Should Ford pull the plug on Lincoln?

Stay or Go? Should Lincoln Join Mercury? - Ford Trucks

What do you think?

 

At one time Ford indicated that Lincoln would be a stand alone brand with an all new line up that didn't clone existing Ford models.

Well, that ain't happened yet. While ford has given Lincoln some identity it's clear that all Lincolns are bred from ford stock.

The luxury market is really crowded with some outstanding inventory such as Lexus, Acura and Mercedes.

Personally, I wouldn't rub two nickels together for a Lincoln knowing that I could get a well equipped Ford for $10K less and be much happier.

 

I hate hearing about old name plates going.....like Plymouth, Olds, Merc etc....can't explain it...
Surely Ford can do something to make a Lincoln that lives up to the name and history....they've done it with the Mustang.

 

Like humans, Ford wants what it doesn't have, that other's do... and at the same time Ford doesn't appreciate what it does have, that other's don't.


Lincoln OWNED the livery market. Over the last 35 years, more black Lincoln Town Cars transported executives in airports and big cities than any type or brand of vehicle, other than the police and poor pauper's Panther platform equivalent: the Crown Vic. It's called the Town Car for a reason... and the streets of mid town and down town Manhattan were lined with them curb to curb.


When I think of Limo, short or long, I still think of Lincoln more than Cadillac. It is a mystery to me why Ford would spend millions erasing a brand identity that those same millions could not repurchase. Only years of time can buy brand identity, and Ford is throwing it away by trying to reinvent Lincoln as a personal luxury car brand. It's not. It never will be. Especially not with the goofy looking designs that Lincoln has dreamed up lately.


I think Lincoln should stay. As purely a professional name plate serving the needs of the livery and limo business only. Lincoln should seek out and consult all customers of livery and limo services, and further engage the input of all providers of livery and limo services, and redesign their vehicles to optimize the needs of that business.


Create a vehicle with generous back seat room, high visibility rear windows, power ports, usb ports, cupholders, table trays, and rear seat entertainment systems, with touch screens, in the rear seat areas. Redesign the vehicles so that rear door ingress and egress is optimized. Make the rear seat height higher, so that older people don't have to "sink" down into the seat, but can rather slide across the seat from a standing position, like the seat height of a mini van or mini truck.


Before Lincoln stretched the P platform with a longer wheelbased variant, it was absolutely criminal how little rear seat room that earlier Town Cars and Crown Victoria's had. Ok Ok, I realize that the reat seat was where criminals were supposed to ride, but for business execs being transported in a Lincoln? Not acceptable.


Nor is the pomp and circumstance of a stretch limo always appropriate. In business, there is a need for a good rear seat ride, without the appearance of excessive length, excessive fuel consumption, excessive expense, excessive luxury, or excessive use of the word excessive. Lincoln should design a vehicle that meets the need for solid, save, comfortable, roomy, and efficient rear seat transport... that by comparison makes riding in some random Uber car like riding in the back of Geo Metro.


Lincoln should make the trunk of this car load straight in, not a lift luggage over the transom and drop deep into a a well with the spare tire situation like the old P platform vehicles. The entire Lincoln design team should travel the US with a reasonable amount of luggage, and take livery transportation exclusively. And take notes.


Lincoln should build a professional vehicle that meets the needs of people being driven as well as the driver driving it. Lincoln Livery. And that's it. No more trying to compete with Cadillac on personal luxury cars. Nor Mercedes, BMW, Audi, or Lexus. The Lincoln name sounds like a Yugo compared to those brands, when it comes to self driven personal luxury vehicles. Lincoln should gracefully exit that business, and focus on capitalizing on the brand identity that it already owns: Limo and Livery.


Create a new Town Car that has the interior hulk and ease of accessibility of a mini van, and give it a long hood with the engine out front for a quiet hushed ride. Make it a hybrid for fuel efficiency in stop and go airport and city traffic. Paint it black, and sell em wholesale by the thousands. Cut the consumer advertising budget to zero. Quit making goofy looking designs to dress up Fords. Focus on rebuilding where Lincoln was strong, not on where Lincoln has always been weak.

 

It would seem Ford's lack of attention to developing, refining or "reinventing" the Lincoln name they're content to let it slip slowly away. Not sure why they're doing this but most likely there's nothing the general public can or will do to change directions of this possible brand name demise.

If there's no market and there's no desire to build something that would attract buyers a sooner-rather-than-later elimination is probably almost inevitable.

There's a glut of similar vehicles already, Ford seems to be focusing their energy and money elsewhere so if Lincoln is on its way out public outcries to save the brand won't do much to change things.

 

Lincoln--Stay or Go? I think it should stay. There is more to this car line than just a re-badging of a Ford model. My wife and I are living proof of this opinion. We had a Ford Edge and traded it in for a Lincoln MKX a few months ago. There were two reasons for this trade: 1., we saved quite a bit in monthly payments and in insurance premiums upgrading the car; and, 2., we both fell in love with the ride quality of the MKX.

I always held the same general opinion of many folks; that Lincolns were just a Ford that cost a bunch more money. But, there really is a difference between the Edge and the MKX. The ride quality is much better, the seats are a bit more comfortable, and the interior is prettier. Her Edge was the top of the line model and it had all the "bells and whistles" and yet the MKX is still better.

Another thing that makes a difference is the Lincoln Commitment to Excellence. The quality of Ford service has always been great, but Lincoln adds more service to an already outstanding service program.

The ONLY thing about Ford I'm dissatisfied with is their rebate program. Twice, I've applied for a rebate and twice they've found a way to get out of paying the rebate. The service we get from Ford Credit makes up for the aggravation of their rebate shortcomings.

 

I'm a former owner of a Lincoln LS. Cousin to the Jaguar S type when Ford owned the brand a few years back. Terrific car, but enough of an orphan that maintenance was ridiculously expensive.

Save for the LS, most Lincoln's always had a Ford cousin and I think the LS mechanicals were used for that retro Third. Days are gone when a sub brand could exist without sharing a chassis. GM certainly proved this with Pontiac and Oldsmobile.

Ford needs Lincoln. Hope they don't abandon the name.

 

Agreed and I hope that Ford become more creative in giving Lincoln cars their own identity.

 

^^^ Excellent post as always ^^^^


To your point, what about hearses?

What I have noticed (in my area) since the demise of the Town Car is that most livery and limousine vehicles are the full-size GM SUV variants: Suburban, Tahoe, Escalade.