2019 Lincoln MKZ Adds Tech, Ditches Black Label, Begins Probable Death March

With the future of Ford’s sedans looking rather bleak, Lincoln has made some changes to the MKZ for the 2019 model year. There’s nothing really wrong with the luxury sedan; it’s a solid performer (minus the recalls) and has become rather handsome since its 2017 facelift. But it’s too similar to its sibling car, the Ford Fusion, and has lacked some of the technology rival manufacturers have added as standard equipment.

This has caused the model to hover around 30,000 annual delivers in the United States for as far back as we can remember. Meanwhile, the Fusion went into 209,623 American driveways last year. However neither vehicle is on course for a record sales year. The Fusion has endured a major decline in popularity since 2015 and the MKZ might not even break 20,000 sales in the U.S. by year’s end.

Ford plans on dropping the Fusion eventually, which means the MKZ is likely to follow it into the grave. But the pair should stick around a little longer than the rest of the company’s passenger cars, so Lincoln wants to give customers something to remember it by while simultaneously streamlining its production.

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  • Lorenzo I'd actually buy another Ford, if they'd bring back the butternut-squash color. Well, they actually called it sea foam green, but some cars had more green than others, and my 1968 Mercury Montego MX was one of the more-yellow, less-green models. The police always wrote 'yellow' on the ticket.
  • ToolGuy Some of my first cars were die-cast from pot-metal in 2 pieces: body-in-white plus chassis. I spray-painted some of them, the masking was a pain. The tires did burn realistically.
  • Vulpine Tesla has NOT said they're scrapping the Gigacasting process, but they have also said they wouldn't cast a one-piece body. The concept is to have a total of 5 main pieces: Nose clip, tail clip, 2 sides and belly. They're already using the first two and the sides are not necessarily going to be castings. The belly casting, however, is being delayed as the battery technologies are changing far too quickly to lock into any one fixed design as the battery packs themselves are currently consisting of at least three different types based on the cells being used within them. It's a matter of convenience for the company to let the technologies stabilize somewhat before locking in on a specific design.
  • MaintenanceCosts I've never prioritized color when looking for a car, but there are usually some colors (particularly bright reds and refrigerator whites) that I just won't accept.That said, one of my cars gets parked outside in a city environment, and it's silver, and that's good because silver does not complain too much when oxidized to he!l. The brown BMW is neat because there aren't many brown BMWs, and the green Legend is historically correct because the mid-'90s meant green.
  • ToolGuy • Black vehicles and dark interiors burn more petrol and are bad for the planet (look it up, I'm not gonna hold your hand on this one lol).• If your current vehicle was new when you took delivery, and you didn't get EXACTLY the color you wanted (blithely accepted what was foisted on you by the dealer), shame on you. You are the problem with today's franchise system. In future, please notify the dealer that your policy is to collect a Non-First-Choice Paint Upcharge in such a circumstance. I recommend $1200.• Also, fine-thread drywall screws (in wood) waste electricity (and time). When I am President of the Universe, fine-thread drywall screws will be banned in favor of the more environmentally- and wallet-friendly coarse-thread variety. (Again, you can work out the reasons but I am absolutely correct.)