Lincoln News: Ford's Design Chief Says Lincoln Isn't True Luxury

[William Maley]

William Maley

Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com

August 29, 2013

Sometimes you have to admit the truth, even if its harsh. Case in point; Ford’s design chief J Mays recently told The Detroit News that Lincoln is 'not true luxury'.

“No, we’re not true luxury. We’re in an investment stage with Lincoln. We’ve probably got a 10-year investment to make,” Mays said.

Its easy to see Mays' point. Most of Lincoln's lineup are tarted-up Ford products. The first real product that shows Lincoln is trying to change its ways is the new MKZ. The model has some features such as a panoramic sunroof and push-button transmission that are unique to Lincoln. Mays explained that Lincoln has a “whole list of things” it will implement in future cars.

“Every brand needs to have a DNA and a unique selling point and things in the vehicle that make you think, ‘That’s that particular brand.’”

Source: The Detroit News

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

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[G. David Felt]

Lincoln has a long way to go to get to being a luxury brand. Good to hear they are admitting that most of the auto's are pigs with lipstick on them from the Ford Pig pen.

[riviera74]

^^Right now, maybe. That may not be true in the next decade.

Right now, there really is no real reason to buy a Lincoln, even though I do find a few on the road down here. Not Cadillac or Lexus numbers, but some are out here.

[dwightlooi]

It's like stating the obvious... it really doesn't matter if Ford thinks or thought Lincoln is/was true luxury. Consumers don't and they don't pay luxury dollars for Lincolns.

[Drew Dowdell]

from the "duh" files....

[G. David Felt]

from the "duh" files....

[Soku47]

Yea come to think of it, I didn't really think much for Lincoln. Cadillac and maybe Buick are the only luxury cars around here as far as I'm concerned.

[smk4565]

At least they state the truth, rather than live in a fantasy world. Really Lincoln should try to be the Buick-Chrysler competitor, and not even try to keep up with the luxury brands. They don't have the products to do it, and they aren't going to get them. Lincoln isn't going to come out with exclusive rear drive chassis, or 8-10 speed transmissions and new engines, etc. Ford should just shut Lincoln down, but like GMC, it probably turns a profit because there is so little money invested into it.

[Soulwatcher]

Lincoln lost its way a long time ago when they got rid of the big cars and started re-branding the smaller Ford cars. When I was growing up owning a Lincoln meant you were one of the upper class citizens who had a taste for the finer things in life. I don't even know what you would call today's Lincoln owners.

Greg

[G. David Felt]

Ford has destroyed Lincoln with their platinum line of auto's. There really is no luxury in Lincoln when you have the Ford units equal of better than what Lincoln can offer.

At this point, better to be a Buick/Chrysler competitor and reboot the brand completely than to try and live in a fantasy world of so called luxury that does not exist.

[DieselFit]

I have to say they stated the truth and that matters the most. My dad used to drive a Lincoln many years ago, and have to say it doesn't compare when it comes to Lexus or Cadillacs. Again they stated the obvious.