[blankster]

Interesting Article on Lincolns approach to marketing its vehicles:


http://www.autonews.com/article/20171218/RETAIL01/171219771/land-of-no-lincolns

 

[todd92]

Interesting. I think it's an overreach to try to 'build a brand' when you are basically selling tarted up Escapes, Edges and Fusions. We bought the MKC because there were features not available on an Escape and the better design inside and out. But fully aware that it is still an Escape. We just bought a loaded Edge to replace a Mercedes E350, we looked at the MKX, but now the opposite it true, we could get every feature possible on the Edge and now the Ford has better design. The new MKX is an overwrought design.

 

[blankster]

I think its part of a brand awareness for Lincoln, just letting people what they have to offer; With a dash of a dining experience added. I'm familiar with that mall (very upscale) and I think it's a good idea to be in there. Several brands (not just autos) have product display's there. Granted Lincoln is "tarted" up Fords but Lexus is "tarted" up Toyota's Audi is tarted up VWs etc. Regarding the MKX, we went from a loaded 2011 Edge to the 2016 MKC Reserve and were very pleased with the upgraded appointments over the Edge. The MKX was not considered for us because we wanted smaller and a bit plusher than the Edge (the kids are almost out the door). The seat comfort of the MKC sold us! Regarding the 2019 Nautilus, if the photos are accurate, it should do well up against the competition. Lincoln is trying to separate itself from Ford but its a slow process. Remember there was talk of the next generation MKC separating from the Escape and being manufactured in Mexico but Trump intervened and it was brought back to Louisville KY. Shy of any economic problems I think Lincoln is off to a good start.

 

[Husker]

I was at the Lincoln dealership yesterday and had a long talk with one of the managers. He said that Lincoln is very committed to building their own cars with their own platforms - i.e., no more Ford clones. The new Continental is an example. I figured that it was built using a Taurus platform, but it is built by Lincoln. He also indicated that Lincoln has separated their entire development from Ford and all their vehicles will eventually have their own platform. Quite a deal. My guess is that if this doesn't work out, that Lincoln is sunk. He also mentioned that any vehicles remaining with a "letter name", will be changed over to a real name as the MKC< MKX< MKZ... names have caused a lot of confusion among customers.

 

[todd92]

Audi's aren't tarted up VW's. The A3 and Golf are common, but that's it. Other Audi's have longitudinal engines and are designed for rear biased AWD with Torsen diffs. VW's have transverse engines for FWD and the AWD versions have Haldex diffs.

 

[bobandsherry]

I was at the Lincoln dealership yesterday and had a long talk with one of the managers. He said that Lincoln is very committed to building their own cars with their own platforms - i.e., no more Ford clones. The new Continental is an example. I figured that it was built using a Taurus platform, but it is built by Lincoln. He also indicated that Lincoln has separated their entire development from Ford and all their vehicles will eventually have their own platform. Quite a deal. My guess is that if this doesn't work out, that Lincoln is sunk. He also mentioned that any vehicles remaining with a "letter name", will be changed over to a real name as the MKC< MKX< MKZ... names have caused a lot of confusion among customers.

Doesn't make financial and economic sense to completely segregate the two lines. An interesting perspective on that would be Ford is aligning Lincoln for possible sell off.

 

[bkrell]

The Lincoln Continental IS a Ford platform. It's the same one used on the Fusion, Taurus, Edge, MKX, and MKZ. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_CD4_platform

Don't get me wrong, I love my car. But my biggest problem is there's no real special ownership experience after the sale. A lot of the euro lux brands throw in all sorts of free maintenance and extras. I got two oil changes and a loaner if my car was in the shop under warranty. Then, when I DO go in for maintenance, it's to a FORD dealer with one dedicated Lincoln service advisor that may or may not be there that day. If they aren't there, I'm just treated like another Ford customer. It was no problem for the first year, as I had an excellent rep who knew her stuff and pushed the dealer to make sure they had an all lincoln loaner fleet for lincoln owners and gave out various little branded trinkets when I went in for service. But after she left, I was stuck with someone that had no idea what she was doing and was basically asking her boss what to do every time I asked a question.

My thought is this: if you expect me to pay inflated prices for a Ford product, you better give me a better after the sale experience. It's bad enough that I paid $45k for a car that two years later, is worth less than half of that. Maybe it's because I bought mine from an AutoNation-owned dealer. But it's been a regrettable experience. At least with my Mustang, I wasn't hit with the big slug of depreciation.

 

[ddsski]

Audis are climber machines for the common VW clan. you want trouble, keep an Audi off warranty!!