QOTD: Should Lincoln Give up on Cars, or Tell Ford to Kiss Its Blass?

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Domestically, Lincoln’s passenger car sales figures provide ample evidence of two things: Either sedans aren’t needed in the premium marque’s lineup, or something drastic need to happen to keep them alive.

We’ve covered the brand’s sedan woes before, but Ford’s decision to axe all but the Mustang in its passenger car stable adds new urgency to Lincoln’s situation. The MKZ is, well, old, albeit refreshed, and the Continental sells less often than the Cadillac CT6 — hardly a line-up-around-the-block model in its own right.

What in the name of Givenchy, Cartier, Pucci, and Blass is to be done about this?

Ford claims it’s “committed” to its current two-car lineup, but this doesn’t exactly give anyone confidence that the brand’s stable won’t go the way of the Blue Oval’s. Hell, it could be worse than that, as Ford at least plans to keep the Mustang alive.

The MKZ could hang around for as long as its Fusion platform mate, but no longer. The Continental? The future Lincoln’s flagship is the subject of much speculation, and perhaps a retro-themed design revamp could budge the sales needle, but we’re talking about a slow seller that only bowed in late 2016. Ford’s in money saving mode here.

Given its growing popularity in China, Lincoln’s passenger car space appears ripe for green vehicles — perhaps ones greener than the hybrid variants planned for all of the brand’s models by 2022. While consumer demand for premium fully electric vehicles remains to be seen in the U.S., an EV carrying the Lincoln badge would likely prove a hit in the Orient.

And what about a plug-in hybrid sports coupe or sedan? Ford’s already planning a hybrid version of the Mustang, and the coming decade could see an electric version of its perennial pony car. Enthusiasts have long called for a Mustang-based Lincoln that resurrects the “Mark” series.

If given free rein over Ford Motor Company’s product planning, where would you take the Lincoln brand? Forget about crossovers and SUVs — those are already well looked after. Your job is to plan the future of Lincoln cars. What would they be?

[Image: © 2017 Sajeev Mehta/TTAC]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Oldschool Oldschool on May 02, 2018

    How come we have all the answers and common sense fixes, yet the executives somehow don't? It’s really not that hard to do. Lincoln and Cadillac were able to build beautiful high quality, comfy, powerful cars in the 60’s, yet the companies today are run by non car guys that have no clue how to operate the brands. I believe this is another huge issue on why Lincoln and Cad hasn’t brought out truly groundbreaking vehicles that is unique, special and nothing like you’ve ever seen before.

  • Skor Skor on May 02, 2018

    Lincoln lost its last clue years ago. Cars that are tarted up family sedans. Model names that look like Welch curse words. Probably too far gone to fix at this point. May as well take it out back and put a bullet in its head.

  • Dukeisduke Is the Volvo EX30 even on sale yet? It was pulled from the NACTOY awards because they were having software problems with the vehicle.
  • Wjtinfwb If you've only got 5k to spend on transportation, I cannot imagine a worse way to spend it than on a GM orphan from Sweden that's 15 years old with 150k on the clock and limited plus expensive parts availability and dwindling techs who'd even want to work on it. Go find a similar vintage Camry or Accord with 150k miles or even a Ford or a Chevy, whatever. Hell, even an old Jaguar is less of a crapshoot than a Saab. At least you can still get parts.
  • Kwik_Shift Brands that were considered from China include BYD, Dayun, Great Wall Motors, Maxus, Nio, Omoda/Chery, Seres, XPeng, and Zeekr. KG Mobility from South Korea also made the list of candidates.That's a lot of car companies from there ready to head here.
  • Analoggrotto Clean sweep and unanimous victory for the world affluence engine of 22nd century : Hyundai/Kia/Genesis. Toyota and Lexus, for 120 years of history have not been able to capture the zenith superlative status of Hyundai Motor Corporation the most awarded, decorated and revered automotive corporation in the history of historical. Featuring best ever, first ever and greatest ever e-ATPs the Hyundai Genesis Kia lineup is posed to become the envy of every country club, ivy league college and fortune 500 corporation in the world. I've been taking a roadtrip in my loaner Elantra N, visiting colleges from east to west, elite universities of higher learning to inspect their parking lots. WHat did I find? Leagues of Genesis models, outnumbering Lexus 3 to 1. When I interviewed faculty and staff at these places of greater learning, their response was unanimous : they chose HMC for the ATPs.
  • Mikey 2019 Chevy Impala Premier FWD with 20 inch factory Bridgestones. I'm looking at replacing tires at the 65,000 KLM's (40,000 miles ) mark ....It doesn't thrill me .. I'm pricing Michelin Cross Climate 2 tires ouch !! ..Up here in Canuckastan ....Big $$$$$
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