RichardK

Current stock rating by Charles Schwab is a buy with positive ratings for cash flow strength, capital intensity, stock valuation, and geographical diversification. They give a neutral rating for efficient management of working capital. There are a couple of negatives related pure stock market metrics, not related to fundamentals.

That is a very nice car! As you can see I am a big fan of Fusion/Milan.

Acura sales were down 9% and Infinity down 23%. Lincoln sales are not too bad considering these numbers. If Lincoln could gain more traction, they have a shot at passing up Infinity some time in the future at least on a monthly basis. The current difference for the year is about 16,500 units.

The Juke reminds me of a Pontiac Aztec. Now there was ugly vehicle.

http://www.cars.com/lincoln/mkc/2015/expert-reviews?reviewId=61520

Lincoln needs to break some new ground, instead of just offering a line up that mirrors other luxury brands. A Mustang based model is a great idea. I always thought Mercury could have continued on with some niche models. That is probably only because I am a Mercury fan. Now Lincoln will have to carry on.

In the soundbites at media.ford, they said the average time an MKC is on the ground at a dealership is 10 days. This tells me the lack of supply is holding sales down.

Here is another one.... http://www.autoblog.com/2014/06/09/2015-lincoln-mkc-first-drive-review/

This seems to be a fair review, but I think it deserves 4 stars. I have been following Jerry Reynolds for over 10 years. He has a car show on the radio. Before that he owned several Ford, Lincoln, and Mazda dealerships. He was a multiple year president of the Ford Dealer Council.

You have the option of doing that. However, there can be equity on a lease trade in. Also, you can sell the vehicle, payoff the lease balance and pocket any equity. Remember, leasing is not renting. You are financing the depreciation, instead of the whole car. I have only leased since 1997 and it has worked out well. I always drive something new and it is never out of warranty.

No pre-production units or test prototypes are included. These are real production models as reported by the factory. However, it could be classified as "test builds" to get the kinks out of the assembly line and to check the fit and finish or train the workers. I am not sure if these actually get sold. I doubt it. When production of the Fusion at Flat Rock started, these small quantities showed up as well for a month or two.

The current issue of the Automotive News dated September 9th in the production statistics section reflects that 13 MKC's have been built

Not so hard to understand, when you consider, the foreign manufacturers were basically non existent in the U.S. during 1961. Toyota and Volkswagen were just starting up. Now we have over 12 car companies, in addition to the "big 3" of 1961.

I bought my 2006 Mercury Milan Premier because, in my opinion, it looked better than the comparable Fusion of the time. It was about the same price and has that imitation wood trim on the dash, which I grew to like. I wish Mercury was still around.

Similar maybe?

A special award should go to Bill Ford for hiring Mulally in the first place. He had the foresight to know the job of CEO had gotten beyond him and recognized that Mulally was the best person for the job. It took guts to go outside of the auto industry for a CEO and then keep the Ford family at bay to let Alan do his job.

I was referring to bringing Lincoln up to current industry design standards with updated platforms. They have already done that with the MKZ. You have to admit, as good as it was, the Town Car was very outdated. The platform was 30 years old. Lincoln has very good build quality and dependability. Land Rover has had problems for many years, even though, Ford made improvements.

I know Ford had to sell their global luxury brands to raise cash during a bad time. However, it seems merging Lincoln dealers with Land Rover dealers would have been a perfect combination and basically no overlap or duplication of models. This would have given them a strong presence in the SUV market. Then, they would only have to bring Lincoln cars up to current standards. Of course, they would have to do something with Jaguar. I am not sure if it could have been separated from Land Rover and sold. Lincoln/Land Rover dealers would have stronger sales volumes to offset the loss of Mercury. The MKC looks like it was designed off the Evoque, anyway.

The problem with any review, especially a magazine, is they have to say something negative or nit pick at least one of the vehicles. MT cannot say everything is fine because readers would then not care. Consumer Reports is notorious for doing the same thing. Seems they, in particular, try to create sensationalism or controversy. That is how these publications can generate additional subscriptions or website activity.

Finally made it to this site. Lots of good information. Glad to be here.