Ford's financial crisis starves Lincoln lineup

By CHARLES CHILD | Automotive News

As Cadillac builds momentum with fresh products, rival Lincoln is stuck in neutral.

Ford Motor Co.'s luxury division suffers from lackluster products. The problem: Neglect. Ford's financial crisis dried up investments for the brand.

COO Nick Scheele says new products are on the way. But Ford will not spend the billions on Lincoln that General Motors spent at Cadillac. Instead, Ford plans to give Lincoln two Mazda6-based vehicles, plus a new rear-drive large sedan.

There is a sense of urgency at Lincoln, whose sales nose-dived from 193,009 in 2000 to 150,057 in 2002. From Lincoln's viewpoint, Ford's recent history is a tale of missed opportunities and misplaced priorities.

Former CEO Jacques Nasser poured cash into other luxury brands. He paid $6.5 billion for Volvo Cars in 1999 and $2.9 billion for Land Rover in 2000.

Meanwhile, Ford moved Lincoln's headquarters out of Dearborn, Mich., to Southern California in 1998 and added Lincoln to the Premier Automotive Group. Lincoln reported to PAG Chairman Wolfgang Reitzle, who was 5,500 miles and eight time zones away in London.

Nasser and Reitzle planned to follow in Cadillac's footsteps with a new rwd platform for Lincoln and other PAG brands, but Ford's financial crisis aborted their ambitions.

The enormity of the problem became clear shortly after Bill Ford replaced Nasser as CEO in 2001. At the Detroit auto show three months later, Reitzle told reporters that a new rwd platform for Lincoln and other PAG brands had been axed. The company couldn't afford it.

The Lincoln lineup lacks excitement. Navigator sales are solid, but the Aviator, which was introduced in November, has been disappointing. It is perceived as a knockoff of the Ford Explorer and is priced too closely to the Navigator.

That leaves the Town Car, which is aimed at senior citizens, and the LS, which suffers from vanilla styling.

Lincoln sold 106,577 vehicles in the first eight months of this year, compared with 135,051 for Cadillac.

To get Lincoln back on its feet, Bill Ford pulled Lincoln out of PAG and back into North American operations. Reitzle, a Nasser hire, left the company last year.

Scheele says Ford will revive Lincoln and make the luxury brand competitive with Cadillac. "It will (be competitive) but without the billions," Scheele said. "I'm very comfortable with where Lincoln is going. We did have some problems."

Executives say Lincoln will get three new products within the next three years:

A mid-sized sedan, related to the coming Ford Futura and based off the Mazda6, is coming. Lincoln has not released timing, but the Futura is scheduled to debut in 2005.

An all-wheel-drive sport wagon, also based on the Mazda6, is slated for production in August 2006 as a 2007 model.

A flagship rwd sedan is planned, though Lincoln officials are sketchy about its arrival date. Ford product developer Chris Theodore said in April that the vehicle is based on the LS platform. But a Ford official says that is not certain.

Under the Reitzle revival plan, Lincoln would have received more new products than planned now. Not only were they too expensive, but Lincoln Mercury dealers objected.

The dealers wanted to balance product investment between Lincoln and Mercury, says John Fitzpatrick, general marketing manager at Lincoln Mercury.

Mercury sales are key to supporting Lincoln Mercury dealers, Fitzpatrick says. The Mercury Grand Marquis and Mercury Mountaineer alone will account for about 115,000 retail sales - or 40 percent - for Lincoln Mercury dealers in 2003.

Mercury is getting four new products by the end of 2005. The two brands must continue as unique but complementary lineups, Fitzpatrick says.

"Our dealer network does not survive without those two unique brands through the same retail outlet," Fitzpatrick says. "Cadillac, they are doing some of these new things. But we have to be careful that we're not dismissive to Mercury."

Automotive News Staff Reporter Amy Wilson contributed to this report

 

"$2.9 billion for Land Rover in 2000"

!!!!

What an idiot!

Jacques you're such a jacka$$!

 

"A mid-sized sedan, related to the coming Ford Futura and based off the Mazda6, is coming. Lincoln has not released timing, but the Futura is scheduled to debut in 2005."

So here is your 3 series/G35 fighter. And...

"A flagship rwd sedan is planned, though Lincoln officials are sketchy about its arrival date."

And here is your LS/7 series/S Class fighter.

Hopefully they'll be competitive.

 

hmmm, I'm not sure a small FWD Lincoln car based on the Mazda 6 will cut it. I am not a Cadillac fan but I think the new CTS and CTS-V will chew up and spit out any small FWD Lincoln.

As for the small FWD Lincoln wagon, again Cadillac has them beaten with the V8 powered SRX.

An aggressive update of the RWD V8 LS would be most welcome, but it looks like that won't be out for a while yet.

Well, there is still the Navagator left at least for volume sales.

 

It's my opinion that Ford spent way too much money buying up BS brand names like Jaguar, and Aston Martin and not enough on making good cars.

 

Buying the above brands was a good move in my opinion. But what matters most is, what new models would these bankrupt (or soon to have been so) companies come up with. Up to now, Aston and Volvo have done the best job in my opinion. Jag has done a mediocre job with the X Type and because that's the volume leader in its lineup, it seems as though the whole company has failed. Which is not true if you look at the new XJ. The S type is OK. Above average for sure. But looking at where Jag was when Ford bought them, it's another...rejuvinated Nissan story.

 

(08:41 Nov. 17, 2003)
Lincoln preparing to re-enter the pickup market with F-150-based model


By RICK KRANZ | Automotive News

DETROIT -- It's deja vu: Lincoln is preparing to re-enter the pickup market.

Ford Motor Co. is developing a full-sized Lincoln pickup based off the redesigned Ford F-150 Crew Cab.

The four-door Lincoln is expected to go into production in July 2005, according to the product forecasting arm of J.D. Power and Associates. J.D. Power is estimating production at 15,000 to 20,000 units annually.

While much of the sheet metal is expected to be shared with the Crew Cab, the Lincoln pickup's front end will draw styling cues from the Lincoln Navigator SUV.

"We're really pleased with the launch of the F-150," Lincoln Mercury spokeswoman Sara Tatchio says. "We've looked for several years at different options for Lincoln Mercury showrooms, and this is certainly something to consider."

While not confirming that Lincoln will offer the pickup, she says that "for a long time dealers have been interested in a pickup truck."

This will be Lincoln's second attempt to grab incremental sales from a pickup. The Blackwood entered production in 2001 but was killed in August 2002 after only 4,000 units were produced. Production and quality problems were cited, along with the vehicle's limited appeal.

Rather than having a traditional bed, the Blackwood's composite bed was carpeted, illuminated and covered with a tonneau that could not be removed, making the vehicle useless for most pickup use. It also was available only in black and only two-wheel drive was offered. The new Lincoln will be a traditional pickup.

Jeff Schuster, director of product analysis at J.D. Power's Troy, Mich. office, doubts that the Blackwood's failure will hurt Lincoln's new pickup.

The Blackwood "came and went so fast," Schuster says. There was little advertising for the vehicle, he says, and those familiar with the Blackwood probably saw it at an auto show.

 

Related article:

(01:57:50 Nov. 21, 2003)
Lincoln to kill Aviator SUV as early as '05, suppliers say


By AMY WILSON | Automotive News

DETROIT -- Lincoln will drop the truck-based Aviator SUV as early as 2005, say two suppliers working on the program.

The Aviator, on the market for nine months, has sold poorly and has been viewed as a clone of the Ford Explorer.

The SUV will be replaced in the Lincoln lineup by a new sport wagon produced on the Mazda6 platform beginning in August 2006. The suppliers say production of the Aviator is scheduled to stop at the end of the 2005 model year.

But the exact timing of the Aviator's demise still is being determined, say supplier and company sources. The Aviator is assembled at Ford Motor Co.'s St. Louis assembly plant, which Ford has targeted to close by mid-decade. St. Louis also assembles the Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer.

Ford officials wouldn't comment on the Aviator's fate.

But a Ford source acknowledged that the existing truck-based SUV won't be needed after the new 2007 sport wagon debuts. That sport wagon, to be built in Oakville, Ontario, is designed to fight vehicles such as the Lexus RX 330 and Infiniti FX45.

While the Aviator looks much like the Explorer, the company invested heavily for new Aviator parts, such as a different instrument panel. About half of the Aviator's parts are new. So even though the company paid generously for new parts, a top Ford executive says, it still failed to differentiate the Aviator from the Explorer.

The Aviator's high price is a problem. The Navigator starts at $49,050; the Aviator starts at $39,995 but can reach more than $54,000.

In the first seven months of 2003, Lincoln sold 15,164 Aviators. It had planned full-year sales of up to 35,000 in 2003.

 

More Lincoln News:

(01:59:24 Nov. 21, 2003)
Lincoln Aviator sales sputter; dealers say the new SUV is priced too high


By AMY WILSON | Automotive News


Though Aviator sales have been slow, Lincoln has seen signs of hope in younger buyers.
DETROIT - Even as Lincoln dealers worry about a product dearth, the luxury brand's newest vehicle is getting off to a slow start.

Five months after it reached showrooms, sales of the 2003 Lincoln Aviator SUV have disappointed some dealers, and a key Ford Motor Co. executive even acknowledged that the Aviator hasn't sold as well as expected. Dealers say the $40,000-plus SUV is priced too high, while the automaker says it needs some time to evaluate the Aviator's performance in a war economy and to give advertising a chance.

The Aviator's success is key for Lincoln dealers, who are concerned about a thinning product lineup and slipping sales. Lincoln's U.S. sales dropped by 5.6 percent in 2002 to 150,057 vehicles, its third decline in the last four years. Lincoln has said it is responding to the concerns with three new vehicles in the next three years.

Lincoln started advertising the Aviator in February and has seen some recent gains.

"It could be doing slightly better, but it gained a lot of momentum in March versus February," says Jim O'Connor, Ford group vice president for North America marketing, sales and service. "I would say it's priced a little high."

U.S. dealers sold 6,789 Aviators from its November 2002 introduction through March, when sales jumped 52.8 percent from February levels to 2,245. Inventory soared to a huge 160-day supply at the beginning of March and dropped to a still-high 113 days on April 1. Lincoln has targeted Aviator sales of 30,000 to 35,000 in 2003.

Because of price, many shoppers who look at an Aviator end up buying the larger Lincoln Navigator SUV, which starts at $49,050, or the similar-sized Mercury Mountaineer SUV, which starts at $29,950, dealers say. Or they cross-shop SUVs and sport wagons sold by import luxury brands such as Lexus or Acura that can be had for less money. The Aviator's list price starts at $39,995 and can top $54,000 for a loaded Kitty Hawk edition.

"Pricing is the one thing that has to be addressed," says Jack Straub of Straub Lincoln-Mercury in Keyport, N.J.

Lincoln officials say the Aviator has attracted more import buyers and younger buyers than other Lincolns.

But given price and its styling similarities to the Navigator, the Aviator is not likely to add incremental sales to Lincoln Mercury, says Jeff Schuster, director of North American forecasting for J.D. Power and Associates.

For $10,000 less, a buyer could get substantially the same vehicle in the Mercury Mountaineer, he says.

"It pretty much is feeding on itself," Schuster says.

The automaker still is working on the right pricing formula for the Aviator, O'Connor says.

While adjusting the list price isn't under consideration, Lincoln began offering 0 percent financing or a $3,000 cash rebate on the Aviator this month. Those are high incentives for a vehicle so new to the market.

Cutting production is another option if stocks remain high.

"It's off the same (platform) as the Mountaineer and Explorer," O'Connor says. "Both of those are selling well, and while there's more margin in Aviator for the company, it's not like you lost all your margin. We're mixing."

 

Onre more:

02:02:05 Nov. 21, 2003)
Lincoln targets entry-luxury, sport wagon segments in new product push


By AMY WILSON | Automotive News

NEW YORK -- Lincoln will tackle two new segments -- small luxury sedan and sport wagon -- but declined to say when the vehicles will reach showrooms.

Ford Motor Co.'s luxury division also will introduce a sedan derived from the Lincoln LS platform. Executives wouldn't say whether it will replace the LS.

The product plan means Lincoln will get at least three new or redesigned vehicles, probably in 2005 or 2006. Lincoln sales have slipped as the brand's product lineup thinned in recent years. U.S. dealers sold 150,057 Lincoln vehicles in 2002, down 5.6 percent from 2001.

Other luxury makes such as Lexus and Cadillac have been quicker to market with new products, especially in the entry-luxury and sport-wagon segments.

"We're very serious about bringing more new Lincolns to market faster than most of you have been expecting," said Chris Theodore, Ford Motor vice president of advanced product creation.

One Lincoln Mercury dealer was disappointed that Lincoln didn't say more.

No images of the three promised vehicles were shown, and arrival dates weren't disclosed.

"For the past couple of years, we've been told we're going to come out with new product, and to say that again, we've been told that before," said Jack Straub of Straub Lincoln- Mercury in Keyport, N.J. "I hope this time they mean it."

Theodore said the entry-level sedan will feature all-wheel drive. He also said that the sedan and the sport wagon, meant to fight the Lexus RX 330, will be built off the Mazda6 platform.

Theodore said the vehicles will hit the market after the debut of Mercury's vehicles -- the 2004 Monterey minivan, the 2005 Montego sedan, the 2005 Mariner SUV and a 2006 sedan based on the Mazda6. That would put the arrival of the Lincolns into 2005 or 2006.

Ford Motor executives also indicated that the Continental nameplate eventually would return to the Lincoln lineup, but they said it is not one of the three promised vehicles.

 

Lets hope it sells as well as the Blackwood and lasts just as long.

 

Sad. Lincoln can't sell cars nor SUVs, so it must sell so focking Pickups.....Cause no one else makes em (except Cadillac).

 

did they do any marketing on this? Who is there demographic here? guy with a doublewide AND a porch?

so stupid

 

i hope for your sake that its just a simple brain fart. porsche

 

Is it true that the Aviator is getting or did get the boot?

 

yeah. basically, lincoln and mercury are worthless companies. i dont know what purpose they serve in the market. ford might be better off killing them and starting over. maybe kill all the mercury models except gand marquis (and limit GM sales to florida only) and eliminate lincoln (only sell town cars to limo companies) and maybe 10 or so years down the road when people forget the companies, reestablish them and rebuild?

 

Aviator getting the boot cause it is a POS and an overpriced POS on top of that.

Lincoln=the next Oldsmobile

 

I think Lincoln wants a pickup/suv to compete with the Cadillac Escalade-Avalanche. Since Cadillac has been selling a lot of those I guess Lincoln wants a share of that market too.

Maybe even Mercury will get a version of the F150 too. Kind of a "Marauder" truck/suv.

I heard the Aviator will be getting the boot because even though Ford redesigned the interior(which looks pretty nice, I have to admit) and gave the exterior a mini-Navigator look the Aviator is still way overpriced.

 

the aviator is selling fine, ford just has unrealistic sales goals.

 

I totally disagree. Ford just needs to give Lincoln a couple of models it can call its own as GM has done with Cadillac. I think it could be a gold mine if Lincoln spiced up the lineup - maybe add an AWD replacement for the LS.

 

Here's a pic of the Lincoln F150:

http://info.detnews.com/autosinsider...peek/index.cfm

 

wow, talk about ugly as sin. basically, they put the lincoln grill on the ford, sweet

 

Outside the Navigator, Lincoln is falling off the map. People are buying less Towncars going to imports. The LS is a GREAT effort but not GREAT enough against the competition.

Sad, the best or one of the best American sedans is not near on par an imports. And, I've driven em, hell from Hertz just last week. I really like it. But they need to hold the price (loaded ones are almost 50k now).

Lincoln, more than anything needs to turn to outstanding, American styling. Not Diamante look-alikes.

 

by Peter M. DeLorenzo



Lincoln Just Doesn't Get It, Apparently.

Detroit. With the hype and the media frenzy cresting at the New York Auto Show as you read this, it is becoming more and more apparent that the auto industry as a whole is continuing on its quest to shove the proverbial 200 pounds of product into a 25-pound bag - and to a company, no one believes anything other than the fact that their particular products will enjoy considerable success.

Automobile companies are "piling" model after model into every segment you can think of - but that doesn't make the strategy right, and it doesn't mean it's going to work out for the best, either. One lap of the New York show will tell you that each automobile company is not only oblivious to what's going on around them - they seemingly have blinders on as to the competitive reality they're dealing with.

How else can you explain the Lincoln Zephyr?

Lincoln's new entry in the dreaded "near-luxury" segment is based on yet another iteration of the Mazda6 - a worthwhile platform, to be sure. But is this really what Lincoln needs right now?

In a word - no.

How can one of America's iconic automotive brands continue to be so mishandled as to the point of being left in the dust by virtually every other luxury automaker in terms of style, image and street presence - and that all-important "buzz" factor?

A couple of years ago, Lincoln showed a Continental Concept at the Detroit auto show that was drop-dead gorgeous and pretty much crystallized everything the brand represented up until that point - tasteful luxury, presence, pride and confidence - and signaled what the brand could be again. Then, almost immediately it was revealed that Ford wouldn't be building it because of its ongoing budget problems. And that was that.

Little did we know that the Continental Concept would be Lincoln's last gasp at defining itself for the foreseeable future. Yes, of course the Aviator and Mark X concepts at the '04 version of the Detroit Auto Show were nicely crafted and beautifully rendered - but where is the iconic large luxury sedan that seared Lincoln's reputation in America's consciousness? Where is the defining car that will set Lincoln on its path to the future? Why hasn't Lincoln been able to come up with a defining concept like Cadillac did several years ago with the Evoq to point itself into the future?

Instead they've trotted out several concepts as if they're seemingly thinking out loud and seeing what will "stick" on the wall of public acceptance. It smacks of a car company that not only doesn't know where they want to take a brand - it appears they don't get what the brand is supposed to be about in the first place.

As we say around here - not good.

Ford needs to do a touchstone concept for the Lincoln brand, the one car that will instantly say "this is it" to people inside and outside the company. Is the Mark X or Aviator it? Let's just say that even though the Aviator is a beautiful representation of what the crossover genre could be, the Mark X gets closer to the heart of what Lincoln should be.

Is the Zephyr what Lincoln needs to be doing? No, not by any stretch of the imagination (we will add photos of the Zephyr later today - ed.). "Near-luxury" Hell is not where the Lincoln brand needs to be planting its flag right now. That's a segment that Lincoln should address only after it has reestablished what the brand represents in the marketplace.

And they have yet to do that. Not even close, as a matter of fact.

The Zephyr might appease the near-term thinkers at the dealer level and the platform extension experts in the company hell-bent in their quest to "deliver the numbers" - but what it says to me is that to a large extent the real issue for Lincoln isn't being addressed at this point - and there are too many people involved who just don't get it.

Thanks for listening, see you next Wednesday.

 

Good article. The guy brings up some good points... I think Licoln is gonna try to pull a Caddy. They began with the CTS (though it IS RWD, and tested in Germany, etc.), and worked it's way up. They want to do the same with the Zephyr, then Aviator, etc. Atleast they seem to have a consistent stylying them on these new models...

 

Yet Another Remake for Lincoln? - - By Paul A. Eisenstein -- Source: The Car Connection

 

Add to that the fact that they are going FWD and you have a combination for...stagnation.

 

I don't see a problem. Ford people insisted that Lincoln would not chase Cadillac into the Mercedes/BMW/Lexus realm, leaving that up to their so-called premier auto group, consisting of Jaguar, Aston Martin, and Land over. If they're content with that, then they need to work on Jaguar.

 

I see Mercedes is having quality problems but Lexus and BMW are roaring ahead. And a rebadged 500 ain't gonna win over any new customers for Lincoln, the "Blue collar luxury brand."

 

My thoughts exactly. They claim to want to follow Caddillac with a "desirable" product. Yet, the Zephyr (while attractive) will almost certainly not make the splash that the CTS (new, race tuned WD chassis exlusive to Caddy) did. In addition, GM made it clear who they were after and spent the money to do things right. Lincoln continues to fumble in the dark.

 

That "blue collar luxury" is bullshit. That description brings to mind cars for the everyday man with a bunch of premium touches standard; kind of like where VW has positioned itself and where Saturn wants to get. But isn't that what Mercury is supposed to be? WTF. Lincoln should be big, bold, American luxury. Fuck the Premiere group. Leg Jag bring in the European flavor. There's enough room for both, IMO. If Buick ever succeds in what it hopes to do, then GM will have pulled it off with Caddy and Buick.

 

Ford has Lincoln and Mercury playing at around the same level, give or take a few thousand dollars in pricing here or there. GM had Buick and Oldsmobile essentially doing the same thing, but then decided to kill off Oldsmobile. I believe Daimler Chrysler also had the same problem with Chrysler and Plymouth, but then killed Plymouth.

But I don't think it's likely that Lincoln will have the same fate; if anything, it's going to be Mercury that goes (if Ford decides that one of the two should go).

 

How can a company have an identity crisis when they don't built any new cars? Oh, this must be the automotive media at work. Lincoln is stagnant, most would call Lincoln dead if it were not for the popularity of SUV's. Lincoln can sell a 55k suv but they can't sell luxury cars below 55k, uhuh.

Think people underestimate the power of FWD. The Deville is FWD and it sells fine, all Lincoln has to do is offer awd to jump in with Audi.

 

Lincoln is dead. They are not true luxury and they are not sport and they are not the best entry level luxury. WTF are they? They are dying and need SIGNIFICANT investment and management to turnaround.

 

Lincoln's new name game - - Ford's luxury division will try to soup up its lackluster image with alphabetic vehicle names - - By Amy Wilson - - Source: Automotive News

 

Mkx Mdx Mkx Mdx

 

Suite...I think?


On a serious note, I don't personally think using letters is going to make a line more "upscale". It's the product more than anything...

 

Navigator and Town Car are such well known names, which stand out even more when compared to all of the other luxury makers who have nothing but alpha-numeric names. (Audi, Infiniti, Lexus, Acura, Mercedes, BMW, etc.)

 

Acura did the exact same thing. Has it worked?

 

Man I hate that so many companies are doing this now adays. Like cars to be actually named not just a letter or number.