How Do You See Lincoln Going Forward?

[2b2]

actually, I *did* imagine one, FordFanForEver :D

unfortunately, the chop is based on the blurry preliminary Taurus studio-spyphoto

[jpd80]

I've been thinking about all that's transpired at Lincoln ion the past 12 months. before the announcements regarding increased differentiation on future Lincoln verhicles, you cna bet that Ford was just going to continue with it's past vehicle sharing policy of sheet metal and interior trim changes. - as embodied by the 2013 MKZ, a very good vehicle Imust say but still one very closely linked to Fusion. There is a very good reason for that and it has much mre to do with cost control than being lazy.

 

What needs to be understood is that investment to significantly change the appearance of a Lincoln compared to the Ford originator becomes increasingly expensive as more differentiation is required. This is a real balancing act and if Ford was to give Lincoln unique top hats, unique interiors and unique power train combinations like Cadllac is doing, the cars' current asking prices would not necessarily increase but the added costs would definitely hurt the return on investment. Ford is clearly taking the accountant's view of building less and charging more for them - a very hard concept for some to understand as it means going against the grain of providing the best possible, most luxurious vehicle to the buyer and substitutes that for an effective balance point between money spent versus customer satisfaction versus expected return

on investment.

 

GM Fans offer Buick up as testament that GM is doing more brand differentiation than Ford/Lincoln but what is missed in the argument is the much lower asking prices for those Buicks, Perhaps this is why Buick is a sales success but not necessary a massive profit earner over the broader appealing Chevrolet brand. After you subtract the unique bodies and trims expended on Buicks, the ROI achieved is no better than Chevrolet, it's probably the reason why Ford did away with Mercury and just increased the use of higher series Ford brands.

 

If Ford wanted to get cute with offering a Lincoln compact coupe to complement the MKC, it could offer a re-pannelled Mustang with the new IRS.

That would give Cadillac all kinds of heartburn at a fraction of the ATS development cost. with an engine array GM would kill for...

Edited December 25, 2012 by jpd80

[FordFanForEver]

jpd80, great post my man.

 

Buicks is a sales sucess because of their lower prices and they are indeed good cars. However, Lincoln and Buick should not be in the same class as Buicks are much cheaper than Lincolns. Ford had its entry luxury brand, Mercury, that should have competed with Buick but it was neglected over the years. I don't think Lincoln will survive in the long run and I wouldn't be surprised if they shutdown by 2020. Ford wants to sales to increase to 160,000 units by 2015... I read that on someone's post. With the current lineup and the future lineup, I don't see that happening.

[Stentgraft95]

jpd80, great post my man.

 

Buicks is a sales sucess because of their lower prices and they are indeed good cars. However, Lincoln and Buick should not be in the same class as Buicks are much cheaper than Lincolns. Ford had its entry luxury brand, Mercury, that should have competed with Buick but it was neglected over the years. I don't think Lincoln will survive in the long run and I wouldn't be surprised if they shutdown by 2020. Ford wants to sales to increase to 160,000 units by 2015... I read that on someone's post. With the current lineup and the future lineup, I don't see that happening.

 

Spot on; but the current lineup is nowhere near the final lineup. We have two more years to go and the MKZ is not product-representative either as it was already in its final design phases by the time the allocated Lincoln design team was put in place.

 

Guys, we still don't have enough definition to start the arrangemnents for Lincoln's funeral. We started hearing rumbles of Lincoln's turnaround failure as recent as the MKS / MKT Mid-cycle refresh full well knowing that was nowhere near what Lincoln would look like in a few years and its only accelerated by some since the 13 MKZ.

 

I still say the allotted time is needed before making our final judgment.

[FordFanForEver]

Stentgraft95,

 

I get what you are saying about the allotted time... But man I tell you what, Ford expects to sell 160,000 lincolns annually by 2015? That number is double what they are currently selling. For 2012, they are on pace for 81,000-83,000 units which will be down from 2011 which was 85,000 units. Ford has Lincolns projections far too high. I think 100,000 to 115,000 should be good.

[jpd80]

jpd80, great post my man.

 

Buicks is a sales sucess because of their lower prices and they are indeed good cars. However, Lincoln and Buick should not be in the same class as Buicks are much cheaper than Lincolns. Ford had its entry luxury brand, Mercury, that should have competed with Buick but it was neglected over the years. I don't think Lincoln will survive in the long run and I wouldn't be surprised if they shutdown by 2020. Ford wants to sales to increase to 160,000 units by 2015... I read that on someone's post. With the current lineup and the future lineup, I don't see that happening.

Thank you, glad to contribute in a positive way.,,

 

I have a couple of sub topics you guys might like to explore,

 

1. The claustrophobic cockpit effect and luxury buyer expectations

A concerning trait that now seems to be affecting Buick, Cadillac and now Lincoln is the desire to take what should be a roomy mid sized vehicle

and adding the "cockpit " effect, the resulting claustrophobia makes the cars feel no bigger internally than a compact. This is manifest in the

Buick Regal, a vehicle you would think is as roomy as a Malibu or Fusion right? wrong, the design follows the Opel Opel Insignia which internally,

feels like more of a true midsize/large compact Introducing the lower price point Verano underscores the problem and buyers pick it the moment

they go for a test drive. The same problem exists with existing CTS versus the new ATS which is only fractionally smaller inside - whay GM didn't

make the ATS a touch bigger internally and replace the entire mid sized CTS line is beyond me....So what does this have to do with the MKZ?

Ford has removed the impressive canopy effect of the Fusion and replaced it with much lower head height in the MKZ, don't know about you

guys but that immediately removed the big car airy feel..

 

2. True Differentiation through increased size and space utilization.

Ian Callum, the designer of the Jaguar XJ, was discussing some of the expectations of luxury buyers and indicated that a luxury

vehicle like the XJ should be made as large as possible - I realize he was specifically talking about large vehicles but the essence

of that philosophy also ring true in other sedan segments. A way of adding true differentiation is to increase wheelbase and with it,

rear leg room, another change involved reducing the side slope of the doors and windows (tumblehome) one or both of those changes

completely change the whole feel of the vehicle without severley effecting weigh. For mine, Lincoln would be better taking Ford originators

and giving them unique top hats that incorporate changes to width and wheelbase. Adding as little as three inches in wheelbase and an extra

inch to hip amd shoulder room can completely change the interior feel and road presence of vehicles and gives the car maker the option of

using that added space to maximize the luxury car feel - I do also realize that this also can present as an opportunity to use an enlarged smaller

vehicle to replace an existing design, a "one size down" originator like Focus being stretched and widened into a new age MKZ...

 

3. Interiors maketh the car

The other thing that surprised me was GM's work on differentiation the new LaCrosse, XTS and Impala. Not to everyone's tastes for sure but

it shows what cn be done if the the philosophy is there to allow change to occur, I think this is another area Lincoln should be focusing on as

the MKZ interior is nice but you can see it has strong reflections of Fusion elements in its design. I'm hoping that Max Wolff's people get to

work on Interiors would help to define or at least underscore what a Lincoln is to it buyers compared to a Titanium Ford.

 

T

Edited December 25, 2012 by jpd80

[Stentgraft95]

Stentgraft95,

 

I get what you are saying about the allotted time... But man I tell you what, Ford expects to sell 160,000 lincolns annually by 2015? That number is double what they are currently selling. For 2012, they are on pace for 81,000-83,000 units which will be down from 2011 which was 85,000 units. Ford has Lincolns projections far too high. I think 100,000 to 115,000 should be good.

 

I won't argue that, those may be lofty projections but I guess what I'm saying is that even if they fall short of that I'm not convinced it's time to write their obituary.

[jpd80]

I won't argue that, those may be lofty projections but I guess what I'm saying is that even if they fall short of that I'm not convinced it's time to write their obituary.

I recall hearing that at a recent Lincoln dealer conference Ford raised hopes of seeing a possible 18% increase in Lincoln sales for 2013

that would be around anothe 1,000 sales a month, not out of the question if a new product cycle MKZ is embraced by buyers...

[Stentgraft95]

I recall hearing that at a recent Lincoln dealer conference Ford raised hopes of seeing a possible 18% increase in Lincoln sales for 2013

that would be around anothe 1,000 sales a month, not out of the question if a new product cycle MKZ is embraced by buyers...

 

That's a lot more reasonable than expecting sales to double.

[akirby]

That's a lot more reasonable than expecting sales to double.

 

I thought doubling sales was the 4 year goal and if they get all 7 vehicles redone the right way and the dealerships upgraded I don't think that will be a problem.