The future of Lincoln

[nadepalma]

Source: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...608090407/1148

The future of Lincoln
MKS, Ford Shelby GT key product offensive
Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News


The new Lincoln MKS flagship sedan will go on sale in 2008 -- packed with more technology and features than any Lincoln before it.


TRAVERSE CITY -- Ford Motor Co. is expected to announce today that it's revving up its product development efforts with two new vehicles -- the Lincoln MKS flagship sedan and the Ford Shelby GT, a new high-performance Mustang.

Mark Fields, president of Ford's Americas group, will discuss the new models at the Management Briefing Seminars, an annual conference in Traverse City organized by Ann Arbor's Center for Automotive Research.

In addition, Fields will promise that Ford will roll out nine new models in the next six months, most of which have already been announced. Fields is clearly hoping to quiet critics who question whether the company has enough new vehicles in the pipeline. The pledge for nine new vehicles includes the Ford Shelby GT, but not the Lincoln MKS, which won't go on sale until 2008.

"When we talk about acceleration at Ford, that includes more new products, features and technologies throughout our lineup," Fields said in a statement. "We are rebuilding our business for the future with an emphasis on more new products faster."

The MKS will be Lincoln's new full-size flagship sedan. It will be built on the same platform as the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego sedans that are built in Chicago, but it features a sleeker and more powerful design.

"The Lincoln MKS will take Lincoln craftsmanship and comfort beyond anything we've built before," Fields said. "Its design communicates power, motion and speed, and it will be packed with more technology and features than any Lincoln before it."

The new sedan will also feature a panoramic vista roof. While Ford would not provide any details of the powertrain, the production concept it showed at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January boasted an all-aluminum, 4.4-liter, 315-horsepower, V-8 engine paired with a new six-speed all-wheel-drive automatic transmission.

The production model is quite similar to the prototype but has been given a cleaner, more aerodynamic design.

"It looks far less Japanese," said Jim Hall, an analyst with AutoPacific in Southfield, who has seen the new Lincoln. He said it could prove a big hit for Ford if offered with the right combination of price and powertrain.

"This is probably one of the most attractive offerings Lincoln has had in some time," said Erich Merkle, a brand analyst with IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids. "It's going to appeal to a younger audience."

The new Lincoln MKS will face stiff competition from other new luxury cars debuting around the same time -- notably the redesigned Cadillac CTS.

The MKS effectively replaces the larger Lincoln Town Car that has been largely relegated to the livery fleet market in recent years.

The Town Car, which is based on a decades-old platform, is still produced at Ford's Wixom Assembly Plant, but the company has no plans to transfer it to another facility when that plant is idled next year as part of the company's North American restructuring.

Ford would not comment on its future plans for the Town Car, but Ford spokeswoman Sara Tatchio said the new MKS "makes a great team with the MKZ," a redesigned and renamed version of the current Zephyr midsize sedan that will debut later this year. It will be the first vehicle to use Ford's new Duratech 35 V-6 engine.

Two more new Lincolns are slated to go on sale this fall. The redesigned Navigator large sport utility vehicle will be in showrooms in September, followed by the all-new MKX crossover utility vehicle in November. An even bigger version of the Navigator, the Navigator L, will go on sale in December.

Lincoln has been on the rebound. Its sales were up 8 percent for the first half of 2006, largely due to the success of the Zephyr, which was introduced last fall and is bringing a younger buyer to the marque.

But analysts say Lincoln still has a long way to go to reclaim its former position as America's best-selling luxury brand.

"They just neglected Lincoln for so long," Merkle said. "They have lost a lot of ground."

The Detroit News first disclosed details of the Ford Shelby GT on Aug. 3. The car is a retail version of the Ford GT-H, a high-performance version of the Mustang sports car developed by Ford Racing and Carroll Shelby's legendary customization shop for Hertz. The 4.6-liter, 325-horsepower Mustang will go on sale in January.

"We know the combination of Mustang and Shelby is magic, and we proved it again when we revealed the Ford Shelby GT-H for Hertz. The car received such rave reviews that our dealers and customers asked for a version of their own," Fields said.

Also coming from Ford in the next six months:

*All-wheel-drive versions of the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan.

*An F-150 pickup with increased towing capacity.

*The Ford Edge midsize crossover vehicle.

*A new Ford Expedition large SUV and an Expedition EL, a longer version of the vehicle.

Separately Tuesday, Ford's vice president for manufacturing in the Americas, Dave Szczupak, told analysts at the JP Morgan/Harbour Automotive Conference in Dearborn that Ford plans to build at least four new vehicles off the same platform used for its Ford Five Hundred sedan.

The vehicles include the MKS, another sedan and two for "future unique segments."

One of those could be the Ford Fairlane, a new vehicle that will eventually replace minivans in Ford's lineup. Ford showed the Fairlane concept two years ago at the Detroit auto show.

The new Lincolns

MKS: The brand's sleek new flagship sedan, which goes on sale in 2008, will share a platform with the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego.
MKX: This new crossover vehicle debuts in November and combines the spaciousness of an SUV with the driving dynamics of a car.
MKZ: Ford is redesigning -- and renaming -- the Zephyr midsize sedan, a sister vehicle to the popular Ford Fusion that hits the market in the fall.
Navigator: A redesigned version of the big SUV arrives in showrooms in September and will be followed by an even bigger model, the Navigator L, in December.

The old Lincoln

Town Car: The MKS will effectively replace the venerable Lincoln Town Car, which has become a staple of limousine and car services.


2007 MKX


2007 MKZ


2007 Navigator


2007 Town Car

[kenman923]

So Lincoln will be down to four models. That's what it looks like to me. The MKS, I would think, would be more of a competitor to the Cadillac STS rather than the CTS.

[GM-Joe]

I still think they need something that is performance oriented, especially RWD.

I do like the styling direction, they are very sharp vehicles and will sound good.

To me the MKS is like a Cadillac DTS and the Zephr/MK? is like an ES 330; they still need a status maker, something that is bad and nasty like the (I believe) the Lincoln Continental in the movie Animal House.

[FordMan]

I posted the same thing in the Ford Discussion earlier

[DU Biggs]

I saw one of the F-150s with increased towing capacity yesterday. Look for slightly freshened Headlights, possibly with some LED turnsignal treatment. THe new 250 and 350s have The new front we've seen before, but look alot like a semi truck when you look at the instrument panel. It had lots of little gauges

[1G6]

I like Ford, but killing off the Panthers is a black mark I won't soon forgive.

[Kheiron]

Yes it looks like an STS competitor being it is Lincoln's self-proclaimed "flagship" however the article says it replaces, effectively, the Town Car (DTS sized) and then the article compares it to selling to a younger audience (CTS). Slightly confusing, I saw the concept at NAIAS 06 and it looked attractive, had a swede interior too. However, it seems like Lincoln is trying to attack the Lexus buyer whereas Cadillac is attracting already, the BMW/MB/Audi/Infiniti/Acura buyer (Sporty Luxury?). If the exterior styling stays the same as on the concept which a gentlemen in the article said it has not, then it will not be a volume seller. From the picture it kind of looks like an Acura TL, no?

[VGT]

They are just.... so ugly and bland. If they want to beat Cadillac at their own game, they gotta do something about their appeal.

[nadepalma]

Originally Posted by FordMan

I posted the same thing in the Ford Discussion earlier

Sorry, I didn't see it in the news forums -- my apologizes. Good article though.

[nadepalma]

Originally Posted by The Detroit News

The production model is quite similar to the prototype but has been given a cleaner, more aerodynamic design.

"It looks far less Japanese," said Jim Hall, an analyst with AutoPacific in Southfield, who has seen the new Lincoln. He said it could prove a big hit for Ford if offered with the right combination of price and powertrain.

"This is probably one of the most attractive offerings Lincoln has had in some time," said Erich Merkle, a brand analyst with IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids. "It's going to appeal to a younger audience."

Jim Hall really isn't known for his praise, so if he says it looks "far less Japanese" than the concept did, I'll remain hopeful.

I didn't HATE the MKS concept, but it look too much like the Acura RL from some angles for my taste and the sides kinda reminded me of the 5-Series. I wish they'd look for their own design language instead of mimicking others.

But, be that as it may, if it looks better, more attractive, and can get younger customers to take notice (ala Merkle's comments), then I'll be for it.

[igor]

2007 Lincolns will be:
MKZ - midsize
MKX - crossover
Mark LT - Truck
Navigator
Navigator L
and Town Car

2008 MY will kill the Town Car and 2009 add the MKS, and redesign the Mark LT posibly under MKLT or such name.

The design of the MKS is going to be different from the NAIAS concept, and the picture is simply the NAIAS 06 car with no side port vents. We will likely see the new version in NAIAS or other NY Show 07.

Ford will target Acura and Lexus buyers with Lincoln. Lexus is bland and vanilla in driving, but does have some RWD vehicles. Aucra is all FWD/AWD, but handles better than Lexus - Lincol will very likely have a complementary lineup to Acura, but try to makethem a little more upscale looking to appeal to Lexus buyers. Lincolns are to handle well - the MKZ is to do away with the Zephyr's numb handling, and MKS should go even further in that direction.

Igor

[saturnsteve]

The Mark LT is not on here. I love that MKS. That is a beautiful car!

[nadepalma]

Originally Posted by The Detroit News

Separately Tuesday, Ford's vice president for manufacturing in the Americas, Dave Szczupak, told analysts at the JP Morgan/Harbour Automotive Conference in Dearborn that Ford plans to build at least four new vehicles off the same platform used for its Ford Five Hundred sedan.

The vehicles include the MKS, another sedan and two for "future unique segments."

A year and more ago, there was a project at FoMoCo called "E386" which was slated to be the new "large" car for Lincoln and a spiritual successor to the Continental (the "Sentinel"/MKS was dubbed E385). It was then put on the back burner and then rumored to be cancelled for some reason. The MKS was supposed to be the smaller model based on the D3/P2 platform from Ford and share it's basic size with the Five Hundred while the E386/Continental was supposed to grow in width and length to take the flagship position in the lineup.

Maybe now that Ford is doing so poorly, whatever plans they had to supplant the E386 project have fallen through and it is more of a priority to get SOMETHING to market to replace the Town Car when production stops in Wixom.

Perhaps the need to retain SOME of their sales in this area and the failure to get a new product lined up due to financial woes is what might be prompting them to revive this idea? Maybe this is what the rumored other model off the Five Hundred platform is supposed to be?

Just thinking out loud.

[gmfan3]

I'm not sure what they are trying to do with the front of the MKX or the Navigator.

The MKS looks promising.

I really miss the Continental...that was cool.

I'm tired of the Shelby name....yes it may seem like blasphemy to some; however, the only "Shelby" I like is the Cobra. I think the Mustang needs a refresh...the design already seems tired.

[nadepalma]

Originally Posted by gmfan3

I think the Mustang needs a refresh...the design already seems tired.

According to some sources on the web, Ford is planning to update the Mustang next year or early 2008 with a more "modern" design and updates all around so it can compete more comfortably with the new Camaro and Challenger. Ford has had a great product hit with the Mustang and doesn't want to sit on it's laurels when the competition comes hunting. But apparently there are some inside of Ford Design and Management who think that, while the current retro design is certainly attractive, they need to do more to stand out in the crowd if they hope to maintain sales when the other competitors come to market.

I personally think they're right. The Mustang is certainly nice and a good bargain, but I would like to see something less retro and more updated.