GM owners sound off on Lincoln's direction

[Dave Hardee]

Have a peep at what GM owner forum folks are saying about Lincoln's current direction.

It's a long read, but interesting from a completely different viewpoint..
http://forums.gminsidenews.com/showthread.php?t=9732

[DaKat]

"...it's time to take Lincoln out back and put it down. This is not going to draw anyone to the dealership."

They destroyed the new Zephyr :(

[Davemutt]

"Lincoln is not Ford's only premium brand, so while Cadillac is going to go to the upper end of the "luxury" specturm - Lincoln is going to have a more defined role, below Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin. "

It does seem that Ford has let Lincoln slip a little in recent years.

[Kit Sullivan]

Whoever that guy is, I tend to agree with most of what he claims. Sounds like he has a definite affinity for Caddys, but can appreciate Lincolns also. I am the same way about Fords: When my Mustang-buddys just happen to catch me at an all GM show in my Trans-Am, they always ask "Hey! Did you sell the Mustang for THIS?!" I have to explain to them "No. I have several cars...and not all are Fords. I like them all!"
So when an 'outsider' notices Lincoln's poor efforts at continuance...well, it's a sad day indeed. I made the same observation as he did about the recent T-Bird: Scrap the T-Bird guise, 'fluff' it up and call it 'Mark IX'. $40-45,000 would put it right where it needs to be. Even with the 'Mark LT', I still see this as a viable option, considering that the 'LT' is not a numerical reference, as all other Mark suffixes were. Chrysler had '300s' and 'letter-series 300s' simultaneaosly. The letter cars were very special, while the plain 300 was just a gussied-up Newport (or whatever). The plain-jane 300 didn't seem to hurt the success of the letter series at all. So I don't think the 'LT' will hurt any future chances for a continuation of the 'Mark number series' either.
Maybe I'm just hopelessly wishful for good things to happen at Lincoln...(sigh)

[theMike]

Yeah, i thought this was a really well thought out article that accurately points out where lincoln is headed, Maybe lincoln is still trying to decide what style is catching on before they build the whole lineup off of that style, or maybe not, but as of late i am dissappointed w/ the direction of many new lincoln concepts. THe new aviator repulses me, and i like the zeypher, the aesthetics are great, but i just dont like the fact that it is based on a fwd mazda...it seems like such a cop-out. I'm wondering what direction the LS is headed, and i wish they would bring back the Mark VIII. I love my TC, and still like the new TC's, but the new caddy's are becoming more and more appealing...CTS-V(******* , what a great vehicle)

[pro-five-oh]

Lincoln will soon be the American Acura. Unless Ford gets a clue and keeps the LS chassis around for the next Continental, we are doomed to years of entry-level luxury from Lincoln. You can't run with the big dogs (Lexus, Caddy, MB, BMW) when you roll on a Mazda 6 chassis.

That said, I really like the look of the next Zephyr. And it'll probably have 250hp and plenty of performance for a nice price.

I'm just glad I got the Mark VIII of my dreams: American luxury is dead at Lincoln.

[DaKat]

You liked the concept Zephyr or the production Zephyr?

I liked the concept except for the FWD and negligable hp - if the production pics are true I might as well by a Hyundai or a Toyota from the looks standpoint.

[theMike]

dakat, the zeypher concept actually has a kind of pasatt or audi feel to me. Def, not like an american luxury vehicle.

I always felt like the current LS was pushing into the import luxury vehicle looks category, but the zeypher is way beyond. Dont get me wrong, i really like the current gen LS, it just seemed to be on the edge more than the rest of the lineup....

[DaKat]

If only a Pasatt or an Audi or a Hyundai or a Toyota was what I was looking for. Silly me - I wanted a Lincoln. :(

[megaforcer]

You guys don’t get it don’t ya? Lincoln or any other American company doesn’t care about few thousand Lincoln or Ford fanatics who want a big floating RWD boat that makes 10 mpg. European garbage is what sells now so they try to imitate them. 90% of the consumers in this country don’t care if its a nice big smooth riding boat, they just want a car that looks modern has all the buttons and all that electronics crap that they need and a car that they don’t have to fix ever. The general opinion is that imports are better than American cars so that’s why more and more people are turning away from domestic manufacturers and I don’t blame them. Japanese have really overtaken the market by storm with the quality and customer satisfaction.

[Davemutt]

I don't think Cadillac is trying imitate the imports, and that's likely one reason for their current success. Big horsepower, RWD and bold styling are all very American traits. Whether you like the styling or not, when you see one on the road you won't confuse it with anything but a Cadillac.

[gadget73]

Eh. I still don't like them. If I was to buy a foreign car, it would certainly be a European car, not an Asian one. Something German or Swede. BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, or, dare I say it, Volkswagen. Tho VW is not quite the luxury image a Lincoln invokes, they are nice cars. Sadly, as far as "bang per buck", the Asian auto market does have most everyone else beat. You simply cannot find a domestic or Euro car with the same feature list for the price. Oh well. I'll continue to buy things based on what I like vs what everyone else thinks is good.

[91MochafrostLSC]

I was just looking at a Cadillac ad today, A STS V8 with all the bells and whistles will set you back approx 62k and thats with the 15 speaker Bose 5.1 surround sound system. Lincoln doesn't have anything like that, nor do they cost 62 grand,unless your looking at a Navi. Lincoln I think, needs to get there shit together if they expect to take the upper hand away fron Caddy, but I think it's too late.... The new Caddys are butt ass ugly... Every one of them, with the exception of the XLR I can tolerate that. ata least it is rear wheel drive and sports a 8 banger. But that still is in the 70k range. I would just like to say that no matter how many gadgets and bells and whistles and safety features Cadillac puts on it's cars, I will still pull up next to ANY Caddy owner, look at them and smile, knowing that my car is a icon of it's time and I paid a hell of alot less for it...And besides, I don't have a car payment.