Lincoln Mustang S550?

[Ben Marshmallow]

Cadillac is offering an answer to the new EcoBoost Navigator (I know this is not a Navigator thread, but some people are discussing the Navigator).

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2014/07/cadillac-mulling-over-vsport-model-diesel-engine-for-escalade/

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[Bucky69]

My son works for a Lincoln Dealer and he feels it will never happen :(

 

[Ben Marshmallow]

The Mark was a fairly good personal couple and the LS was a decent family sedan. I would have bought an LS in 2004 but the AC could not keep up on the one I did the extended test drive on (100 miles or so), and my back gave me problems (residual from the t-bird accident referenced above) when sitting in the seats. Considering I had a 50 mile 1 way commute at the time (which jumped to 90 miles each way 2 years later), I was very glad I did not get that car.

I don't think they have to have a performance car (sports/pony car). After all, the M and AMG are the halo cars for those brands, however, a nice driver oriented car (but not really meant for track duty) is something Lincoln is sorely missing and has been since the Mark VIII LSC went out of production.

I don't see Lincoln making a re-badged mustang and having it work for them. We have seen that fail time and time again at GM and really, it's failing at Ford too. Besides, as already noted, the personal coupe market is very small and shrinking. Customers this should target are middle aged (35-55) adults with teenaged/adult children or no children. The 2 seats in back need to be sized for real adults with the appropriate leg room. They also need their own doors, because no one really wants to try and climb into or out of the back these days. My wife would refuse to go in any car like that and I don't know too many other ladies that would either, much less any men my size/height.

Luxury brands these days need both style AND performance to succeed. Lexus, BMW, Mercedes...the big 3 brands...all have this in a least a few models. Luxury brands are a huge source of profit. If Ford wants in on that (and being honest, it needs to have that profit), it needs a viable Lincoln. If FMC wants to run with the big dogs, they will need to bring their A game, otherwise they can just stay on the porch and wither away.

So Audi is not a luxury brand?

 

[Tim Hilliard]

Lincoln, if they wanted to play in Cadillac's sand box with a performance sedan would do well with a Mustang based platform. But they would have to commit and make a market for it. Take it racing, beat Cadillac at a game they own. That takes commitment and I don't know if it's a market the Lincoln brand is looking at...because I honestly don't understand the Lincoln brand. I understand the Cadillac brand. It's very clear, Lincoln leaves me lost. I don't hold Lincoln's purse strings and they survived without a bail out so who am I to say what they are doing.

I would love to see a Mark/LS truthful, honest performance sedan. Yes I keep saying SEDAN. Build a sedan and offer a coupe.

 

[Stonehauler]

So Audi is not a luxury brand?

Source - http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2014/09/u-s-auto-sales-results-august-2014-ytd/
Mercedes - 221,472 YTD
BMW - 211,005 YTD
Lexus - 198,831
Audi - 116,066 YTD
Cadillac - 114,008
Accura - 105,918
Lincoln - 60,531

Audi has just over half half the sales of each of the the big 3 luxury brands, so yeah, while it is brand, in my mind, it's an "also ran".

This segment makes up a significant portion of the profits in the automotive sector, so it's important that Lincoln get into the game.

 

[Stonehauler]

For 2014, the YTD sales at the end of August for Acura, BMW, Cadillac, Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus Lincoln, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Volvo was a combined total of 709,131

The combined sales of Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus was 409,836, giving the top three over 57 percent of the combined market. While Audi and Cadillac have a huge chunk of the rest (31 percent combined) they are not in the same league at the moment.

 

[Texican1911]

[ame]

Imagine if an aftermarket company like Roush (not Roush, but someone with name recognition) started doing this to the MKZ. This 3.7L Mustang stays with a Boss 302 to somewhere near 100mph from standing and rolling. Build this into an AWD MKZ and it would be a killer.

 

[Old 5 Oh]

Lincoln, if they wanted to play in Cadillac's sand box with a performance sedan would do well with a Mustang based platform. But they would have to commit and make a market for it. Take it racing, beat Cadillac at a game they own. That takes commitment and I don't know if it's a market the Lincoln brand is looking at...because I honestly don't understand the Lincoln brand. I understand the Cadillac brand. It's very clear, Lincoln leaves me lost. I don't hold Lincoln's purse strings and they survived without a bail out so who am I to say what they are doing.

I would love to see a Mark/LS truthful, honest performance sedan. Yes I keep saying SEDAN. Build a sedan and offer a coupe.

^^^ This. It has to be a sedan, it has to perform, and it has to have moves. The tech and Nappa leather are assumed. I think the Mustang platform is an opportunity for Lincoln if they have the guts and don't screw it up. The continued timidity of Lincoln's product planning has the brand on life support. I love my MKZ, but I describe it honestly as The World's Fanciest Fusion. That's fine for those like me who bought used at a $500 premium to a Fusion, but it won't play in the new-car market where they are looking for much larger premiums.

 

[genericuser1]

I don't think Lincoln can get by trying to duplicate Cadillac, Buick or Infinity let alone BMW/Audi/Benz. They need to find some sort of niche that the others haven’t’ beaten to death. There really isn’t a reason to buy a new Lincoln over other offerings in the market.

I do think it has the potential to be profitable as you can reuse platforms and spread out your development costs but there needs to be a substantial reason to buy a Lincoln over a loaded Ford (Nissan has this same issue with Infinity).

 

[luke1333]

rear end renders

http://news.boldride.com/2014/06/li...stang-based-luxury-coupe-detroit-needs/50821/

 

[moodster]

Little higher deck lid or lip and it would look better.
This looks like ford is putting feelers out there.

 

[essque]

No Lincoln, don't do it. Do not produce a halo performance luxury vehicle based off an incredible platform that would instantaneously drive traffic to your dealerships, pay for itself in free publicity alone and give you the opportunity to compete with luxury brands doing much better than you in every statistical category. Be smart, don't do it Lincoln.

 

[cudak888]

Sorry, as much as I hope for Lincoln to build a Mustang based car, all I see is this. The 1/4 panel tweak made it worse. It needs to not look like a Camaro.

The fact that I cold find a nose shot of a Camaro in 10 seconds on the internet and have the body lines line up perfectly.....

The Lincoln render is likely Photoshop to start with - a Camaro for the body mated to an S550 roof, with lots and lots of digital artistry on top.

Frankly, I don't see the Camaro front end that much in the Lincoln. The Camaro's pointed end and large, angry air dam do not equal the flattened and rounded front end of the Lincoln render, which carries off a more subtle attitude of confident arrogance. It's The Hulk vs. James Bond.

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

rear end renders

http://news.boldride.com/2014/06/li...stang-based-luxury-coupe-detroit-needs/50821/

That has nothing to do with the Carscoops render, but I'll admit - the back end shows promise:

There's still way too much S550 in that render though - and what's up with the off white on every single render? The luxury styling features and blingy LED lights make it look (dare I say it in our over-the-top, politically correct society?) ultra-feminine and Mary Kay-esque - and that's the farthest thing from the history of Lincoln's styling:

Pick the era of your choice - Lincoln's styling has historically been a masculine blend of bold, chiseled, no-nonsense lines; not soft, subtle, indeterminate, and feminine - and those photos prove it.

The aero-egg Mark VIII screwed up this understanding in 1993, and Lincoln has been trying to figure out what they've been missing ever since then.

-Kurt

 

[Old 5 Oh]

The aero-egg Mark VIII screwed up this understanding in 1993, and Lincoln has been trying to figure out what they've been missing ever since then.

Couldn't agree more. When that car came out, I thought Lincoln had truly lost its corporate mind. And apparently they had. The Mark VII was so desirable, and the Mark VIII was so . . . weird. They never recovered.

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