akirby Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 I assure that my comments are a mock to Ford and Lincoln execs for patronizing women in their late forties to fifties as gullible marks. I chose the term I used as sarcasm to skewer their attitude and not to denegrate women. In these guys' own words they are looking for Lincoln customers who are younger and more female. The average owner age is 62 and they have stated they want it to be 57. At the same time they are putting a greater focus on this demographic, J Mays admits that Lincoln is ten years away from being a true luxury brand. But, they come up with a couple of color schemes based on chocolate and cosmetics and market them very much to women as an extra cost indulgence. Obviously, the underlying assumptions are that women in this age group can be more fooled into paying for luxury that isn't real. They will ignore low resale values, less than competitive dynamics and engineering features if you march out a women to sell them on feminine emotional themes. A selection of two or three colors do not make for personalized luxury, by the way. Check out an European Audi website, they offer an amazing assortment. If your not getting a dedicated platform or drivetrain in a luxury car, should you really have to pay a bunch extra to get colors not mostly found on F150's? I really like the work of Soo Kang who designed the MKZ interior. I consider her a seriously good automotive designer. Peter Jones was brought in above her after she did that work. Meanwhile, they put Susan Lampinen out all over the place who mostly chooses colors and fabrics. She describes herself as being a Detroit Hot Rod brat. I think she hit the color palette for the new mustang out of the park. That appears to be closer to who she is. I don't think she has any talent for being involved at Lincoln, however. People who buy $50K+ vehicles fall into two camps - those looking for high performance and those looking for luxury style and amenities. I assure you the latter group is by far the largest. Having stylized themes that offer something unique will appeal to far more buyers than a 500 HP drivetrain. Not everyone thinks like you do when it comes to buying luxury vehicles. And black label is a lot more than you're making it out to be. Why do people constantly belittle products just because THEY don't like them while totally ignoring the millions of other potential buyers that do like them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edstock Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 Obviously, the underlying assumptions are that women in this age group can be more fooled into paying for luxury that isn't real. Obviously you make assumptions you can't prove, troll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schpark Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 Honestly, I don't care bout a vehicle's name. As long as it is good, reliable, priced right and somewhat desirable, it will be on my shopping list. There's a bunch of dumb names for cars out there. I remember when the Fusion name was first released. A lot of people on this board (myself included) thought it was an dumb name that was reaching to fit into the "must start with F" directive they had at the time (if I remember correctly, the thought was that it was going to be named Fairlane). Years later, it's one of the best selling cars out there. It's a stylish car that is priced right and has been good to the people who have bought it. . They were going to call it Fission but they though Fusion would hold together better.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2b2 Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 (edited) ^ "Futura" how quickly everyone but PEP BOYS forgets... Edited December 9, 2013 by 2b2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 ^ "Futura" how quickly everyone but PEP BOYS forgets... I sure am glad PEP BOYS sued Ford over that. Fusion is SOO much better than Futura. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grbeck Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 I liked either Falcon or Fairlane better for the Fusion, along with Country Squire for what became the Flex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 I know that I prefer real names as opposed to the "MK" or the alpha-numeric names done by most companies. Even among competitors, I definitely preferred "Legend" or "Vigor" to RL, TL, etc. As far as I'm concerned, Mercedes and maybe BMW really made it work, but it got too widespread. I'd certainly prefer a brand flagship "Continental" to MKF (for Florida retirees) or whatever eventually is the brand's showcase sedan. Even BMW and Mercedes are start to paint themselves into a bit of a corner with their naming conventions as they expand into segments they previously weren't in, like the upcoming originally-rumored-to-be-named 0-series becoming instead the new 1-series and renaming 1-series to 2-series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANTAUS Posted December 10, 2013 Author Share Posted December 10, 2013 I agree, BMW and MBenz used to have a system that made sense. 3 series, and the next 2 numbers represented the displacement. 1.8L, 2.5L, etc the 740 was big size, with a 4.0L, NOW it's everything but. The 335 does not have a 3.5L, it has a turbo 3.0L And just about everything else number wise is off. Same with Benz, aarrggg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 I agree, BMW and MBenz used to have a system that made sense. 3 series, and the next 2 numbers represented the displacement. 1.8L, 2.5L, etc the 740 was big size, with a 4.0L, NOW it's everything but. The 335 does not have a 3.5L, it has a turbo 3.0L And just about everything else number wise is off. Same with Benz, aarrggg Well, to be at least a little fair to BMW, once they started straying too far from the displacement-based naming model, they simply picked numbers that are representative of the engine option's place in the lineup and have stuck to it for the most part. Lexus's naming was done in much the same way at first also, but especially with the hybrids, they have now strayed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANTAUS Posted December 11, 2013 Author Share Posted December 11, 2013 I think Lexus has been consistant so far though, I'll check on it in a bit but I think RX350 is a 3.5L, LX470 is a 4.7L GS350 is a 3.5L, ES350 is a 3..5L I'm sure for some of them going turbo like BMW and MB going from 335, to renumbering it to 330 is quite a drop, and i'm sure some of them will drop to 18 for their 1.8L and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted December 11, 2013 Share Posted December 11, 2013 (edited) I think Lexus has been consistant so far though, I'll check on it in a bit but I think RX350 is a 3.5L, LX470 is a 4.7L GS350 is a 3.5L, ES350 is a 3..5L I'm sure for some of them going turbo like BMW and MB going from 335, to renumbering it to 330 is quite a drop, and i'm sure some of them will drop to 18 for their 1.8L and such. But the RX400h doesn't have a 4.0L Then there is the LFA, which abandons the naming convention entirely. Edited December 11, 2013 by NickF1011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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