Lincoln: Can Ford save them and how?

Jroc

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It seems to me that Cadillac is killing Lincoln in terms of their sells. For good reasons IMO. Cadillac offers some cool cars.

New Cadillacs make potential BMW/Mercedes Benz/Audi owners notice them, and say look at me I offer cool, nice performing cars that are as good as or better than my German counterparts for the price. Lincoln on the other hand seems to offer only unscaled Fords. And these are Ford FWD based economy vehicles. So if you want a fancy Fusion, Taurus, or Escape then buy a Lincoln. Someone wanting to spend around $50 on a highend Camry, or Accord might want to consider a Lincoln I guess?

Ford need to get back to the mentality they had with Lincoln back in the late 90's-early 00's. I mean they were offering some new and cool vehicles. The Navigator was new at the time as was the new LS, and Aviator came out a few years later. These were cool luxury vehicles at the time. Lincoln seems to be trying to sell overly practical, economy based luxury cars, and the new look they have isn't all that good. They let the Navigator get old and outclassed by it competition. IMO people looking to spend on a new Benz, Bimmer or Audi could careless in most cases whether or not it gets 35/40 MPG. People who buy these highend luxury cars have a little money and don't get bent over MPG's.

Basically Lincoln needs to get back to RWD based vehicles IMO. Ford should let them message the new S550 platform into a Lincoln sedan to compete with the sporty RWD Cadillacs/BMW's/Audi's/MB's because people buying these cars want a car that not only is luxury based but also fun and sporty. This recipe seems to have worked well for Cadillac.

What do y'all think Ford should do to jump start Lincoln? I'd hate to see Lincoln go away like Mercury did.
 
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xXGadfly09Xx

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It seems to me that Cadillac is killing Lincoln in terms of their sells. For good reasons IMO. Cadillac offers some cool cars.

New Cadillacs make potential BMW/Mercedes Benz/Audi owners notice them, and say look at me I offer cool, nice performing cars that are as good as or better than my German counterparts for the price. Lincoln on the other hand seems to offer only unscaled Fords. And these are Ford FWD based economy vehicles. So if you want a fancy Fusion, Taurus, or Escape then buy a Lincoln. Someone wanting to spend around $50 on a highend Camry, or Accord might want to consider a Lincoln I guess?

Ford need to get back to the mentality they had with Lincoln back in the late 90's-early 00's. I mean they were offering some new and cool vehicles. The Navigator was new at the time as was the new LS, and Aviator came out a few years later. These were cool luxury vehicles at the time. Lincoln seems to be trying to sell overly practical, economy based luxury cars, and the new look they have isn't all that good. They let the Navigator get old and outclassed by it competition. IMO people looking to spend on a new Benz, Bimmer or Audi could careless in most cases whether or not it gets 35/40 MPG. People who buy these highend luxury cars have a little money and don't get bent over MPG's.

Basically Lincoln needs to get back to RWD based vehicles IMO. Ford should let them message the new S550 platform into a Lincoln sedan to compete with the sporty RWD Cadillacs/BMW's/Audi's/MB's because people buying these cars want a car that not only is luxury based but also fun and sporty. This recipe seems to have worked well for Cadillac.

What do y'all think Ford should do to jump start Lincoln? I'd hate to see Lincoln go away like Mercury did.

Ford really should get OUT of the luxury game. It is clear that they are way out of their league. The quality difference between a MB and a Lincoln is SHOCKING.

Lincoln and Buick are two car companies that need to die off. Caddy is nice but I prefer MB, BMW, Lexus, Audi and infinity to them
 

65fastback2+2

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Lincolns newer stuff is NICE.

and you can get the MKS with the AWD and ecoboost.

I think the problem is they never advertise them as sporty and fun
 

thomas91169

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Fords standard line (Ford) are already decent enough that they simply cannot "enhance" them enough for the luxury side branded Lincoln and remain competitive against Caddy, especially when they are simply rebadging/refacing cars versus say Caddy who builds cars that look way different than their GM based counterparts.

IMO Ford should ditch Lincoln and just be Ford.
 

makevelie187

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no matter how hard American luxury auto makers try they will never compare to BMW,MB,Audi. I don't care how fast the engine is, how well put together the car is, and how its literally just as good and even cheaper. The luxury market is so hard to tap into with the Euro cars just winning every category. A BMW will be more expensive, less powerful, have more problems, cheaper interior yet still sell way more than any american luxury car, its as simple as that. It will never change. I think Lincoln will die off shortly, i don' know how buick is still around. There nice but i would never buy one, i'll take a 335i or c250 any day of the week.i'd take a used BMW,Audi,MB any day over a new american luxury car.

It sucks because the new caddys and Lincoln's are so nice, and probably built just as well with better warranties, but i would still buy a German luxury sedan.
 
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Jroc

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Ford really should get OUT of the luxury game. It is clear that they are way out of their league. The quality difference between a MB and a Lincoln is SHOCKING.

Lincoln and Buick are two car companies that need to die off. Caddy is nice but I prefer MB, BMW, Lexus, Audi and infinity to them

IDK. BMW's are the most overrated luxury vehicles ever IMO. They just aren't that luxurious for the $ they command. I would much rather have a Audi or Benz to a BMW. I mean BMW has a few nice performance luxury based cars, but in terms of their comfort, and interiors, etc to me they are out of their league compared to Benz and Audi. A lot of the people I work with own your basic/typical 3 series type BMW's and I'm just thinking, "you payed this much for this car." I mean I've ridden in Camry's that were nicer IMO. I compared a BMW 535i to a Cadillac STS in some C&D event they invited me to and I thought the STS was a way nicer, and faster car than the BMW.

Ford is capable of making some nice luxury vehicles if they want. Look at the upscale F-Series models(KR, Platinum, etc) they are very comfortable truck with great interiors. If Ford is going to be command over $45K for their luxury brand products then they need to get away from the economy/hybrid type mentality and go more for the fun of driving a vehicle mentality, and that's were BMW seems to shine to many people.
 
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65fastback2+2

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Fords standard line (Ford) are already decent enough that they simply cannot "enhance" them enough for the luxury side branded Lincoln and remain competitive against Caddy, especially when they are simply rebadging/refacing cars versus say Caddy who builds cars that look way different than their GM based counterparts.

IMO Ford should ditch Lincoln and just be Ford.

theyve done this with some things.

for example, the 2008 Mark LT was the last year...to make up for it in 2009 Ford added the Platinum edition F150.
 

Jroc

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Lincolns newer stuff is NICE.

and you can get the MKS with the AWD and ecoboost.

I think the problem is they never advertise them as sporty and fun

But it's just a fancy Taurus that isn't even that much nicer, but commands a higher price.

Fords standard line (Ford) are already decent enough that they simply cannot "enhance" them enough for the luxury side branded Lincoln and remain competitive against Caddy, especially when they are simply rebadging/refacing cars versus say Caddy who builds cars that look way different than their GM based counterparts.

This.

If Ford wants Lincoln to excel they need to make Ford cars, and then they need to make Lincoln cars, and not just take Ford cars, and work their interiors and body panels over a little bit and sell them at higher luxury car prices.
 

svtfocus2cobra

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Lincoln is where Jaguar was. Lincolns are very nice but they lack public exposure and the ability to excite the public. Ford needs to actually throw them a bone and come out with a few outlandish concepts that could feasably go to production. They need to do something so wild that they will regain the publics attention.

If they're just going to waste billions on them then they might as well cut all their models and come out with either some badass supercar or ultra luxurious Phantom beating sedan. Come out with something exclusive that rich people will want and then slowly bring the models down to an attainable price. Or just leave them as an ultra high end luxury coach builder like they used to be because where they are now is not going to work. Get something out of them because it's a valuable marque that you don't want to let die.
 
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Mr.Bolt-on

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Lincoln just builds crappy lack luster cars. They have no performance whatsoever. They basically just suck in terms of looks, and well everything I guess besides creature comforts.

This is exactly why Lincoln is dying.
 

65fastback2+2

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Lincoln just builds crappy lack luster cars. They have no performance whatsoever. They basically just suck in terms of looks, and well everything I guess besides creature comforts.

This is exactly why Lincoln is dying.

i disagree partially...the navigator was a game changer and still almost see more of them than expeditions.
 

HandBanana

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Not could they, but should they? I don't think so. The old guard that favored only Lincolns is all but long gone now unfortunately. There are no up-and-coming generations that care about these cars in any respect. Its sad to see another American brand bite the dust but Lincoln's death at the hands of Cadillac and Buick is not far off IMO.
 

65fastback2+2

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Not could they, but should they? I don't think so. The old guard that favored only Lincolns is all but long gone now unfortunately. There are no up-and-coming generations that care about these cars in any respect. Its sad to see another American brand bite the dust but Lincoln's death at the hands of Cadillac and Buick is not far off IMO.

you contradict yourself....cadillac is proof that lincoln could be a viable brand
 

HandBanana

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i disagree partially...the navigator was a game changer and still almost see more of them than expeditions.

Agreed. Sadly, it didn't take long for Caddy to catch up and blow the doors off the Navigators though with the Escalade. I for one am a fan of the baby Navis, the Aviator. I think they had driveline issues however. If I'm buying an SUV, its going to be of a Japanese variety.
 

Shake&Bake

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Lincoln can be turned around, will take time but very possible. What I see posted here isn't all that different from what the industry was saying about Ford some years ago.

They will totally be doing something with the S550 platform for Lincoln...only reason I see them spending the coin to develop that platform in the first place(the outgoing model is so good). If they can build a upscale Chevy SS that looks great it will do a lot to change its overall market share. Then build a limited production number two seater using the upcoming turbo 4 out of the new Mustang, market share will change even more. The MKC looks great, but still not sure about that front grill. Lincoln can really be something great.
 

Shake&Bake

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HAHAHA. :lol1::lol:

NO.

Cadillac made itself valuable, Lincoln is a joke in the minds of young folks today. If the brand even crosses their minds its a miracle.

Do you realize how long and how many Led Zeppelin songs it took?!? Over a decade my friend. They had a mandate to make Caddy the world standard again...and wipe everyone's memory of the Caddy that zigs(Cadillac Catera). It wasn't like "alakazam" and Caddy was hip again.

Lincoln needs a guy like Bob Lutz to help lead the product turn around.
 

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