OMG, Lincoln is *doomed*

Have you read the latest ideas Ford has to save Lincoln? Here's the summary: new marketing campaign, changed Lincoln Division to Lincoln Motor Company, and that's about it.

Berking idiots.

Wanna know what's wrong with Lincoln? Easy, name one and what it is. You can't, can you. They all look identical and have the same berking name! They also all suck.

This was Cadillac 10 years ago, but you know what they did. MAKE BETTER BERKING CARS!

Yeah, that's why Caddy is doing so well, it's pretty obvious. The CTS is world-class and now the ATS is as well. Every new Caddy is leaps and bounds better than it's predecessors and is quickly becoming contenders in every class. Not to mention they actually have some style (CTS Coupe & Wagon), some sport (2.0L Turbo/MT's, V-Series, etc), and some pedigree (racing). What does Lincoln have? A marketing campaign? Yeah, that'll work.

Y'all done lost your damn minds Ford.

Cadillac is making a 3-series killer. Lincoln needs to use the new Mustang platform (the one with IRS) to do the same thing.

Wait Lincoln's still around? It's just a Ford brand right?

Any reason to keep it around other than nostalgia?

Well they did hire Roger from Mad Men.

GameboyRMH wrote: Any reason to keep it around other than nostalgia?

no

and nostalgia isnt even really a good reason

GameboyRMH wrote: Wait Lincoln's still around? It's just a Ford brand right? Any reason to keep it around other than nostalgia?

They serve to cull the fake chrome and wood trim crops so the rest of us can live free of the nuisance. Cadillac can't use enough of it all by themselves.

You know "Hot Rod Lincoln" used to mean something.

I'm a pretty big Ford honk, but I'm afraid I must agree. Lincoln has been lost in the woods for decades. For everything Ford is doing right these days, they just can't seem to crack this nut.

They need a Dax Shepard edition to spice up sales.

My friend has a new Lincoln SUV. Well, I can't tell you the name of it, but I will say that it's pretty darn nice, and looks good too. They have an identity problem for sure. Not sure that all their stuff sucks, though.

When the Town Car died, so did Lincoln.

bravenrace wrote: My friend has a new Lincoln SUV. Well, I can't tell you the name of it, but I will say that it's pretty darn nice, and looks good too. They have an identity problem for sure. Not sure that all their stuff sucks, though.

I wouldn't say any of it "sucks" per se, but there's nothing special about any of it. Yeah, they've done more to differentiate the styling, but in the end, an MKS is still a Taurus, an MKZ is still an Edge, a Navigator is still an Expedition, etc. And of course, they all cost more.

I don't know the names of them all and I work at a Ford Lincoln dealership!! MKS, MKZ, MKT, MKIdon'tgiveachit. They're all what I call GT's anyway. Geriatric Taxi's. Far too electronically advanced for 90% of their operators. Jitterbuggs only started coming with bluetooth capability in the last year. LOL I wish I was joking... Paired a bunch of them up here lately.

I don't think their product in general sucks, after all, all the vehicles from Lincoln are based off of another current Ford model. I think that they have let the marketing team have too much of the pie.

They really screwed up with MKAdd-a-letter names. It's too confusing.

My idea was, that if they really want to use the "Mark" designation, they should follow our German friends and name them by size.

In other words:

Mark I - Compact Car

Mark III - Intermediate Size Car

Mark V- Mid-Size Car

Mark VII - Full Size Car

Mark X - Full size SUV

I think that would work. I don't think there are any diehard Lincoln people that would argue that.

Solution........bring aussie/euro fords over as "lincoln" brand.....problem solved

In reply to yamaha:

The Aussie Falcon is gone in 2014.

I think the only Euro car we don't get already is the Mondeo.

Klayfish wrote: When the Town Car died, so did Lincoln.

QFT!!!

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: I don't think their product in general sucks, after all, all the vehicles from Lincoln are based off of another current Ford model. I think that they have let the marketing team have too much of the pie. They really screwed up with MKAdd-a-letter names. It's too confusing.

I agree. In fact, back when I still worked for Ford, I asked Derrick Kuzak (head of product development) that same question at an employee town hall meeting. He told me that the decision was made to go with those names so that they could emphasize the "Lincoln" brand and not the individual car brands. Personally, I think it was a me-too move since all the other luxury brands use alphanumeric names.

I havent even considered a Lincoln since the LS with a manual was out there. It was already on life support where my wallet was concerned even then.

Lincoln needs to take a page out of the 2013 Buick playbook, or Caddy as mentioned above.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: In reply to yamaha: The Aussie Falcon is gone in 2014. I think the only Euro car we don't get already is the Mondeo.

we will in a few months in the new fusion- exactly the same car as the mondeo. well, close enough.

"The only Euro car we don't already get is the Mondeo."

And that's being changed with the 2013 Fusion, if I remember correctly.

Today there are 2 things wrong with Lincoln:

names that make almost no sense (tho to be fair to Lincoln, I DON'T think ATS is a great name for a car because it makes me think of that movie ANTS.)

And a market plan that seems to change with the seasons.

The folks at Ford (seem?) to have pretty much given up the idea of returning to "the good old days" when they used to (try to?) compete with Cadillac. There's is nothing wrong with that, but from the commercials I've seen on tv, the ONLY compelling reason Lincoln gives, anymore, for buying one of their sedans is that they offer "technology" that their competitors don't....as in the hybrids and "SYNC" and / or MyLincolnTouch.

Style-wise? I think the cars and most of the SUVs are pretty good. There just doesn't seem to be a compelling reason to buy one of them, and with Ford cars going "upmarket", Lincoln looks more and more redundant.

Years ago, when Mercury still looked viable, I said here and elsewhere that what was wrong at Mercury (and now it's Lincoln) is that in "the old days" Ford gave their other brands engines and paint colors that were NOT available on "run-of-the-mill" Fords. Sure, the Mercury and / or Lincoln engine was usually a bigger bore (with little apparent power?) than a Ford engine, but there was a reason to shop Mercury, or Lincoln, over Ford. Now, there really isn't much reason to shop a Lincoln over a comparable Ford.

bravenrace wrote: My friend has a new Lincoln SUV. Well, I can't tell you the name of it, but I will say that it's pretty darn nice, and looks good too. They have an identity problem for sure. Not sure that all their stuff sucks, though.

And it's identical to the Ford version in all content. He got a split grill and a different badge. That's why they "suck".

yamaha wrote: Solution........bring aussie/euro fords over as "lincoln" brand.....problem solved

Nope, Ford went stupid there, too. They announced last week that the RWD Falcon will be replaced by the US AWD Taurus platform and no more Fords will be built in Aussieland by ~2015. The idiots are sooooooo going to lose like 95% of their down under sales with those two moves alone.

Plus they're really ugly.

Javelin wrote:

bravenrace wrote: My friend has a new Lincoln SUV. Well, I can't tell you the name of it, but I will say that it's pretty darn nice, and looks good too. They have an identity problem for sure. Not sure that all their stuff sucks, though.

And it's identical to the Ford version in all content. He got a split grill and a different badge. That's why they "suck".

do you think a lot of Acuras or Lexus "suck" as well? Many of those are just rebodied Hondas or Toyotas.

Just curious if you apply that "reasoning" to other companies.