Lincoln might be partnering up with LUCID look this up everyone, look at the style of their cars. Very aggressive futuristic looking. They have all EV abilities and what not. Because Ford and Lincoln will be going electric pretty quickly by 2020 and 2022. 2022 being the next-gen Continental. So I think this gloom and doom is unnecessary for now. Would really like to see what they do by next year. By next year they should have concrete info on their outlook for all of us.

It is sad though to go through all this and end up discontinuing when trucks and SUV's are dominating. No one knows anything for sure though. Possibly the Continental could be an SUV atop the Navigator as a creme' de' le creme elegance status symbol. My take is Bill Ford Jr. does know what he is doing, although hiring Jim Hackett as the new CEO was a bad choice. This guy is too much of a damn bean counter. These types of people kill car companies. Yea you need to know where you stand financially into the future, but don't cut costs so much that your product development in certain segments flys out the window. This is a short term strategy here. It's BS. They have to think long term!! This is what ticks me off. Fields did a beyond fantastic job IMHO, he was a car guy, whom we can thank keeping the GT super car, Mustang, alum. F-150 and Navi, and the Continental. So this Hackett guy comes in and cuts everything for a stock price.....?? Yea I think by next year Hackett will be fired. That's my gut reaction. He is undoing everything Mulally did. Ford Fusion has 96,000 configurations Hackett cut it to just 96. So we can only buy white, grey, silver, and black, with a 2.7l Ecoboost with FWD. This is kind of an example as to what I'm talking about "short term" granted I would write even more but it will be a loooooooonnnngggg business novel that I would lose everybody in. Business is one of my biggest passions and cars takes the front seat of that. It is a bad time for full size sedans right now, plus with tariffs on alum. and steel it will be tight until something can be a better indicator for product development.

Looks like I'll be holding onto my Conti forever. Which I was going to do any way for those that know me on LVC. :)

Happy Motoring
 
american sedans especially just aren't selling in north america. trucks and suv's are the money makers.
and as svets96 mentions, electrification puts another factor in to decide about continuing low sales models. there will be a lot of development costs there.

you can reform lincoln around a whole electric base which might turn it around. tesla is probably the only company with increasing sedan sales.
making a higher end car will help offset some of the development costs. whose tech would trickle down to lower models.
 
Dealer Mark up over Pricing maybe those are the Main reason !
local Ford dealer Putting $10k markup on RS Focus .
I think Telsa No Dealers Is the wave of the Future
 

Members online

No members online now.
Back
Top