I ended up having quite a long conversation with my boss after work, and I was wondering what other people's thoughts on the subject were, just out of interest.
I'm not really a fan of Ford's current lineup of vehicles, especially the Lincoln line. It seems Ford is positioning itself as a boutique car manufacturer, loading cars up with all sort of gadgets and gizmos, and basing everything on one or two platforms. It seems they would rather sell a few expensive Fords, than provide Fords for the masses around the world.
I realize this has a lot to do with consumer demand for high tech vehicles, which I suppose explains the price bit. But a base model U251 Explorer on the old platform used to start at about $25,250 here, whereas the new U502 Explorer on the D4 platform starts at $34,680. That's $9,430 more than the previous model, which is quite a difference over just one model year! I realize the old version was truck based, and SUVs are becoming more of a fashion item, hence the switch to a car platform, but such a price increase is just ludicrous! If people are willing to pay that sort of price, I suppose it isn't as much of a problem, but that doesn't seem to be happening at the moment (at least here). And speaking of features, I think it's kind of ironic that a commercial version of the Crown Victoria comes with a power driver's seat, whilst the base model Taurus comes with a manual driver's seat.
Considering the D4 is a revised version of the D3 platform, which is essentially Volvo's P1, you have the Taurus, MKS, Flex, MKT and Explorer all on the same platform. I also never really understood the point of the Five Hundred/Montego/Sable and Freestyle/Taurus X either, all of which lived an extremely short lifespan.
I remember being quite confused many years ago, when Alan Mulally made a statement about how the Taurus should not go away, because it was the 'best selling car' in America. I suppose I can see where he was coming from, considering it's production run, but much like the Crown Victoria, the Taurus was fleet only in the mid-2000s, and lost significant market share, which eventually lead to its discontinuation. So maybe that could have been worded a little differently.
That said, in my opinion, the Lincoln lineup should not be badge engineered Fords and is in serious need of a remake if the brand is to survive. Not only is the MK-whatever nameplates difficult to follow (we have customers mixing up MKS, MKX and MKT all the time), but with the standard MKS costing $60,900 with the 3.7L and front wheel drive, I can see why it isn't so popular. We haven't got the 3.5L Ecoboost version with AWD in just yet, but realistically, how much is that going to cost? In that price range, you are competing with the Germans, and I really don't blame people if they prefer a BMW 5-Series or Mercedes E-Klasse over the MKS.
Anyway, just interested to hear what other peoples' opinions were.
I'm not really a fan of Ford's current lineup of vehicles, especially the Lincoln line. It seems Ford is positioning itself as a boutique car manufacturer, loading cars up with all sort of gadgets and gizmos, and basing everything on one or two platforms. It seems they would rather sell a few expensive Fords, than provide Fords for the masses around the world.
I realize this has a lot to do with consumer demand for high tech vehicles, which I suppose explains the price bit. But a base model U251 Explorer on the old platform used to start at about $25,250 here, whereas the new U502 Explorer on the D4 platform starts at $34,680. That's $9,430 more than the previous model, which is quite a difference over just one model year! I realize the old version was truck based, and SUVs are becoming more of a fashion item, hence the switch to a car platform, but such a price increase is just ludicrous! If people are willing to pay that sort of price, I suppose it isn't as much of a problem, but that doesn't seem to be happening at the moment (at least here). And speaking of features, I think it's kind of ironic that a commercial version of the Crown Victoria comes with a power driver's seat, whilst the base model Taurus comes with a manual driver's seat.
Considering the D4 is a revised version of the D3 platform, which is essentially Volvo's P1, you have the Taurus, MKS, Flex, MKT and Explorer all on the same platform. I also never really understood the point of the Five Hundred/Montego/Sable and Freestyle/Taurus X either, all of which lived an extremely short lifespan.
I remember being quite confused many years ago, when Alan Mulally made a statement about how the Taurus should not go away, because it was the 'best selling car' in America. I suppose I can see where he was coming from, considering it's production run, but much like the Crown Victoria, the Taurus was fleet only in the mid-2000s, and lost significant market share, which eventually lead to its discontinuation. So maybe that could have been worded a little differently.
That said, in my opinion, the Lincoln lineup should not be badge engineered Fords and is in serious need of a remake if the brand is to survive. Not only is the MK-whatever nameplates difficult to follow (we have customers mixing up MKS, MKX and MKT all the time), but with the standard MKS costing $60,900 with the 3.7L and front wheel drive, I can see why it isn't so popular. We haven't got the 3.5L Ecoboost version with AWD in just yet, but realistically, how much is that going to cost? In that price range, you are competing with the Germans, and I really don't blame people if they prefer a BMW 5-Series or Mercedes E-Klasse over the MKS.
Anyway, just interested to hear what other peoples' opinions were.
