Lincoln Not to Go Global Like Rival Brand Cadillac
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| Lincoln's redesigned Town Car doesn't point the brand in a very high-tech direction. Its defining characteristics, that include body-on-frame architecture, fake plastic wood interior trim and 16-valve, SOHC V8 'anti-technology', has hardly changed in decades. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann,Canadian Auto Press) |
For as long as most can remember Lincoln has battled Cadillac for top spot in North America's domestic luxury car market. It seems those days are over for Ford's premium brand, at least for the short term. Lincoln is set to downsize while Cadillac is expanding here at home and abroad.
The crested-wreath brand has been adding to its product line recently while Lincoln is still struggling to replace aging models. The long-awaited Town Car redesign ended up being little more than a subtle re-skin of an extremely dated body-on-frame chassis architecture - albeit popular among limousine makers. The Navigator Blackwood pickup truck (only available in the U.S.) was mothballed after only a single year due to nominal sales, while Cadillac's ultra-functional Escalade EXT pickup is relatively popular. The Ford Taurus based Lincoln Continental doesn't even exist anymore while the once hot rear-wheel drive LS is starting to look dated next to Cadillac's futuristic CTS.
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| Ford Motor plans to invest more money into Mercury rather than drop the brand and put its efforts behind Lincoln, its previous plan. The Mercury Mountaineer (shown) would most likely sell well in Canada if it were made available. No announcement has been made to officially reintroduce the brand north of the 49th. (Photo: Ford Motor) |
"We've had a problem with Lincoln," stated Ford Chief Operating Officer Nick Scheele. While he wouldn't confirm any specific product details Scheele inferred that Lincoln has recently lowered its expectations, with more resources being focused on Mercury, Ford Motor's mid-priced brand that only sells two models in Canada through Ford dealerships. Scheele continued, "Lincoln without Mercury is non-supportable." He added, "We're pulling Mercury back from the morgue." When referring to Lincoln's three-tiered BMW-style (3/5/7-Series) product plan Scheele stated that, "We canned the Lincoln plan."