A Lincoln Tutorial for Mr. Farley.

[NINETY_EIGHT_REGENCY]

A Lincoln Tutorial for Mr. Farley.
Peter DeLorenzo
Autoextremist.com

Detroit. I was interested to see Jim Farley's off-the-cuff comments on various topics while at the L.A. Auto Show. Ford's new marketing guru and ex-Toyota superstar had a few interesting things to say, most of which were on the obvious side of the meter, but his comments about Lincoln were worth noting. Farley insisted to the media that Lincoln could be and should be a global brand. I got news for Mr. Farley: No Detroit brand has been more bungled and flat-out mishandled in the last ten years than Lincoln, so Ford has a long, long way to go. And here's why...

Nine years ago, when GM decided enough was enough with Cadillac, one of America's - and the world's - most famous brands and crafted a Go Big or Go Home strategy that would either make Cadillac a contender again or relegate it to the dust heap of auto industry lore, their backs were to the wall and they had no choice but to come out swinging. Back then, Cadillac was mired in a downward spiral of dying owners and woefully obsolete product offerings - a landau roof car company lost in a leading-edge technology kind of luxury performance world.

But thanks to John Smith's driving vision and some of the most talented people at work at GM, Cadillac today is a vibrant, tough-as-nails competitor in the luxury market and a shining example of what GM could do if they put their minds to it. The new CTS is not just a sensational Cadillac, it's another one of GM's "no apologies offered, no excuses needed" new cars, one that even has rivals from BMW, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz looking over their shoulders muttering under their breath something like "Uh-oh, these guys finally do get it, don't they?"

And the lessons learned turning Cadillac around are the reason GM is back on its game. In short, there would be no Buick Enclave or Chevy Malibu or Saturn Aura, etc., without the soul searching and ball-busting that went into turning Cadillac around.

But Lincoln? Uh, not so much.

While GM was toiling away and doing the heavy-lifting on Cadillac, Ford was hopelessly nowhere with Lincoln. Sure, there were signs of life when the LS was present and accounted for, but Ford's legendary warring fiefdoms and bankrupt "culture" worked overtime to make sure that Lincoln was underserved and forever lost in Dearborn's legendary bureaucratic wilderness. It didn't help, of course, that Ford "marketers" (and I use that term derisively) ripped the heart out of any legitimate positive initiative that was brewed for Lincoln, giving new meaning to the term "inept" at every turn.

As a matter of fact, Lincoln marketers became charter members (along with Mercedes-Benz) of my "No Auto Industry Executives Have Done Less With More" Club, a disgraced group of auto industry hacks who squandered every opportunity to do the Right Thing when it came to reviving and reinvigorating their brands.

Here's the deal about Lincoln, Mr. Farley. You're where GM was with Cadillac oh, about six years ago. No, you're not Lost in Landau Land, but you're still lost with a capital "L." The new MKS? A tolerable effort, to be sure, but is it a game-changing Lincoln? Oh, hell no. The double-winged grille is nice and everything, but where's the rest of the car? How are the back and profile of the new MKS any different from any number of cars out there? I'll answer that one for you - they aren't. Ford is moving at a snail's pace in turning around Lincoln, and it isn't pretty. I haven't seen anything good enough to be a called a "Lincoln" yet. That means there's no drop dead, oh my God, that's a Lincoln! on the street yet.

Your first order of business, Mr. Farley, is to get everybody on the same page as to what Lincoln is. Simplistic? Absolutely. Necessary? Well, when you have factions within your hallways still clinging to the notion that the use of the alphabet to name your Lincolns is a good idea, then you have some serious, big-time problems. There's nothing wrong whatsoever with the classic names that say "Lincoln." "Continental," "Mark" and "Town Car" say more than an MKWhat? ever will. You know it, I know it - hell, everyone seems to know it except for the people currently charged with that responsibility. So that's a great place to start.

Then, I'd go spend some time with the designers. They seem to get it, at least when they're left to their own devices and not mucked up by Lincoln marketers. You see, one of the irrefutable laws of the car biz is that you have to know where you've been before you know where you want to go. And you have to spend time with the designers to understand that (not something that was required in your tenure at Toyota, admittedly - where design was clearly an afterthought - but you know what I mean). No, this isn't a call for yet another misguided wallow in J Mays' "retro-futurism" adventure, but it does mean respecting Lincoln's heritage and making sure that if it wears a Lincoln nameplate, the moment you see it you can instantly say, "Now, that's a Lincoln."

If you need some reminders, take a long look at the following photos, especially the famous Gerry McGovern-penned Lincoln Continental Concept that was revealed at the 2000 NAIAS at Cobo Hall, which was never seen or heard from again. That particular concept could have put Lincoln on the front burner again, but the excuse then was that there wasn't a platform for it. Right. What a bunch of unmitigated bull****. We'll just place that in the "Opportunities Lost" File, a file that's overflowing over in Dearborn, by the way, so much so that I've lost track of all of the atrocities that the Ford bureaucracy has been responsible for since 2000...


source with photos with the rest of the article:

http://www.autoextremist.com/index.shtml

[EldoFan]

An excellent, spot on analysis IMO....

Marketing can only do so much for a product before the novelty wears off for the buying public....

I hope to god someone there knows what they're doing...

[lightbrotha2004]

Everything he said IMO is spot on. The LS could have been a lot more had they updated it. Nothing now sans the Town Car say Lincoln hell the Navigator even with its clearly Lincoln grille don't and the MKX don't get me started. Its handsome in a passing glance but once you study it. It becomes like the ugly chick at a beauty pageant. It stands out but for the wrong reasons.

[nsap]

An excellent read. As GM fans we are very lucky that GM pulled their head out when they did in regards to Cadillac. Cadillac now plays in the same sandbox as the high-roller luxury brands, but yet Cadillac still looks like a Cadillac...not a Lexus.

Just as the case with Cadillac, Lincoln has the heritage and former "glory days" to be something great today. Sadly Ford has yet to fully understand this, or has and just does not take the investment.

[newclasshero]

Peter has an eagle eye for this stuff. It would be great to have Lincoln as a formidable competitor to Cadillac and playing with the Big Boys in the Luxury game. I think it would be great to have that to help push the envelope especially for Cadillac.

[FoMoCo Fan]

I don't think Lincoln need to go as far as Cadillac has to try to chase BMWs and Mercedes with 500hp sedans, rather they just need a solid unmistakable brand image, beginning with styling.

[jbernie]

Lincoln needs to become a very solid luxury brand in the USA before it has any hope of making it overseas. The Navigator was a desirable vehicle, in its current form, no thanks, the Escalades win way too easily there.

GM got it right, spend the money on the products that make money. Don't waste oodles of money on the Aveo & Cobalt when you may only get back a few hundred $$ in a sale, you are betting way too much for too little reward. Spend the $$ on Cadillac and the big suvs/trucks where the profits are and you can get your money returned much quicker and then spend it on the cheaper vehicles.

[Porkfriedrice]

all true, though it wont be hurt by the fact that another american luxury brand has broken the stigma of domestics.

[Chaz_23]

Lincoln needs to find a Mark VII, do a walk-around and get their designers to use that as an inspiration.

[ByTheLake]

Even if Lincoln had compelling vehicles to offer, which it clearly does not, it would take a significant marketing investment to establish the brand outside the US.

There's no business case for taking the brand overseas.

Poor Town Car, too. So neglected. Lincoln needs a hot, 2-door Continental.

[MCGARRETT]

Even the Town Car does not say Lincoln, if it does, then Lincoln might be to far gone to save.

I did notice that Lincolns seems to be shunning the Town Car, at the Miami Auto Show, the Lincoln-Mercury stand did not have a Town Car anywhere to be seen, there were 2 Grand Marquis, but no Town Car.

Really though, the Town Car, as nice and as plush as it might be, it really not much more than a really nice Crown Vic.

It's a tough spot to be in, some of the things Lincoln sells are pretty nice, like the small MKX SUV, and some of the products are just dowright dumb, like the F-150 based Mark LT, and others are bland to the point of being invisible, the MKZ/Zephyr/??, that car really should have been given to Mercury, that way their mid-size would be it's own car, not a Fuision with a waterfall grille.

The MKS is another issue, it would be a nice entry-mid level Lincoln as it is, and if it was a real RWD/AWD car, it would be a credible CTS, Lexus GS fighter, or at least in the ball park, but I dont think it's suitable as a flagship for Lincoln.

[2648562]

I started to write one of those here's what Lincoln needs to make posts, but after a lot of headscratching I've come to the conclusion that they're really not missing much (aside from a big convertible maybe) and that their real problems have more to do with bad design and poor execution.

They've done some nice things and have some decent, albeit odd, looking offerings... but De Lorenzo is right; they're lacking a real (good) look of their own like Cadillac hit on and Lincoln as a car company just doesn't conjure up positive thoughts.

They're not what most people would consider a true luxury division... sure the have leather seats and a few goodies, but they really don't do anything to set their products apart from even higher end Buicks when it comes to features. They're certainly not building sports cars. Their SUVs are decent, but also rans IMO. Heck, it's like Lincoln just throws models out there with little or no demographic in mind hoping, maybe even praying, that one might make a postive impression and find success.

I don't know where to begin or how to fix them, they just need to do what they do differently with a more demanding buyer in mind.

[Ambalanche]

I'll say this, I'm worried about Ford period. Not just Lincoln. GM got their heads out of the sand I think just in time, My CTS is a fantastic car and winning accolades all around. Lincoln is a shadow of it's former self. The MK? (see, I can't even remember and I'm a car nut!) concept could get it back if they put it on a terrific chassis, but I'm not sure Ford has one. Even if they bring over the styling from Europe like GM is trying to do with Saturn, Ford has a long way to go. I used to say it's us against them, but in today's world, I'm saying Bravo GM, Thanks for FINALLY bringing it!! Now C'mon Ford!!! Get with it!! I wan't us AMERICANS to KICK *SS again!! GM is doing that,finally. Ford needs to get with it and Pronto! Chrysler, if they go with the Chrysler=cars, Dodge=trucks, jeep= SUV's is dead.

[Ambalanche]

Originally Posted by newclasshero

Peter has an eagle eye for this stuff. It would be great to have Lincoln as a formidable competitor to Cadillac and playing with the Big Boys in the Luxury game. I think it would be great to have that to help push the envelope especially for Cadillac.

Cadillac doesn't need Lincoln anymore. At one time, it was Cadillac against Lincoln, now it's Cadillac against BMW, Mercedes, etc. Lincoln at best competes with Buick and if they don't hurry up and fix things, even that may be too much for lincoln to compete with.

[roteague]

I'll bet Farley still drives a Lexus.