AutoNews recently reported that Lincoln is considering a smaller, premium model in addition to its current lineup. No details have been released, and it is not clear how serious Lincoln is about heading into such a segment, an area they have never approached before.
If Lincoln has shown us anything over the past decade, it has been consistency. By that, I mean uninspiring, uninteresting cars that few enthusiasts have any real interest in. How about offering automotive answers to questions no one ever asked? Does anyone recall the Blackwood? How Lincoln thinks it can solve its problems with a small premium car, I have no clue. What car would this proposed vehicle compete against?
In the 1980’s both Cadillac and Lincoln were more or less on par with each other, in that they generally offered weak, thirsty V-8 powered cars with poor quality to boot. The Greatest Generation bought these cars up as fast as they could, so why improve them? Lincoln showed promise with the Mark VII LSC, powered by the Ford Mustang GT’s 302 V-8. I tested one of the last Mark VIII LSC’s, and I was stunned at all the comments I got about the car during my week with it. A great tourer, I was comfortable blasting down the Pennsylvania Turnpike, or sitting in NYC traffic in rush hour. Then Lincoln discontinued the car.
I would be less angry at Lincoln if it weren’t for the fact that Cadillac dug themselves out of a hole. Cadillac has worked very hard on their CTS to make it a true competitor, a world-class car. Lincoln gives you the MKZ, a based on the Mazda 6, Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan.
Lincoln cannot possibly think today’s shopper for a premium car is asleep at the switch any longer. Why the brand insists on giving the public warmed over, average cars is incomprehensible. Cadillac sharpened the edges of its DTS to make it a competent car. I doubt few people shopping for an Audi A8 or BMW 7-series are considering one, but Cadillac made an effort. How Lincoln continues to roll out the now prehistoric Town Car is just maddening. Fleet sales aside. Lincoln is, or was, a premium brand. When you are asking the consumer to pay more, they deserve to get more.
Critics and FoMoCo defenders may tell me Lincoln have not been given the tools, or the money to make great cars anymore. GM, which is a corporation with many faults, fixed its premium brand despite all the other problems surrounding them. Lincoln needs a defining car, something it can call its own. Not a borrowed, tarted up Fusion you get as a rental. A true, premium car. It used to be Caddy and Lincoln could only compete with each other. Now Cadillac competes with the rest of the world. That doesn’t leave Lincoln in an enviable place. Lincoln, your answer is not a small car-not now. Improve what you offer now. THEN expand. Cadillac could never have gotten interest in the CTS had they not fixed the Seville (now STS) first. There is a lesson here.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Whenever I think about Cadillacs from the 80’s I get the willies. The first new Cad I ever bought my wife was an 84 El Dorado. Within two months of driving it off the show room floor I received a letter from Cadillac asking me to return it to any Cadillac dealership for a recall and a “special procedure” . It seems the process used to build the aluminum blocks caused them to be too porous which allowed coolant to seep straight thru the block! A friend of mine was service manager at the dealership I took it to so after the procedure was performed I asked him what all was done. His reply, “Per Cadillac’s service bulletin we added a bottle of Bars Leak stop leak to the radiator. I asked myself is this what you get when you pay for the Cadillac name? The entire history of that car read like a dime-store novel and in the end it was stolen. When the police took the report he asked, “Is there any identifying marks on the car?” I told him all he had to do was follow the oil leaks and he would find out why mechanics in the business call them “The Exxon Valdez.”
I will agree that Cadillac is light years ahead of Lincoln for all of the reasons Tom mentions but in the same breath, Cadillac is a thing of the past and even the CTS will not save them. For an eternity Cadillac made their fortune on their name alone simply because they built a product that deserved such a reputation. It was not a car for the masses… it was a car for the wealthy. When Cadillac began building cars for every Tom, Dick and Harry, they lowered their standards and in doing so the Cadillac quality when right down the crapper. Today it is not the wealthy that look at Cadillacs as they no longer hold the prestigious that they once did.
Again I will agree with Tom… Lincoln has not kept up with the times either and pretty much share the same demise as Cadillac. Baby boomers do not want to make themselves appear to look like the blue-haired old fogies that commonly drove either of these battleships back in the day. And anyone that takes the time to look up and down the main drags of Any town USA will see exactly what I am seeing. The Cadillac dealership that was once huge is now been sold and divided into three dealerships instead of one with Saturn being the dominate figure in the window. And just last Monday our Lincoln dealership was closed and by Friday the sign out front said, “Toyota”.
The general public knows these two cars are not what they used to be.
“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”
– Abraham Lincoln
Unfortunately Lincoln lost its identity decades ago and Ford after several attempts to re energise Lincoln is still in the starting blocks.
For many Lincoln = Airport Limo
Its quite sad, in the late 50’s Lincoln and Cadillac were on top of their game with compelling cars for the time. Cadillac is working to put themselves on the luxury map again.
Is Lincoln a luxury brand? Or identified as a luxury brand? Their CUV is a good looking vehicle and up until they have interesting lease deals they will move the iron, it looks good, its new, its different, and its almost a give away on a lease.
Its interesting to see Ford talk about Lincoln when they are totally clueless with Volvo.
What’s interesting is that they both also went into the SUV market and made big money there. While that market is pretty much over, Caddy managed to simultaneously revamp its car line while Lincoln did not.