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Where Is Ford taking the Lincoln Motor Company?

4178 messages,  Last post on May 27, 2013 at 8:05 PM

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What is this discussion about? Lincoln Zephyr, Lincoln MKS, Lincoln MKX

    

Messages Page 65 of 418

#639 of 4178 Re: A.R.M.'S Agreement [jroger19] by heyjewel

Sep 13, 2006 (1:22 pm)

Replying to: jroger19 (Sep 13, 2006 11:46 am)
Hello, stranger! Hope all's well with you.
 
I'm still driving my 2001 Autumn Red Getrag LS. 76,000 miles and runs like new, thank you very much.
 
As for Lincoln now - it's looking like burnt toast to me. Navigator finished dead last in 5 SUV comparo (and is butt-ugly for 2007 in and out) the MK Z has not, to my knowledge, been tested against anything in it's class, but IMHO, it has no class and no reason to buy it over a Mazda 6 so what's the point? The MKX has a nice rear end, the rest is shockingly bad including a go-kart like instrument panel, an AMC Spirit grille treatment and slab sides. THis is gonna compete against the RX330 or MDX? I seriously doubt it. Then in 2 years comes their flagship - a V6-powered Acura clone. Please stop it, Lincoln, you're killing me.
 
PS: THe supposed excuse for dropping the LS is they lost money on every one they built. EXCUSE ME but I HIGHLY doubt that. 7 years they built the car and lost money on every one? If that's true, well bankruptcy is the proper place for them. The LS was Lincoln's future, it's path to competitiveness, a base on which to build a brand. Now, Lincoln is warmed over Mazdas and Volvos. Excuse me while I lose my lunch and head for a Japanese car dealership.
 
BTW, JR, perhaps you know why the Continental concept was apparently never seriously considered?

#640 of 4178 Re: A.R.M.'S Agreement [gregg_vw] by euphonium

Sep 13, 2006 (3:40 pm)

Replying to: gregg_vw (Sep 13, 2006 9:29 am)
Not kidding because when I brought up the 2007 Cadillac website and being interested in the V8, the most economical sedan is the DTS with FWD. Dut to the price of the STS to begin with, I didn't venture further to learn it has RWD. As there is more than $10,000 difference between the two, it is not worth 10 grand to have a RWD Caddie, IMO.
 
Base STS 52185 Base DTS 41990
 
As for me, it is bad enough to take 40K out of the market just to buy a depreciating liability.

#641 of 4178 Re: A.R.M.'S Agreement [heyjewel] by nvbanker

Sep 13, 2006 (4:41 pm)

Replying to: heyjewel (Sep 13, 2006 1:22 pm)
" Now, Lincoln is warmed over Mazdas and Volvos. Excuse me while I lose my lunch and head for a Japanese car dealership."
 
Evidently you feel like I do, heyjewel. And that's why I'm driving a Lexus now instead of a Lincoln, and it pains me to lose my relationship to the brand I have driven since 1990.
 
If they didn't lose money on EVERY LS they built, the margin was too small to justify updating it. Thunderbird was worse. At the Ford and Lincoln price points, you got a real bargain of engineering excellence for the money. With the Jag, you got pretty much the same thing in a British package with a slightly modified engine. But at that price point, it worked.
 
But it's all gone now....

#642 of 4178 Yikes by scootertrash

Sep 14, 2006 (2:15 pm)

DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. has told the United Auto Workers Union that it would offer a buyout package to all of its 75,000 U.S. factory workers as part of an accelerated turnaround plan, a union official said on Thursday...The news comes a day before the automaker is expected to announce a sweeping restructuring plan....The long-anticipated announcement, which is expected to include more plant closings and employee layoffs, will be detailed in a statement scheduled to be released at 7 a.m. EDT

#643 of 4178 Re: Yikes [scootertrash] by scootertrash

Sep 14, 2006 (2:33 pm)

Replying to: scootertrash (Sep 14, 2006 2:15 pm)
I just read this and honestly, I got angry.
 
Ford Woes
 
The dopes that have been running this company didn't just passively watch something occur, they killed it.
 
Look at the plants being closed and their products: Town Car, Ranger, Crown Victoria, Taurus and even the Expedition/Navigator Michigan Truck plant.
 
Everyone of those one time great products has been killed through utter neglect. The mismanagement this company and it's workers, and (in a nod to Doug) American Industry as a whole, have suffered is so wrong, it seems criminal.

#645 of 4178 Why no Continental/LS Losses by jroger19

Sep 14, 2006 (4:26 pm)

I suspect the reason for no Continental is that the investment was simply too great at a time when Ford has had to be very careful with its investment dollars (see recent news). Lincoln, in my opinion, is simply not a priority for Ford, and will be less so in the future given the corporate situation. So what is happening is that those in charge of Lincoln are attempting to come up with a competitive product line with little investment. This is hard to do and remain a real, competitive luxury brand.
 
The LS did not, when I worked on it, lose money. However, with recent incentives it might have got to that point--but again that gets down to lack of investment to make the vehicle competitive. Little investment=non-competitive product=high incentives=low profits. The LS was meant to be the start of a new Lincoln but things did not work out as planned...to succeed in the hyper competitive luxury market you need commitment and investment; otherwise you are marginal at best.

#646 of 4178 Re: Why no Continental/LS Losses [jroger19] by heyjewel

Sep 14, 2006 (5:28 pm)

Replying to: jroger19 (Sep 14, 2006 4:26 pm)
"The LS did not, when I worked on it, lose money."
 
My suspicions confirmed. Ths LS represents what Lincoln COULD have been. Yes, lots of external forces worked against it, but the buck stops at the door of Nasser and Bill Ford and Daryl Hazel and ... such a shame.

#647 of 4178 In other news by heyjewel

Sep 14, 2006 (5:31 pm)

Looks like Mulally's first move is to get rid of the UAW! Now THERE's an idea whose time. All 75000 hourly orkers offered buyouts. Bring in a new labor force working for more typical American wages as Toyota, Honda etc are doing. The road to competitiveness. Unless of course they're just going to build more factories in Mexico.

#648 of 4178 Re: A.R.M.'S Agreement [rockylee] by grbeck

Sep 14, 2006 (8:20 pm)

Replying to: rockylee (Sep 13, 2006 6:46 am)
Rocky, there is much more to handling than figures generated on the skidpad.
 
The 1984 Corvette pulled very impressive numbers on the skidpad, and was lousy car to drive in the real world (the suspension was so stiff that even minor bumps would shake the whole car and bruise the driver's kidneys).
 
The RL doesn't have the same type of problem (I'm sure the suspension tuning is far more supple than that of the 1984 Corvette), but I still wouldn't take its skidpad figures as proof that it can outhandle a BMW in the real world.

Messages Page 65 of 418

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