Death of the Lincoln Aviator

[Dave Hardee]

Read in this month's R+T magazine about the death of the Lincoln Avaitor due to slow sales. First the Continental, then the Blackwood, now the Avaitor...pretty soon we'll only have three models in the line-up..no, wait a minute, we DO only have three models in the lineup!
Makes you wonder if Lincoln is in for the "Oldsmobile" 'slow death by abandonment" treatment...

[ekooke]

I think it's more at "slow death by stupid marketing decisions". But, death is death. smile.gif

[DaKat]

Is anyone else tired of watching Cadillac whup Lincolns butt with all their new marketing/advertising??

[pro-five-oh]

The Lincoln ads are great! Especially the one with that guy from "The Green Mile" who gets a Town Car and the girl with the THX Lincoln LS. Slick and understated.

Older Lincoln ads had that same "speak softly and carry a big stick" attitude to them.

Too bad most NEW Lincoln Mercury products don't have the power to back up the "soft words." :(

[cwally]

Actually that was just a rumor. Lincoln has no plans of stopping Aviator production. smile.gif

[Dave Hardee]

So, Road and Track mag has it wrong?? One would think their fact-checkers would be a little more thorough.. looks like it's time to investigate this one through Road and Track's website.

[pro-five-oh]

The Aviator will probably be phased out by 2005 or so.

It won't be canned like the Blackwood, that is for sure. smile.gif

[Aviator]

I have not heard Ford Motor Company say that the Aviator will be discontinued. Reportedly, a supplier said it. Maybe a supplier that lost the business on their part(s)??? :confused:

Watch the sales improve as soon as business people realize they can put one into service and depreciate the whole thing this year. GVW over 6,000 pounds. That's like a 30+% discount for some of these guys and gals. smile.gif

[Silver Cobra]

Lincoln's current line stinks right now. They need more cars like the LS to compete well in the market. Cadillac already has big plans with its lineup like the STS going RWD and the new V-Series. Lincoln should use Caddy's ideas as an example for their benefit smile.gif

This is a step (http://www.car-data.com/xpage.preview/pre.template.asp?mfg=lincoln&model=navicross)

This would be sweet (http://www.car-data.com/xpage.preview/pre.template.asp?mfg=lincoln&model=navigatork)

[mntner2001]

The latest notifications from Ford tell us to expect a redesigned Aviator in 2007. And just last week I spoke with the district operations manager for Ford, he has told me that the Avaitor doesn't cost radically more then an explorer to build.

Oh by the way, the redesigned LS is already completed too.

[Aviator]

It is peculiar that people are quick to believe a story about the demise of a vehicle line. They are quick to create a scenerio that supports that rumor and pass it on without any basis except "Someone said".

The Aviator will continue for years to come. It will be revised in content, repriced and rediscovered several times before it's disappearance. If the current "business use" 100% first year depreciation factors stay in place for vehicles over 6,000 lbs, the sales will pick up dramitically (my aviator is 6110 GVW).

Every Lincoln salesperson should be contacting their business owner/professional customers and explaining how they can take advantage of the tax rules and enjoy a new Avaitor (with a tax deduction equal to 30-35% of the purchase price).

[Conti94]

The Lincoln Aviator will not die it has too much potential it should sell better than Cadillacs new small suv. smile.gif

[pepsi2185]

Has anyone seen those cadillacs. My god what a joke. The catera was an embarassment but you dont see people rubbing it in. Overpriced four door cavalier. The CTS, please i never knew cheap black plastic to be criteria in a 40g car. I have seen a ton of those aviators out here in detroit. Who wouldnt want a navigator with a bit better gas mileage and a smaller price tag. I think lincoln finally started getting things right with the avaitor after the sad demise of the continental and mark 8.

[Lankin]

Some news I came into,read below:

Suppliers say Lincoln will kill Aviator

By Amy Wilson
Automotive News / August 04, 2003

Advertisement


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.

[Lankin]

But then again,came into this,so I wil take it as rumor right now.

From Thecarconnection.com

Aviator Death Notice Premature?

Reports of the death of Lincoln’s Aviator have been greatly exaggerated, insisted Ford Motor Co. COO Nick Scheele, during a discussion with reporters in Traverse City. In recent days, numerous news stories have indicated that Lincoln’s mid-size luxury sport-ute will be pulled from production in 2005, a victim of weak sales. But such reports are “premature,” said Ford COO Nick Scheele, quickly substituting the word, “wrong.” MBS keynote speaker, Scheele stressed “We have taken no such decision on Aviator,” insisting that after a slow start, sales have begun picking up. Through June, he reported, Lincoln has sold about 13,000 of the SUVs, nearly half the 30,000 target for all of 2003. Scheele, meanwhile, countered concerns that Lincoln has lost its direction. Last spring, he told TheCarConnection the luxury brand was rethinking its entire product program following its pull-out from Ford’s Premier Automotive Group. The new lineup is “impressive,” Scheele said, denying that the American luxury unit will simply rely on “badge-engineered” versions of products sold by other Ford divisions.

[Silver Cobra]

quote:The Lincoln Aviator will not die it has too much potential it should sell better than Cadillacs new small suv.

Have you seen the numbers on Caddy's SRX? Car and Driver put it in the same class as the Cayenne, Toureg and Infiniti FX45. And guess what? They gave it first place! Now that's rare. It's got a massive sunroof, breakthrough suspension technology and performance too. 320hp/315 lb ft torque. Is this really the same class as the Aviator? I personally don't think so. It's not truck based, has a towing capacity worth sh*t etc. I won't count the Aviator out yet but Lincoln's lineup sucks right now.