The Trouble with Lincoln

[P71_CrownVic]

Ford has big plans for Lincoln. But then, Ford has always had big plans for Lincoln. It just never gets around to executing them. This time, though, insist Dearborn insiders, it's different: We really do have big plans for Lincoln.

 

How big? Well try these soundbites on for size:

 

"The Lincoln brand is going to be the volume piece of the Lincoln-Mercury franchise." - Mark Fields, executive vice president.

 

"I'm very interested in Lincoln's evolution as a global brand." - Jim Farley group vice president marketing and communications.

 

Uh, okay.

 

First, saying Lincoln is going to be the volume piece of the Lincoln-Mercury franchise is a little bit like saying you're going to be the healthiest guy in intensive care. In product terms, Mercury long ago ceased being anything more than a Ford with different jewelry. There is no compelling reason to buy a Mercury over a Ford; no unique selling proposition. We know it. More importantly, even the most disinterested customers know it. Mercury is a shadow brand, doomed to be locked in an eternal embrace with the Blue Oval until it dies of boredom.

 

Against that background, it's kinda obvious Lincoln, which at least gets some clear differentiation on products like the MKZ and the newly launched MKS, as well as the stalwart Navigators, is going to outsell Mercury.

 

Lincoln as a global brand? Now, that's a real stretch. Here's the problem: BMW wasn't built in a day. Back in the early 60s the company was broke, and didn't really discover who it was until the 1970s and the launch of the 2002tii. The sleek, shiny, all-powerful BMW you see today is the product of 35 years of intense focus, consistent development and meticulous execution. Ford has trouble doing anything consistently for 35 months.

 

(Remember how the Jaguar F1 team was going to be the next Ferrari? When the green cars failed to look like championship winners in three years, Ford got antsy and closed the program down. By contrast until 1999 Ferrari had raced for 16 years without winning the constructors' championship, and 20 years without winning a drivers' title.)

 

Cadillac has discovered how tough it is to re-establish its credentials as a luxury brand outside the U.S. It's at least 10 years ahead of Lincoln already, but probably has another 15 years of hard graft ahead of it before it can truly run with the Germans and the Japanese. Does Ford have the stomach -- or, more importantly, the money -- for that? I don't see it right now.

 

And anyway, the new Lincoln MKS is the wrong car.

 

Why? Because it's built on the wrong vehicle architecture. As it's based on a front drive platform, the dash-to-axle ratio (that is, the distance from the base of the A-pillar to the front axle centerline) just doesn't compute for a luxury car, never mind an American luxury car. Despite the strong Lincoln front end graphic and nice interior -- great work under difficult circumstances from Peter Horbury -- its proportion and stance scream "Japanese".

 

Mercedes-Benz and BMW -- front engine, rear drive and therefore with a longer dash-to-axle ratio -- have come to define the look of the modern luxury sedan. It's why Toyota has spent billions on making Lexus sedans all rear drive (the lukewarm Camry-based ES350 exists only in the U.S. as a sop to an ageing customer base) and why Audi is spending big on shifting the engines back and the front axles forward on all its new vehicles.

 

But the problem with the MKS is more than that. It's more, too, than the fact no matter how good it might be, a twin-turbo V-6 is no substitute for a V-8 under the hood in this segment. It's this: The MKS shares little -- if any -- hardware with any other Lincoln in production today. Given the quality of the rest of the lineup, that's no bad thing. But it's hard to see how the MKS architecture can be scaled to deliver a family of Lincoln models.

 

BMW basically builds one car a dozen different ways. From 1-series to 7-series, BMWs are all front engined, rear drive cars (even the all-wheel drive X3s and X5s are based off the same fundamental architecture). They can share powertrains, transmissions, and other major components across a large number of models, across the lineup. The MKS is an orphan. It can't be shrunk down to deliver a new MKZ with unique Lincoln DNA; nor can it be pumped up to created a credible, modern, competitive Lincoln Town Car replacement.

 

What we see with the MKS is the same sort of thinking that got Jaguar into such a mess. With the X-Type based off the Ford Mondeo, the S-Type sharing DEW98 architecture with the Lincoln LS, and the XK and XJ built off reworked versions of two completely different platforms, Jaguar ended up building four completely different cars. It might have looked like a model range, but there were virtually no synergies under the skin. The argument that cost savings could come from horizontal integration -- by sharing the development of common components and architectures with like sized Ford and Volvo models, for example -- only made sense to beancounters in Dearborn.

 

Making Lincoln a real luxury car brand again is not rocket science. All Ford needs to do is do what Cadillac is doing, what Lexus has done -- follow the lead of BMW and Mercedes-Benz: Build one car several different ways. Lincoln needs a small car. It needs a medium car. It needs a full-sized car. It needs a couple of coupe and wagon variants of those. And it needs a couple of crossovers. But it needs to be able deliver all those with a consistent and uniquely Lincoln DNA that's obvious to customers.

 

MT

[BlackHorse]

blah blah blah. Talk is cheap. We'll just have to wait and see what really happens with Lincoln. They can have all the big plans they want, but they have to get customers in the showrooms and they have to sell them cars.

[LincolnFan]

I may not know much about cars, but I do know that a V6 FWD land barge Lincoln at these critical times is such a big mistake.

 

It might get some customers, but they're not Lincoln buyers... they're buying an Acura, not a Lincoln for crying out loud.

[suv_guy_19]

I may not know much about cars, but I do know that a V6 FWD land barge Lincoln at these critical times is such a big mistake.

 

It might get some customers, but they're not Lincoln buyers... they're buying an Acura, not a Lincoln for crying out loud.

 

 

It's a good thing that we have someone from Saudi Arabia to tell us what will and will not work in the NA market. I don't know what we'd do without that. :rolleyes:

Edited December 9, 2007 by suv_guy_19

[jpd80]

Lincoln's truck sales are up because of new products so now, do the same with cars.

I think the MKS will work well for Lincoln but they need something else as well.

[Edstock]

"Ford has big plans for Lincoln. But then, Ford has always had big plans for Lincoln. It just never gets around to executing them. This time, though, insist Dearborn insiders, it's different: We really do have big plans for Lincoln."

 

Wrong from the second sentence. The problem is that Dearborn hasn't had any big plans for Lincoln.

 

Well, that's changing.

 

"The MKS shares little -- if any -- hardware with any other Lincoln in production today. Given the quality of the rest of the lineup, that's no bad thing. But it's hard to see how the MKS architecture can be scaled to deliver a family of Lincoln models."

 

I didn't know Licoln had a quality control problem, and if it's hard to see how the MKS architecture can be scaled to deliver a family of Lincoln models, somebody should sit down with him at a CAD station and show him.

[BlackHorse]

It's a good thing that we have someone from Saudi Arabia to tell us what will and will not work in the US market. I don't know what we'd do without that. :rolleyes:

 

O Canada!

Our home and native land!

True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee

 

Oh shit, wait a minute. What was that about the "US market" again SUV? LOL

[suv_guy_19]

O Canada!

Our home and native land!

True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee

 

Oh shit, wait a minute. What was that about the "US market" again SUV? LOL

 

 

I never made an observation about the US market . That said, the US and Canadian markets are not very different. Canadians in general prefer slightly smaller cars. I don't. Perhaps I should have said NA market, the most important overall market for this car.

Edited December 9, 2007 by suv_guy_19

[rkisler]

I'm very happy to be told by Angus that Audi is not a luxury brand because it is FWD-based.

[P71_CrownVic]

It's a good thing that we have someone from Saudi Arabia to tell us what will and will not work in the NA market. I don't know what we'd do without that. :rolleyes:

Thats why I'm here. :P

[SVT_MAN]

If Lincoln has quality problems, why is it that Lincoln was quite far up in JD Power & Associates ?

[BlackHorse]

If Lincoln has quality problems, why is it that Lincoln was quite far up in JD Power & Associates ?

 

JD Powers conspires against imports!!! Yeah, that's it, that's the ticket!!! lol

[SVT_MAN]

I actually think it's the same old story of any car guy: you think what you want to, and you hear what you want to. Ford guys, including myself, are apt to do the same thing. This is true for *insert brand here* fans too ...

 

If you read something that supports your brand, you post it everywhere possible. If you read something that is against your brand, you either push it in the corner or you defend your brand against what the article says. Car guys are funny like that. It's funny how a badge can inspire such loyalty ...

[DCK]

It's a good thing that we have someone from Saudi Arabia to tell us what will and will not work in the NA market. I don't know what we'd do without that. :rolleyes:

I am sure Ford had the same ignorant philosphy while the stumbled down the sales and profit charts.

[suv_guy_19]

I am sure Ford had the same ignorant philosphy while the stumbled down the sales and profit charts.

 

 

I sure as hell hope it wasn't as negative as that employed by certain individuals. The car hasn't even been launched yet and we don't even have final details. There is no reason to write it off, especially when you don't have first hand information of its largest market. What was that about ignorant philosophies again?

[CarShark]

I actually think it's the same old story of any car guy: you think what you want to, and you hear what you want to. Ford guys, including myself, are apt to do the same thing. This is true for *insert brand here* fans too ...

 

If you read something that supports your brand, you post it everywhere possible. If you read something that is against your brand, you either push it in the corner or you defend your brand against what the article says. Car guys are funny like that. It's funny how a badge can inspire such loyalty ...

It's not funny. The word you're looking for there is stupid. It's like logic no longer is held in any regard. The knee-jerk defensiveness and name-calling gets old quickly. You can't express your opinion without being called a troll, and directed to another forum. You should see the threads at GMI where the Malibu gets a less-than-perfect review. Pure crap.

 

I agree with this article wholeheartedly. I don't know if Ford is going to stick with a global Lincoln for the long haul, and even they do, I think the MKS isn't good enough.

[NickF1011]

I agree with this article wholeheartedly. I don't know if Ford is going to stick with a global Lincoln for the long haul, and even they do, I think the MKS isn't good enough.

 

Yeesh, it's not like Lincoln is going to be stuck with the MKS as-is for the next 20 years. It's not a Town Car after all. It will evolve and improve as Lincoln's market share and revenues improve. So far that plan seems to be working for Lincoln as a whole. No reason to abandon that philosophy now. Slow improvement is the name of the game and so far Lincoln has done it pretty well.

[CarShark]

Yeesh, it's not like Lincoln is going to be stuck with the MKS as-is for the next 20 years. It's not a Town Car after all. It will evolve and improve as Lincoln's market share and revenues improve. So far that plan seems to be working for Lincoln as a whole. No reason to abandon that philosophy now. Slow improvement is the name of the game and so far Lincoln has done it pretty well.

But it'll still be a slow improvement from a bad start. You only get one chance to make a good impression, and this car seems to be blowing it.

[Ford Jellymoulds]

O Canada!

Our home and native land!

True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee

 

Oh shit, wait a minute. What was that about the "US market" again SUV? LOL

 

Everybody is at it.

The head of a group that represents Jaguar car dealers in the U.S. is warning Ford Motor Co. against selling its premium Jaguar brand to either of two interested bidders from India because of what he called "unique image issues."

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119...4814016075.html

 

Did anybody watch the Floyd Mayweather v Ricky Hatton fight at the weekend, l have got to say l apologise for the toss pots who booed your national anthem they shamed the UK and Ricky, they got a lot of bad press for it from the UK press, the best man won we were totally outclassed by Floyd and the US crowd.

Edited December 10, 2007 by Ford Jellymoulds

[TomServo92]

this car seems to be blowing it.

 

Why?

 

Forbes lists the MKS as one of the most significant luxury cars for 2008. Here's what they had to say:

 

Analysts we spoke with feel the Lincoln MKS luxury sedan could do for Lincoln what the CTS has done for Cadillac, which is to take the brand in a new direction. A distant departure from the Town Car it will eventually replace, the all-wheel-drive MKS is based on the same platform as the Ford Taurus, though it owes as much to the Volvo S80.

 

The new MKS' curvaceous styling certainly looks appealing. An array of technological advances, including the new Sync multimedia control system Ford developed with Microsoft, complement the contemporary design. Like the Jaguar XF, the MKS couldn’t come any sooner to help lift Lincoln from its doldrums and restore the luster to American luxury automobiles.

 

Source: http://www.forbesautos.com/advice/toptens/...rs-of-2008.html

 

(go to the slideshow)

Edited December 10, 2007 by TomServo92

[CarShark]

I've seen so much more negative press for this car than positive press. Sure, the Detroit rags are optimistic, but others are less kind.

[NickF1011]

I've seen so much more negative press for this car than positive press. Sure, the Detroit rags are optimistic, but others are less kind.

 

For the most part, the press seems to be entirely missing the point of the MKS. They were all blown away by the MKR and somehow try to draw comparisons between that car and this one, belittling the MKS for its lack of sportiness in the process. It's not supposed to be sporty. It's supposed to be luxurious for a lot less coin than its closest competitors. In that regard, it will not be a flop. Do I expect it to run away with any sales crowns? No, but I'm guessing volumes around where the MKX and MKZ are now would certainly be a reasonable expectation and likely isn't too far out of line with what Ford is expecting from it.

 

One has to realize where Lincoln is stuck right now. What else CAN they do? There is no RWD platform for them to use. Would the MKS have BEEN RWD if it was available? Probably. So what are they to do? Just not build any product at all until GRWD is ready several years from now?

[P71_CrownVic]

Why?

 

Forbes lists the MKS as one of the most significant luxury cars for 2008. Here's what they had to say:

Source: http://www.forbesautos.com/advice/toptens/...rs-of-2008.html

 

(go to the slideshow)

Ahh yes...Forbes. They are right up there with "Dubspeed Driven" in terms of credible automotive advice and reviews.

[TomServo92]

Ahh yes...Forbes. They are right up there with "Dubspeed Driven" in terms of credible automotive advice and reviews.

 

I'm sure if Forbe's hated the MKS and loved the Panther you'd be sitting in front of your computer whacking off to their web site....

 

[Local1111]