Ford may have beat its July 2009 number last month, but sales at the Blue Oval brand still fell compared to the month before. Perhaps more embarrassing still is the fact that the recently-canceled Mercury brand managed to move more volume than Lincoln, despite the fact that both brands underperformed compared to both June 2010 and July 2009.
In fact, the only Mercury nameplate that saw year-over-year sales growth last month was Mountaineer, which improved by 73 units (18 percent). On the Lincoln front, the MKZ saw a 3.8 percent improvement (to 1,590 units), while Navigator improved by 116 units. And in its last month under Ford Control, Volvo tanked 33 percent, with only the XC60 (+48.2%, 1,129 units) and S80 (+66 units) growing at all. But then, we’re used to seeing Ford’s luxury offerings fall flat, only to be rescued by the Ford brand, and last month was no exception. Fiesta is ramping up, hitting 3,349 units, F-150 grew nearly 40 percent to 50,449, Taurus hit 5,046 units, and Explorer charged to 4,763 units. Transit Connect had a relatively good month at 2,633 units, and Edge edged up to 9,342, but Focus (-29.4, 15,417 units), Escape (-27.4%, 13,689 units) and Ranger (-32.3%, 5,213 units) all failed to hit their Cash-For-Clunker-boosted July 2009 levels.
So let me see… Mercury sells more than Lincoln, and they kill it?
That’s not saying much. Kill them both.
Egg, Mercury has been outselling Lincoln since at least 2000…yet, Ford kills ’em. Bold Moves.
Tri, it is saying a lot when you consider the age of the Mercury lineup as compared to the Lincoln lineup.
BUT LOOK AT THAT MKS RIP UP THE SALES CHARTS…IT’S ON FIRE!!!!!
Lincoln needs some work, granted, but with a heavily revised MKX coming out next month that is superior to the RX and the MDX in every way, and a no-cost Hybrid option on the MKZ, things will turn around. The conversion of the core Ford lineup is almost complete, and the company overall is making steady profits, so once the new Focus, new Fusion, and new Escape are all out, Ford will have plenty of time to really work on Lincoln.
Even as it is, while it isn’t good, it isn’t awful. Lincoln still outsells Audi, Porsche, and a number of other luxury brands.
@Nullo, Audi sold 7817 units in July, compared to Lincoln’s 5586. And I really don’t think Lincoln and Porsche can be compared in any way.
@Nullo, I will add a further thought: while Lincoln will struggle to sell 100K cars worldwide, Audi will sell over a million. And that at a nice profit margin, too.
It’s time for Lincoln to sink or swim.
Since most Lincoln Mercury dealers will fizzle out by the time Mercury dies, you can expect all of those sales to move to their Ford counterparts.
Unless all the LM Dealers grab VW or Hyundai franchises soon, Ford has nothing to worry about.
“Unless all the LM Dealers grab VW or Hyundai franchises soon, Ford has nothing to worry about.”
I’ve been needling my Buick/GMC dealer to gobble up a Kia (or a Hyundai) franchise so he can stop hunting the auctions for used cars to sell to his customers who bought NEW Pontiacs. The closest stores that sell those are 150 miles away.
Perhaps more embarrassing still is the fact that the recently-canceled Mercury brand managed to move more volume than Lincoln
I think FoMoCo’s way past the “embarrassing” point by now.
Remember, Olds was still selling rather well, and outsold many of its GM siblings at the time of its closure as well.
Why did Ford put so much work into a new Taurus that would end up selling just as badly as the boring old Five Hundred? Never thought anything named “Taurus” would be outsold by the Camaro.
It’s being outsold by the Dodge Charger as well.
The 500 was released during a period of roaring car sales, the new Taurus has come out during a period of still depressed sales. The Taurus also sells with very little in the way of factory incentives, which likely makes it more profitable than the current Charger.
Why did Ford put so much work into a new Taurus that would end up selling just as badly as the boring old Five Hundred? Never thought anything named “Taurus” would be outsold by the Camaro.
Well, let’s be hinest…the Taurus is not that great of a car. It is mediocre at best…that is why it placed THIRD (or dead LAST) against the Avalon (2nd) and Genesis(1st).
This is what people refer to when they say the D3 (platform) curse. Every vehicle that rides on it is a colossal failure. Look at the tarted up version of the Taurus sold by Lincoln. It didn’t even manage 1K sales this month…hell, the Cadillac SRX outsold the whole Lincoln brand…which is being limped along by the utterly ancient NAVIGATOR!
Lincoln is a lost cause. Like Ford they are overpriced and under deliver…only at a higher price point.
Oh, hai there, Silvy/Matt/P71/Realist whatever the hell you call yourself today.
Yes, the Taurus is such a failure that it outsells the Genesis (both of them combined), the Avalon, the 300C, and pretty much everything else in it’s class save the duo of fleet queens Charger and Impala.
The new MKX is coming to teach the SRX a lesson soon, and the Navigator will be getting new engines within the next year or two, removing any reason to ever buy an Escalade.
So I guess with the sale of Volvo, Ford sales will be down roughly 2.5% every month for the next year.
What in the world is Low Cab Forward?
It is one of those flat front trucks that you usually see an Isuzu or Fuso badge on. Ford discontinued it well over a year ago.
Lincoln needs to be more clearly differentiated from Ford. As long as you can map each Lincoln to a specific Ford model that it is based on, it will not be perceived as a real luxury brand.
Ford also needs to learn patience. Look at how much time and effort it has taken Audi to get where they are now. Ford has often seemed to lose patience and direction if success was not immediate. Hope Mulally can put a stop to that.
For the last 10 years Ford has operated as the Vampire Brand, sucking the life blood out of it’s luxury and near luxury brands on the downslope of the easy money/boom years. Now that the boom is off the rose their luxury brands are a joke. They should have put the Continental Concept from 2002 into production. One of the most beautiful designs ever! Instead they did a minor facelift on the LS, Town Car and Navigator and launched the Aviator to chase SUV profits.
Calling Jac Nasser. Round up the old gang and set the wayback machine for southern California, 1998. Whoops, no do overs and their old HQ building is now occupied by Taco Bell. That pretty much sums things up.
ford is just incapable of managing premium/luxury brands. any.
Land Rover. FAIL.
Aston Martin. FAIL.
Jaguar. FAIL.
Volvo. FAIL.
Mercury. FAIL.
Coming soon to the theatre near you… Lincoln. FAIL.
comon ford, kill lincoln as well, whats wrong with being
a blue collar manufacturer only? nothing wrong with that
Lincoln isn’t failing due to products, most of them stand up very well against the competition, but the marketing somehow isn’t getting the right buyers into the showroom. The great technology features would help sway a lot of younger buyers, but younger luxury buyers aren’t looking at Lincolns to give them the chance.
The great vehicles that Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo (with the new S60) all have were developed under Ford’s ownership with Ford’s money. It’s a shame that Ford will not get to reap the profits from those efforts, but perhaps buying up all of those luxury brands was a bad idea from a business standpoint. Ford spend hundreds of millions of dollars to make them competitive, then had to dump them all right before things were going to get good.
No, Lincoln products do not in any way, shape or form compare to real 1st and 2nd tier luxury products. They are nowhere in the same universe as a European luxury car. Nowhere in the same universe as a Japanese luxury car. No Lincoln even gives new Cadillacs or the Hyundai Genesis a run for their money.
Lincoln is closest to Buick more than anything else on the market and even there it’s a tough sell versus the Enclave, Regal and LaCrosse. Lincoln has been dead for a long time. Ford has made the brand into nothing but really expensive Ford vehicles with some cosmetic differentiation. It’s been that way for years and people would just rather have the Fords on which they are based and pocket the difference. At the same time they have also removed all the identity from the brand by abandoning it’s traditional cars and nameplates like Continental and Town Car. It’s a travesty.
Until Ford makes Lincoln much more separate and bespoke as GM has done (mostly) with Cadillac Lincoln will remain the way it is. Even with huge investment Lincoln could still remain the way it is for another decade.
I agree w/TriShield.
Really, Lincoln today has the same position Mercury did in the ’50s and ’60s. Nicer than Fords, and pretty nice for a vehicle in general, but not luxury nice.
TriShield –
I will agree that the Lincoln line up in general is not designed to the same standards as Mercedes, BMW, or possibly certain Audi models. At the same time, the equivalent Lincoln costs at least $10,000 less, and in many cases has an ever greater savings, especially when similarly equipped.
The Lincoln line-up overall does compare well against Cadillac and the Japanese brands. Cadillac has the CTS and Lexus has the LS which I will admit are probably stronger choices than the equivalent Lincoln in the lineup, but the MKZ is nicer inside than the ES or TL and TSX, has more well developed technology features than any of them, and will come in a Hybrid model this coming model year that bests even the dedicated Lexus hybrid model in fuel economy, refinement, quality, features, and price.
The MKS is quite a bit nicer than the Genesis, STS, or DTS in terms of interior quality and materials, has a lot of technology and features not available on the Genesis, STS, or DTS. If you opt for the EcoBoost version the performance is equal to that of the Genesis V8, and better than the DTS and STS.
The new MKX has ground-breakingly nice interior, a snazzy LCD gauge cluster that no other manufacturer can match for less than $80,000, the most powerful V6 in the segment, and more standard equiment than any of its competitors. Once it hits the lots drive a 2011 MKX back to back with a RX350, MDX, and SRX and see if you can say that the Lincoln isn’t by a huge margin the best with a straight face.
The Lincoln line-up is good, and if you take the time to actually compare the cars to other similarly priced luxury vehicles you will see how well thought out and executed they are. The problem is in marketing, GM has done wonders showing Buicks against Lexuses and getting those Lexus buyers to take a look at the Buicks. While the space themed techno commercials are cool to look at, the Lincoln adds don’t throw it in your face why the cars are better than the competition, and that is what they need to do. I’d wager that the majority of people who say the Lincoln’s don’t hold up have never actually taken a test drive in the Lincoln model against the competition to see for themselves, and are just repeating the same whining that they read on the forums from other people who have never given the cars the fair chance they deserve.
EDIT:
This isn’t to say that Lincoln doesn’t have room to grow, of course it does. But Ford has only very recently divested itself of the dead weight of the PAG, and faced with carmegeddon has (and rightly so) focused on making the core brand not only competitive, but class leading. In the grand scheme of things, it makes plenty of business sense to concentrate all efforts on the best selling brand in the US vs. the luxury brand which will always be much lower volume. Ford has turned profits several quarters in a row now, so the time is coming soon when there will be time and money to spend on Lincoln, for now though, the products are good enough for anyone who gives them a fair shake, and still making Ford plenty of money.
Lincoln isn’t failing due to products, most of them stand up very well against the competition…
No…they don’t. Lincoln’s competition is Buick…near-luxury. And as such…they should be priced accordingly. Instead, Ford prices Lincolns where they WISH they would be on the luxury scale.
But that fact is…for my $50+ grand, why would I want to be behind the wheel of a tarted up Taurus…with it’s low rent V6 and FWD based AWD? Same thing for the tarted up Flex/Edge/Fusion/and Expy.
Please Silvy/P71/Matt/Realist, tell us all about the border-line psychotic hate-on you have for all things Ford. This is a safe place for you, and all your screen names!
Z71 –
So the Navigator coming from the Expedition is somehow different than the Escalade coming from the Suburban? At least the Navigator features an automatic fold flat third row and IRS, while the Escalade forces owners to have to pull out a huge heavy seat to get full cargo room, that doesn’t seem very luxurious to me.
And while the MKX may be based on the Edge, the new 2011 model gets a standard 305hp V6 engine, and class leading fuel economy. I bet a bunch of SRX owners will wish they had that as they try to get their chrome plated Equinoxes up to speed with the torqueless wonder it’s saddled with.
And the MKT has it all over… oh wait, Cadillac doesn’t even offer a 7 seater CUV do they.
So the Navigator coming from the Expedition is somehow different than the Escalade coming from the Suburban?
Nope…never said that.
At least the Navigator features an automatic fold flat third row and IRS, while the Escalade forces owners to have to pull out a huge heavy seat to get full cargo room, that doesn’t seem very luxurious to me.
And the Escalade has LED headlights…Navigator? Not so much. And the interior of the Caddy at least appears luxerious and high quality…the Navigator with it’s silver paint just looks cheesy.
And how is IRS a benefit now on the big lumbering SUVs…but a detriment whenever it comes up in Mustang threads?
And while the MKX may be based on the Edge, the new 2011 model gets a standard 305hp V6 engine, and class leading fuel economy. I bet a bunch of SRX owners will wish they had that as they try to get their chrome plated Equinoxes up to speed with the torqueless wonder it’s saddled with.
You sound like one of Ford’s “full of lies” press releases. As for the second half…the sales speak for themselves. The SRX outsold the WHOLE LINCOLN BRAND!
And the MKT has it all over… oh wait, Cadillac doesn’t even offer a 7 seater CUV do they.
Oh noes…you got me there. You’re right too…GM should really be chasing the 650 unit a month market that the MKFlex has all to itself. Not to mention that the tarted up Flex has HORRID third row space for anyone that is not a Roloff.
And if people need a seven seat Caddy…the Escalade ESV has them covered. And, BTW, the Escalade and Escalade ESV have outsold the Navigator and MKFlex this year…handily…and that does not include the (small) amount of Escalade EXT sales.
“And how is IRS a benefit now on the big lumbering SUVs…but a detriment whenever it comes up in Mustang threads?”
…it allows for a third row seat that average sized adults can sit in without their knees in their face, and it allows for the fold-flat rear seats. So there’s that.
here’s some candy for Silvy:
@2:00min – rattle noise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzqq8ozqsOY&feature=related
@2:30min till end – “superb” ford sync system
I’ve never heard that rattling noise, and for all I know it could be something on the guy’s camera that isn’t attached properly.
As for the second one, Sync has the best voice recognition of any system on the market right now. Yes, it can still occasionally get confused, but if you own the car you learn pretty fast how to pronounce certain words to get near perfect recognition. Out of the box and speaking normally it already gets things right about 95% of the time, but Ford isn’t sitting still on the development, the 2011 models with MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch have greatly improved voice recognition software, and much flatter easier to use menu structures. Also, if you get one of the cars with navigation, it has a voice training mode that allows the vehicle to learn your speech patterns and give you even better success rates with voice commands.
European:
I’m not surprised. Ford had and continues to have questionable quality and the voice recognition on the SYNC system is absolutely junk. My cell phone has better voice recognition that that gimmicky system.
And to think, that Ford…almost criminally…advertises the terrible SYNC system as a SAFER alternative to driving and texting/talking. What a complete lie.
Nullomodo said: “I’ve never heard that rattling noise, and for all I know it could be something on the guy’s camera that isn’t attached properly.”
wonder how it didnt rattle in the buick!?! ugh!
but at least one thing is clear now, you ARE full of BS.
european –
I’m assuming he had to unmount and then remount the camera between the cars. That noise isn’t a typical car noise, and not one I have heard in any Taurus, it sounds like something rattling against some of the metal or hard surface on the inside of the car, and is likely something he didn’t see in a cupholder, part of his camera, or some other piece of detritus.
Land Rover. FAIL.
Improved build quality and reliability.
Aston Martin. FAIL.
Improved build quality and reliability. Probably survived the 90s because of Ford’s deep pockets.
Jaguar. FAIL.
Improved build quality and reliability. Probably survived the 90s because of Ford’s deep pockets.
Volvo. FAIL.
Improved build quality and reliability.
As well, all four brands grew under Ford’s wing.
Now, let’s talk about Saab…..
@Dave M.
Land Rover. FAIL.
Improved build quality and reliability.
Not really. Land Rover still come bottom of most reliability surveys.
Aston Martin. FAIL.
Improved build quality and reliability. Probably survived the 90s because of Ford’s deep pockets.
Again, Aston Martin are hardly pinnacles of reliability. Though, Ford’s money probably did help them survive the 90’s, but it didn’t really fix anything.
Jaguar. FAIL.
Improved build quality and reliability. Probably survived the 90s because of Ford’s deep pockets.
I’m not convinced here. Ford didn’t help Land Rover with relibaility, so why should Ford take the credit for Jaguar? They were the same company, but are you telling me that one half of the factory listened and the other half didn’t? As for surviving the 90’s, see my comment above.
Volvo. FAIL.
Improved build quality and reliability.
Yeah(!) Because before Ford bought Volvo, the 2 things which Volvo weren’t famous for was quality and reliability(!)
As well, all four brands grew under Ford’s wing.
This is rubbish. Jaguar was sandwiched between Aston Martin and Volvo. Volvo was told to make luxury cars and Jaguar couldn’t tread on their toes and Aston Martin was told to make fast super cars and Jaguar couldn’t tread on their toes. So where did that leave them?
As for Volvo, their boxy cars of yore were almost brand defining and their cars were everyday ones. Then Ford got hold of them, tried to turn them into a luxury marque (which they really weren’t) and took away their boxiness to turn their cars into cars which blended into the rest of the market. Also, Volvo’s brand stood for safety. Outside of the North America, it is accepted that Volvo lost that title a LONG time ago as Renault then became the safest cars on the road (some of that safety permeated into Nissan as the Nissan Qashqai set new safety standards in the EuroNCAP rules).
We need to move on from this. I’m not saying you’re wrong, Cammy, but that was the old Ford. Old product line, old business model, old abomination of a CEO. The ship has been righted, Ford is on a completely different tack, and the mistakes of the past are irrelevant. Can we stop bringing it up when discussing their current situation? Even Z71_Silvy’s unsubstantiated rants are least based on their current products. Usually.
Ford owned Jaguar from 1989, but Land Rover from only 2000. So they had less time to turn them round, plus Jaguar were much smaller and less arrogant – they knew they needed help in the late 1980s.
Jaguar has good quality and scores highly in European/British reliability indexes and Land Rover still has poor quality and comes near the bottom.
Land Rover unreliability is directly related to the ‘attitude’ of people at the Solihull plant, who are still living in the days of British Leyland. Complex technological features, like Hill Descent Control back in the 1990s, designed by engineers and not properly tested before use are another issue with Land Rover- another problem BMC/BL were famous for.
As for Solihull ‘workers’ – Honda couldn’t help them, BMW and Ford couldn’t change them and Tata will probably close them (that plant) down.
Sivly, just show us on the doll where Mulally touched you. The grown-ups are here to help.
*Silvy (edit is broken).
Now that was funny…I don’t care who you are!
Although it’s sad that you would call Mulally a pedophile. He’s stupid…but not a criminal…
The point of the joke was that you’re so filled with bitterness that you’re next “case” against Ford will be that Mulally molested you as a child.
Z71_Silvy
don’t listen to them, you carry on!
I’m not exactly famous for cheerleadering Ford. I’m completely bewildered as to why people have such hard-ons for Euro Fords. Outside the Ford Galaxy (which is decent enough), I don’t see what’s so great about them. I’m not saying they’re bad cars, just over-rated.
Mind you, the styling is interesting. Better than most of the UK market.
The point of the joke was that you’re so filled with bitterness that you’re next “case” against Ford will be that Mulally molested you as a child.
Uh-oh…sounds like someone got their new tin-foil hat in the mail…
Lincoln is a dead brand, its products not competitive in image or appeal. Ford rebadges all and piss-poor ones at that – assuming they’re trying to conceal Lincoln’s plebeian origin. More chrome and uglier grills do not connote luxury. You’d think they’d have learned that with the Versailles.
The MKZ is a total joke and as far as comparison with the Genesis, the Ford MKS rebadge doesn’t compete in style, performance or quality. And the kicker is that MKS dog costs more:
from Edmunds: …However, the mechanically similar Ford Taurus SHO gets the same amped-up powertrain — with an extra 10 hp to boot — for a whopping $10,000 less than the approximate $48,000 MSRP of the turbocharged MKS. In today’s marketplace, the turbocharged MKS is overpriced compared to the 375-hp Hyundai Genesis V8 (about $37,000) and outclassed by similarly priced cars from BMW, Infiniti, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz. The base MKS, with its coarse-sounding V6 and front-wheel-drive layout, is even less appealing….
http://www.edmunds.com/lincoln/mks/2010/review.html
The “Prestige” Auto Group may have been a hugely expensive Edsel type failure times ten but bottom line it was also a strikingly bold admission by Ford that Lincoln was beyond redemption as a prestige brand. The only difference is that Ford couldn’t afford that conceit, they had to sell the silverware and pawn the rest so all they’re left with is what they eschewed in flusher times …. dowager Lincoln.
Lincoln is now what Mercury was, a tarted up, uglier Ford for people who don’t care or know any better.
The MKZ won’t swing any buyers from a 3 series or Infiniti G looking for performance, but it provides an excellent value proposition next to the Lexus ES, Mercedes C350, or Acura TL FWD. The Lincoln has a much nicer interior than any of them, technology features unavailable on some of them, and a price tag much lower similarly equipped. The MKZ isn’t just a Fusion with a nose job, the interior is completely different, the suspension tuning more refined, and it has certain luxury features not available on the Ford.
The MKS absolutely competes with, and in fact destroys, the Genesis. Yes, it is more expensive, but the MKS is a Lincoln, a luxury brand with prestige and a proud history, the Genesis is a Hyundai. Go to The Six vs Eight Test to see how the Lincoln can outperform the German big boys. The Lincoln badge might not have as much panache as the Mercedes or BMW one in the larger segments, but the quality of the car is there, the same leather used in Aston Martins, real wood trim, standard air conditioned seats, standard well designed bluetooth and telematics, the best navigation system on the market, etc. For a performance purist, the BMW is probably the best choice, for the other 90% of the market that wants a big comfortable car with a lot of features, the MKS comes through in spades.
Lincoln is a high value choice in the luxury segment. No other luxury brand gives you more features or a nicer interior for your money.
@Nullo: “Lincoln is a high value choice in the luxury segment.” Isn’t that pretty much how one would describe Buick, too?
I cross shopped Lincoln, Buick, Lexus, Volvo, Ford and I will tell you, without a doubt, the Hyundai Genesis won…especially against the Ford products. The Genesis has a real back seat with real room. It also just felt more luxurious…more like a serious interior. The biggest sin of the Ford/Volvo products was their styling at the expense of function, which resulted in a useless backseat for 6 footers and taller….insufficient knee room on all of them. In this segment, you need to have a roomy back seat. The Buick LaCrosse had legroom, but my head pressed against the slanted roof and the high sills and low seat made the back seat feel like a coffin.
The MKS absolutely competes with, and in fact destroys, the Genesis. Yes, it is more expensive, but the MKS is a Lincoln, a luxury brand with prestige and a proud history, the Genesis is a Hyundai.
First, Lincoln is not a luxury brand with prestige. They were…but Ford ruined that. A tarted up Taurus is not a luxury car. Which is why less than 1K people bought a Lincoln Taurus in July.
Second…why would bring up the severely biased, Ford paid for six vs eight test?
Why, in an effort to show how well the Lincoln stacks up with the competition, would you bring up a test where the tables are severely tilted in the Lincoln’s favor?
That test proves, better than anything else, that the Lincoln Taurus is not competitive.
I was reading through these comments and I thought I was on Autoblog.
I’m used to seeing the comments on TTAC’s political stories turning into a pissing contest, but the automotive based ones usually bring more to the table than this.
I know I’m not a perfect commenter myself, but jeez.
ajla – +1
The problem, particularly with Ford threads, is that you have two commenters who dominate, each with zero credibility. Z71 has some sort of axe to grind with Ford, and his outrageous, incoherent posts reflect that. On the other side, NulloModo is a Ford salesman who is endlessly shilling his product, to the point that it starts to sound like ad copy.
The result is that intelligent discussion is nearly impossible.
Unfortunately, I’m a (happy) Ford owner, so I tend to read these threads.
The fact that I sell Fords should not hurt my credibility. I’m not trying to sell them to you or to anyone on TTAC, and if on the off chance a TTAC reader has ever bought a car from me, they didn’t know who I was and I didn’t know who they were. I spend all day nearly every day around these cars, so it stands to reason that I do know them a bit better than those who are just regurgitating reviews from other sources.
While I may get a bit overly enthusiastic from time to time, my goal is only
to make sure that the truth and facts are known. I wouldn’t have to keep clearing up the same old misconceptions if a certain other poster weren’t continually jumping into any vaguely Ford related thread and spewing unfounded lies, misinformation, and general verbal fecal matter. In the end, I’m only trying to insure that there is balance.
Nullo,
Point taken, and I’d like to add that I find your posts to be at least coherent and well-written. I also understand your frustration with *ahem* the “other poster” – I think many on TTAC feel the same way.
I’d also like to retract my “zero credibility” remark as it pertained to you. Perhaps too harsh considering your familiarity with Ford products.
I do take issue, however, with your assertion that your “goal is only to make sure that the truth and facts are known.” Statements such as “The MKS absolutely competes with, and in fact destroys, the Genesis” (Destroys??) and “a heavily revised MKX coming out next month that is superior to the RX and the MDX in every way” (In EVERY way?? Really??) are not factual at all . It is opinion bordering on hyperbole, and when you start spouting things like that you diminish your otherwise valid points re: the competitiveness of Ford products. Don’t post down to the level of Z71.
+1.
Don’t feed the trolls and remember that you can talk up a vehicle without taking pot shots at its competition.
Yeah, you are probably right there.
Perhaps the MKS doesn’t destroy the Genesis, but I do honestly believe it delivers a more complete luxury experience. Certain things that come to mind are real wood vs fake, higher quality leather, more well developed technology and infotainment systems, air conditioned seats for both front passengers instead of just one, and available all wheel drive. The Genesis certainly has some strong points, and at the end of the day, I realize it is a good car.
I actually think the Genesis is more honest competition to the MKS than the RX is to the new 2011 MKX. The MDX has one big feature the MKX doesn’t – a third row seat, and for those that need that, the MDX is superior. My experience with the RXs I’ve driven though has been that while they are nice, they are nothing special. The RX, like the Camry, sells more on name and reputation than it does on the actual quality of the vehicle. I’ve had a number of customers trading in recent RXs, mainly with complaints about uncomfortable seats and awkward ergonomics. The new MKX is a ground breaking entry into the luxury midsize crossover segment, and I only hope that the TTAC review doesn’t downplay the significant technological advances as gimmicks, or result to beating up on the engine which is just as smooth as anything else in the segment.
Trust a shill/troll or Edmunds? Remember the mission of this site? The TRUTH! about cars!
Edmunds, in effect, states that the MKS is not really competitive (other than price wise) with any number of similarly priced and even some lower priced cars:
….Besides the aforementioned and highly regarded Hyundai Genesis (V8 or V6) or more prestigious Cadillac CTS, Jaguar XF or Mercedes-Benz E-Class, you could also do better (and spend less) with cars like the Acura TL SH-AWD or Volkswagen CC VR6 4Motion. Even affordable front-wheel-drive cruisers like the Hyundai Azera and Toyota Avalon could be considered as viable alternatives to the base MKS. In short, it takes more than a tarted-up Taurus to do battle with some of the world’s best all-around sedans….
…The 2010 Lincoln MKS drives like what it is: a really expensive Ford Taurus. In fact, the base MKS with its 3.7-liter V6 would have trouble keeping up with a Ford Fusion SEL V6, and its coarse noises aren’t exactly what buyers with $40,000-plus budgets are hoping to hear. The twin-turbocharged engine is far more satisfying from a driving standpoint. When taken on a curvy road, the MKS’s handling is a letdown, feeling dull and overly soft. Yet this softness doesn’t translate into comfort, as the MKS is in fact rather firm-riding. It’s the worst of both worlds — rides like a sport sedan, handles like a boat.…..
http://www.edmunds.com/lincoln/mks/2010/review.html
The last line was Edmund’s concluding line. Read that or any number of reviews, the MKS is bottom drawer. If consistency is a virtue, at least it is representative of the Lincoln line.