akirby

It was launched with the 2011 Edge, not the Escape.

Most Ford vehicles do use CAN bus and have for years.

Sync includes the USB ports whether or not you get MFT.

More importantly it means the government can't take away the guns you already own.

All of those incentives will show up when the dealer runs a Vincent report.

Why do you think the mfrs keep going back and forth on FWD midsized coupes? Because THEY DON'T SELL that well. They never have. If they did then everyone would have one like they do now with midsized sedans. In the C class they sell far more hatchbacks than coupes.

So obviously what Ford needs to build is an expensive RWD diesel powered coupe station wagon that laps the 'Ring in 7:00 flat because that's what EVERYBODY says they should build. Only 5 people would actually buy one but just think of all the bench races it will win and all the kudos from the enthusiasts and media. Some of you people need to learn how to read sales charts.

For the thousandth time - you can't correlate what people SAY they want with what they actually buy. Just go look at the sales figures. The numbers don't lie. There IS a place for a Lincoln halo car just like Lexus F, Audi R, BMW M and MB AMG. Just not RIGHT NOW when the brand is trying to rebuild itself from the ground up. What you're saying is that a football team trying to rebuild and having no good players should spend ALL of their money and draft picks on ONE player out of 22. ONE superstar player cannot carry a team if the rest of the team is terrible. You don't rebuild an entire brand by putting all your money and resources into ONE halo car. It's stupid. That money is better spent on 3 or 4 really good vehicles that can be sold in greater volume.

Which proves my point - there isn't much volume to be found in selling an expensive luxury coupe. It's a niche market at best.

2 years ago they had not commited to the new Lincoln turnaround plan. Lincoln was still on the back burner. The plan for dealer upgrades has only come about in the last year or so. If your dealer is terrible then I understand your frustration. I'm sure Ford is just as frustrated at their inability to control dealers and provide a better dealership experience right now.

Both of those articles are by the same writer and reference the same Automotive News article which says this: Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20121128/OEM/121129878#ixzz2GYLgQvcR

But there are plenty of coupes available from luxury mfrs and the sales numbers for those simply do not support your case. You can't ignore statistics just because you don't like the answer.

They've been working on it for over a year now. It's up to the dealers to spend the money - Ford can't force them and they can't afford to pay for it themselves. It will take several years. The important thing is that it's underway and there is a plan.

Or they could just make it absolutely clear that the ordered vehicle may not be delivered until at least 3 months after the job 1 date. People want to pre-order vehicles whether they encourage it or not. The best solution is to manage expectations better.

Differentiating a Lincoln from a Ford that shares the same platform is VITAL to Lincolns long term success. But the styling has to be awesome or it won't matter. The people who cry about Lincoln being rebadged Fords or "not good enough" are not the target buyers.

I haven't heard anything about mailing it to owners.

I tried to let this go the first time but I can't stand it any more. It's "patience". Patients are what you find in a hospital. [/Pet Peeve]

Normal acceleration to get up to speed is better than accelerating very slowly trying to stay in EV mode. Once at speed, pulse and glide is supposed to yield the best results and keep it at 60 mph or slower. Learn to anticipate stops and coast as much as possible (works for all vehicles). I've found I can let off the gas hundreds of yards before a stop and coast without going too slowly. Learn to coast as much as possible when going downhill. When going uphill don't try to keep the same speed - let it drop a little. Using 100% gasoline will help instead of E-10 if you can find it.

How many different body styles does the best selling Camry use?

The difference is the previous crop of "volume vehicles" aren't good enough. They look too much like their Ford counterparts and don't offer enough differentiation. If the new ones don't offer this differentiation then they too will be doomed to mediocre sales. Thankfully that's not the plan and the new "volume vehicles" will be even more different than the MKZ and that's why they can be way more successful.

Per unit profit doesn't matter if you can't sell enough units.

What people say they want and what they actually buy are 2 different things. Expensive RWD coupes simply don't sell very well so it's difficult to make a business case for U.S. only sales. The Germans sell theirs worldwide which helps with volume. Lincoln could build one but not at the expense of other more profitable vehicles.

Go compare sales of $50K+ luxury coupes and $40k+ sedans and crossovers and SUVs and get back to us.

Maybe your dealer doesn't have any allocation?

As soon as the OK to buy has been given the retail orders are scheduled and that happened a week or two ago. This is not a secret and the dealers have all of this information if they want to go get it. You do understand that not even Ford knows exactly when Ok to buy will happen - it's based on attaining 5 straight days of error free builds. Could be 1 week or 5 weeks. It sucks from a planning perspective and frustrating if you're waiting for a vehicle but without that process they would not have found the headlight problems so quickly and there would be more problems with early retail orders so it's a double edged sword. Buyers have grown to expect incentives from domestic vehicles even if they're brand new. I believe Ford calculates this into their pricing so they can offer a small incentive from day one if necessary.