They Shoot Town Cars Don't They?
The Star reports that Ford's Canadian President is publicly pleading for the life of the St. Thomas factory that currently produces the dinosaurs-on-wheels Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis. Bill Osborne asserts that "strong volumes and margins in new production of the Lincoln Town Car next year could justify the continuation of production on one shift." Past history suggests our neighbor to the north is whistling Dixie. This summer, Ford shut down the Canadian facility's second shift. Although St. Thomas now gets the Town Car, sales volumes are such (down 72.5 percent from last year) that there are no plans to restart the second shift. Osborne's hopes that the big Lincoln will generate enough profits to stand pat and stay the executioner's blade seem highly optimistic. Shuttering St. Thomas would spike the last of Ford's full-sized, rear-wheel drive sedans.
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All of the Lucernes we've seen on dealer lots have bucket seats, but I think I read that there is supposed to be 40/20/40 bench seat option. He thinks the Lucerne is on the small side (says the same thing about the Chrysler 300). But, yeah, the Lucerne is a possibility.
Sajeev, that is good news, I guess. The 2008 haven't hit the dealer lots yet, or the Lincoln web site. I am not sure when, or even if, that will happen. Do you know? Some fool salesman told me this Spring that the 2008 Town Car was going to be available to the public on an order-only basis. I have no idea if that is right.
Just to follow up, the 2008 Town Car is listed on the Ford Fleet web site: https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/2008fleetshowroom/2008-towncar.asp Maybe that salesman wasn't such a fool after all.