Ford is Going to Kill the Flex, but What About the Lincoln MKT?

For the second time in a month, a union official’s loose lips has spilled information on a looming change in Ford’s lineup, only this time the product news isn’t an addition — it’s a funeral.

Yes, if the report is true — and Ford isn’t confirming it — the mighty Ford Flex will bow out of existence in 2020, leaving fans of the polished brick heartbroken. Still, there’s a mystery as to the fate of its leviathan-like platform mate, the Lincoln MKT.

The juicy tidbit of product info came last night after Ford Canada sealed a tentative contract agreement with autoworkers’ union Unifor.

The deal means $700 million in investments in the automaker’s Canadian operations, mainly in its two Windsor, Ontario engine plants, but also at its Oakville assembly plant. That plant builds the Ford Edge and Flex, as well as the Lincoln MKX and MKT.

According to the Windsor Star, Bob Scott, vice-chair of the union’s master bargaining committee, claimed that the Flex would be discontinued in 2020. Some of Ford’s investment will go towards a future refresh of its Edge and MKX models.

Ford doesn’t like discussing future product plans, so we’re left with the union’s claim — no doubt drawn from its discussions with Ford officials during this latest round of bargaining. A UAW member in Michigan spilled the beans about the return of the Ford Ranger and Bronco in late September.

While no one can call the Flex a strong seller, it remains a consistent one. The Blue Oval sold 19,570 of them last year, down from the model’s 2009 high of 38,717, but not wildly far off the tally of the previous four years. This year’s sales seem poised to top last year’s number by a small amount. Still, it’s a niche vehicle that Ford doesn’t need, given its market overlap with the Explorer, Expedition and Expedition XL.

While they were all to ready to mention the Flex’s demise, not a word was spoken of the fate of the MKT. Lincoln’s full-size crossover has seen its sales tank pretty bad this year, and, somewhat oddly, it’s almost nonexistent in the country that builds it. In 2015, Lincoln moved 4,696 MKTs in the U.S., and 217 in Canada. That’s a far cry from its best sales year, 2010, where Americans bought 7,435 MKTs and the Canadians 922, but this year looks even worse.

From New Year’s to the end of September, Lincoln logged 2,955 MKT sales in the U.S. and — get ready — just 87 in Canada. The MKT is as rare as an albino moose. In September, a total of three MKTs rolled off dealer lots north of the border.

If the Ford Flex has a date with the afterlife, will the MKT go the same route, or will it retain the platform and adopt a new, more popular personality? The latter option seems unlikely, as Ford plans to switch the Explorer from the D4 platform (which also underpins the Flex and MKT) to the CD6 platform in 2019.

[Image: © 2016 Jeff Voth/The Truth About Cars]