Ford's Jim Padilla on the MK names...

[pro-five-oh]

"Yes, we have iconic nameplates with strong name recognition in the Lincoln lineup. With the new alpha nomenclature, we have an opportunity to embrace Lincoln's rich heritage in a more contemporary, customer-relevant way through our MK badging, which is a modern interpretation of the historic Lincoln Mark name. The fantastic Lincoln product lineup, along with the new badging strategy, will make this great brand relevant to a new generation of customers."

-Jim Padilla,President and Chief Operating Officer, Ford Motor Company.
Mr. Padilla, with all due respect, may I please have whatever you and your Blue-Oval marketing gurus are smoking up there?

It must be really good stuff to make you think that ANYONE outside of Dearborn will even remotely remember your alphabet soup naming strategy. To this day younger and middle aged people call my Mark VIII a Lincoln Continental, and you have singlehandedly managed to dump Lincoln into a downward spiral where it will continue to make passionless cars that don't appeal to your core buyers or your average Lexus buyer.

Even people on this messageboard wonder if they'll ever see a MKS and not call it a MKX or MKZ by mistake. Odds are it'll just be called a Lincoln to most people, if they bother stop that long to care.

[DaKat]

"Yes, we have iconic nameplates with strong name recognition in the Lincoln lineup. With the new alpha nomenclature, we have an opportunity to embrace Lincoln's rich heritage in a more contemporary, customer-relevant way through our MK badging, which is a modern bastardization of the historic Lincoln Mark name. The fantastic Lincoln product lineup, along with the new badging strategy, will make this great brand relevant to a new generation of customers."

-Jim Padilla,President and Chief Operating Officer, Ford Motor Company.

Fixed.

[NYC LS8]

I vote for Pedro.

[Sysanalyst]

Maybe Mr. Padilla himself would be relevant if he was a member of the current generation of Lincoln buyers.

Hey - don't buy that sporty BMW, buy our almost sporty MK/Zephyr whatever. If they wan't to appeal to the younger generation, they need to make a vehicle that the younger generation would want to buy. Heck, the Dodge Caliber is more sporty looking and probably quicker than the Zephyr, and about 1/2 the cost.

[Nick]

With the killing of the LS and the Aviator and the horrible restyle of the Navigator, there isn't anything in the Lincoln-Mercury showroom that makes me even want to look around. The LS was the last Lincoln I even wanted new. They have nothing that interests me or warrants a full price tag.

[Sysanalyst]

As much as I hate to say it, the Dodge/Chrysler SRT[4/6/8/10] vehicles are much more appealing to me than just about anything F-L-M has to offer. Much as I hate to say it; new F-L-M vehicles look better suited toward rental vehicles than personal vehicles, much like GM vehicles. Only GM I'd consider at this point is the Corvette. Ford - ?. Any 500HP factory Mustangs out yet?

[zephyrized]

I did do a extensive shop around and the clear winner for me was my new Zephyr. Hands down it beat all other GM, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Pontiac and Nissan vehicles... I drove them all.
Never owned a Lincoln before... but I'm happy with this one.

[DaKat]

What a coinky-dink:
Padilla to step down (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4886030.stm)

[pro-five-oh]

Guess you can get away with management doublespeak like that when you're about ready to retire! Good for him, he had a great career with Ford. :)