I think Ford is just way out of touch with the luxury car market, Lincoln has no direction and is set on a crash course for failure. There really isn't anyone they compete with anymore, Cadillac has picked up and left them in the dust, and now 'a days a Buick is better built and more well equipped then a Lincoln, and at a fraction of the cost. They need to stop just stamping Lincoln badges on already existing Ford cars and only making minor tweaks. They need to introduce something that makes an impact, much like the CTS did for Cadillac. They got their s**t together and built a whole new car from the ground up, new engine, new platform, new everything, and look what it's achieved, it's one of the major reasons you can still go into a Cadillac dealership and buy a brand new car. Unfortunately for Lincoln, I feel it's too late for them to do so, the Luxury car world has left them behind.
I think Ford is just way out of touch with the luxury car market, Lincoln has no direction and is set on a crash course for failure. There really isn't anyone they compete with anymore, Cadillac has picked up and left them in the dust, and now 'a days a Buick is better built and more well equipped then a Lincoln, and at a fraction of the cost. They need to stop just stamping Lincoln badges on already existing Ford cars and only making minor tweaks. They need to introduce something that makes an impact, much like the CTS did for Cadillac. They got their s**t together and built a whole new car from the ground up, new engine, new platform, new everything, and look what it's achieved, it's one of the major reasons you can still go into a Cadillac dealership and buy a brand new car. Unfortunately for Lincoln, I feel it's too late for them to do so, the Luxury car world has left them behind.
While that may be true, wasn't the LS largely based off of a Jaguar? Basically a Jag under Lincoln skin? The CTS was literally built from the ground up with new parts and design. The LS also cost a significant amount more then the CTS did. I think the problem with sales is the price jump from the models they're replacing. Beamer and Benz people will have a hard time considering it because it's not a Beamer or a Benz, and the Cadillac people will have a hard time putting out the extra money. I don't think the cars themselves should be in question, from what I've seen in almost every review of them, people are loving them. I'm not saying that Lincoln should have tried to be a BMW fighter, but to me what they make now is just rebadged Ford models, practically everyone of them if not all of them. Cadillac might have the ATS and CTS that majorly compete with the German Imports, but I think they still make a nice American luxury car, the XTS and Escalade have really nothing European like about them. I just feel like Lincoln's glory days have long gone, and won't be returning for a while.
What ever, I would say the biggest rebadge is the Escalades (Tahoe,Yukon) and Navigators (Expedition) , but The XTS and Impala look more different then they do the same. I wouldn't be ashamed to own either, I think they're both very slick looking cars. I would love to own a new CTS but my Tahoe is still fairly new. I'm getting a Deville then a DTS anyway, I'd rather pay $4,000 for my dream car I want, but don't need then $50,000+. Still love my 04 CTS to death, I drove her brand new, and I'm going to drive her till she dies!
Maybe I exaggerated a bit, I'll be honest. The MKX was the last Lincoln I've been in though, so maybe it left a sour impression on me. As for Audi they're irrelevant to me, not to say they're bad cars, I just have never been interested in them before, not interested in them now, and most likely won't be interested in them in the future.
I haven't been in the new one yet. I'm sure they'll be updating the SRX soon, I prefer the first gen SRX myself, and you could get it with a V8. I almost bought one some years back, much like my CTS just a cross over.
