By Carl Malek
Lincoln chose to kick off day two of the 2012 North American International Auto Show by unveiling this MKZ concept car which appears to be a slightly disguised glimpse into what the production version of the next generation MKZ sedan could very well look like.
By Charles Krome
The last time I reviewed a Lincoln product—an MKZ Hybrid—my disappointment in the car led to a relatively negative review. In fact, some folks thought I had it in for the brand. So I want to be clear here: In terms of the Big Three, I consider myself a Ford guy. While my father preferred traditional British sports cars from the likes of Lotus and Jensen-Healey while I was growing up, the family hauler was usually a Blue Oval product. We were carted around in a variety of big Fords, from a Country Squire wagon to a Galaxie 500 to a big ol’ LTD. Obviously, those cars aren’t Lincolns, but my point is I do consider that my childhood experiences left me with a rooting interest in Ford that remains today.
By Chris Haak
It’s well known that the Panther platformed-Lincoln Town Car is being put to pasture later this year (as is its platform-mate, the Ford Crown Victoria). Lincoln does not intend to concede those sales (over 11,000 Town Car sales in 2010, and over 75,000 sales on the platform), so just as Ford is crossing its fingers that taxi operators will flock to the Transit Connect, and law enforcement will flock to to the Explorer-based and Taurus-based Police Interceptors, it’s hoping that livery buyers will consider the new MKT-based Town Car.
To create the MKT Town Car, Lincoln actually split the line into two variants. The first is the standard-length MKT Town Car Livery model uses the same body shell as the regular retail-sold MKT, but adds a few touches to make it more appropriate for livery duty. For instance, the rear seat has been moved rearward by 1.5 inches to increase legroom. When we reviewed an MKT EcoBoost, we found the second-row accommodations to be perhaps the best seats in the house.
By Chris Haak
Writers for Autosavant are given free reign to write about whatever they want to, as long as it’s about cars and the car business, whenever they want to. I almost never give them specific assignments, nor deadlines, unless it’s been a while since a time-sensitive event has occurred. I get many different perspectives on the issues using this approach, and also hopefully have writers opining on topics that they personally find interesting and enjoyable to write about.
Sometimes, however, this Wild West approach to editorial assignments results in interesting, or uncomfortable situations, like when two people write about the same subject. Or when two people drive the same car. (It should be noted that we never schedule the same vehicle twice at Autosavant, but some of our writers are freelancers with individual access to manufacturers’ press fleets). This happened a few years ago with the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor, when one of our writers reviewed the same truck that a freelancer did. Since one guy was in the Texas Hill Country and the other on Long Island and they have very different perspectives, I think it worked. Hopefully we’ll be able to say the same about the piece that Charles Krome wrote last month on the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid and what you’re about to read below.
By Charles Krome
As soon as Lincoln decided it would offer the MKZ Hybrid at the same base price as the standard MKZ—$34,330—I moved the car up to the top of my test-drive wish-list. And lo and behold, guess what ended up in my driveway over the weekend, complete with a full tank of gas, courtesy of our friends at Lincoln?
Now, I know the MKZ doesn’t have the best rep in the auto blogosphere, but I had thought there might be a strong business case with the Lincoln that buyers weren’t quite hipped to. Consider: There are certain types of vehicles that offer certain market differentiators that are so far ahead of the competition that said vehicles get a bit of a free pass when it comes to more mundane features. Take something like the Lotus Elise. By focusing on a low curb weight to the exclusion of nearly everything else, the Lotus offers stunning performance at a relatively low cost.
By Charles Krome
One of the more unique vehicles to visit the SEMA show in the fall of 2010 was a certain American-made product capable of 50 miles of all-electric driving and a further 350 miles of travel when powered by its onboard generator. The car put out zero tailpipe emissions using pure electricity, of course, and even when relying on its generator, the net result was about 40 percent fewer emissions than a Toyota Prius. The generator offered another bonus, too: When used to recharge the car, it was responsible for 48 percent fewer emissions than would be produced if the vehicle were plugged into the U.S. power grid—although that’s an option here, too. Oh, and when it is plugged in, any extra electricity could be fed back into the grid, too.
A secret Chevrolet Volt variant? Nope. A reincarnated vehicle from Chrysler’s ENVI project? Hardly. Some under-the-radar effort from Ford? Not exactly. It was none other than Neil Young’s LincVolt, a 1959 Lincoln Continental outfitted with a high-tech powertrain featuring a UQM 150-kW turbine motor, a bio-diesel “microturbine” generator from Capstone and 850 lbs. worth of lithium-iron phosphate batteries.
By Kevin Miller
I don’t watch much TV, but I read plenty plenty of automotive websites and I travel a lot. Both on those automotive sites and in national news publications such as USAToday, the Lincoln MKX is being heavily advertised. Ford is doing a great job in getting the word out about the MKX and its class-leading MyLincoln Touch system.
After spending a week in a 2011 Lincoln MKX, I came away conflicted. It has some great features, is more fun to drive than many competing five-passenger crossover vehicles, and for the most part is nicely finished.
Continue Reading →
By Charles Krome
In my recent piece about the evolution of Lincoln, I fixated on what seemed to be a surprising comment from Jim Farley, Ford’s group vice president for global sales, service and marketing. In a story covering the same subject in Automotive News, [sub req'd] he is indirectly quoted as follows: “Lincoln’s future products will stay in the $35,000 to $55,000 price range, Farley said.”
My basic thought here was that this would put a serious damper on Lincoln’s aspirations in the luxury segments. I mean, a fair number of those segments host vehicles that start north of $55 large, and a Lincoln price ceiling at that level would preclude competing in some important luxury spaces.
So, while I climbed up on ye olde soapbox in that piece, I also reached out to Ford for some clarification, and this morning, Lincoln’s communication manager, Christian Bokich, reached back.
By Charles Krome
Surprisingly, the answer is “yes”—at least if you believe Jim Farley, Ford’s group vice president of global marketing, sales and service. Farley was providing some hints about Lincoln’s future direction in a recent Automotive News interview [sub req'd], and he had plenty to say about how the loss of Mercury will be Lincoln’s gain.
The focus will be on providing stronger differentiation between Ford and Lincoln products, a longstanding and ongoing problem exemplified today by a quick comparo between the division’s crossover cousins, the Edge and the MKX. Even with the 2011 models, with their vastly different grille treatments, there’s no disguising their shared roots. And the situation with the Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ isn’t that different. (Note that in the accompanying photos, I’m showing a 2010 Fusion and a 2011 MKZ; it was oddly (?) difficult to find similar profile shots of each from the same model year.)
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