Lincoln sees no need to go exotic
Published August 18, 2004


Ford division has a $139,000 GT sports car.

Cadillac, the chief rival of Lincoln division, has a $76,200 XLR sports car.

So it seemed only logical to ask Phil Martens, group vice president of product creation for Ford Motor Co., whether Lincoln might call on Ford to provide it with a derivative of the exotic GT to compete against the Cadillac XLR?

"Lincoln can focus on $30,000-to-$50,000 vehicles because we have Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover to handle the upper end of the market," Martens replied.

"The best sellers in the luxury segment are in the $30,000 to $50,000 range. Above $50,000, sales start to trickle off. Over $60,000, and you reach rarefied air," he added.

"There's no reason for us to have a Lincoln GT. A Lincoln GT need not be made," he replied.

Turning to Cadillac again, this fall it brings out the STS sedan. What about a rival from Lincoln that promises rear-wheel-/all-wheel-drive? Lincoln is promising the midsize Zephyr for 2006 that will offer front-wheel-/all-wheel-drive.

"Long term, Lincoln doesn't need a rear-drive sedan. Everyone is converging on all-wheel-drive. It took the population some time to become sophisticated to front-drive and now the public has become very sophisticated with all-wheel-drive," he said.

That fits with reports (Business, July 21) that Lincoln plans to replace the LS with a larger AWD/FWD derivative of the Ford Five Hundred in '08 and replace the Town Car with an AWD/FWD derivative of the Five Hundred in '09.

 

Wow, this was discussed to death on BON already, you guys are slow.

 

:notnice:

 

Is Lincoln looking to follow Plymouth and Olds? This could be a good first step.

AWD is a good thing, but FWD? I don't think so. Ah well. What do I know? I just drive cars, not try to think up incredibly dumb ways to ruin them.

I've driven an LS, and I liked it, although I thought, and still do, that it's overpriced. Lincoln's market is literally dying away and they need to do something to attract new buyers, but I think they're out in left field on this one. Just look at Cadillac to see what I'm talking about.

 

Well soooorrrrrryyyy

 

Lincoln just needs to reach out to the younger market to get back on top. Cadillac has done it quite successfully, and to continue to be a player, Lincoln NEEDS performance machines.

 

Mark X concept. Make it happen. There's your XLR competitor. $%&#, just bring back the Mark series period.

"You can sell an old man a young man's car, but you cannot sell an old man's car to a young man." Lincoln is (unfortunately) splintering from Cadillac and being seen as the luxury car you buy if you aren't a very vibrant person. Lincoln's current lineup does nothing outside of the V8 LS that remotely excites me. Sure I respect the opulance of the Town Car still, but respect and excitement are two different things.

Rich people will buy rich cars. Ever notice how whenever a company makes a super-expensive model ($100,000+) that almost every model is spoken for before it even rolls of the assembly line? I doubt BMW had a hard time selling those 760li models. I see their excuse as a cop-out. Ford seems content to let out-of-house people show them up. I'm not saying produce stuff that's hyperexpensive like Aston-Martins, but something that's on par with Jaguar, but obviously wouldn't be as expensive since it's a domestic.

They already have tremendous owner loyalty (I believe the Town Car is pushing nearly 50% repeat buyers at this point), why not use it as best they can, or maybe treat Lincoln owners as import luxury owners are treated by their companies? Reading BMW or Jaguar or Mercedes or Lexus brochures is like an entreaty to join a special club of the privileged, where you'll be cared for with top-of-the-line service and courtesy. Lincoln owners, from what I understand, are treated like they own normal Fords.