2002 Lincoln Ls Lse Sedan 4-door 3.9l on 2040-cars

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How Lincoln could make itself special again

Things are going better for the Lincoln brand — or, more properly, The Lincoln Motor Company — so far this year, and are likely to continue to do so, comparatively speaking. In the first quarter of 2017, the brand's sales are up 8.7 percent compared with the same period last year. Lincoln delivered 27,083 units in the first quarter. The Continental is certainly a boon, with 3,209 units (almost 12 percent of the total number), something Lincoln didn't have in the first quarter of 2016. Its crossovers, the MKC and MKX, were up 15 and 11.2 percent, respectively, and while the Navigator SUV was down 16.2 percent, the new 2018 model will certainly boost that nameplate. Still, there is undoubtedly a glass — or crystal — ceiling for Lincoln (as well as for Cadillac) that it's not likely to break through regarding total US sales. No matter how you look at it, the US luxury market is dominated by import brands, and there is no reason to think that's going to change. Ever. According to Autodata, for the first quarter of 2017 there were 213,817 luxury vehicles delivered, of which 170,780 were from import brands and 43,037 domestic. While there is a good likelihood that Lincoln will gain some ground, given the lineup extensions that the likes of Mercedes, Audi, BMW, and Lexus are making, as well as the creation of new brands like Genesis and the traction of Tesla, it is going to be all the more challenging for any company to get any significant growth in the luxury category. So growth for Lincoln, yes. Notable growth? No. But there is something the company could do to generate revenue separate from the car and crossover business. It may not make a lot of money in and of itself, but it can provide a distinct edge in the product segment that would cement Lincoln with a unique offering. Kumar Galhorta, president of Lincoln, frequently talks about "experiences." About how the company is working to relieve or eliminate "pain points" from its customers. About how time — or the perceived lack thereof — is something Lincoln is working to address. And it's doing so in a way that gives it a distinctiveness vis-a-vis the competitive set. Lincoln's services are creating a buzz in a way that Matthew McConaughey ads never will. Lincoln is addressing it through service. As in offering pickup and delivery for service appointments for all new 2017 Lincoln models.

Everything new at the 2019 New York International Auto Show

Transcript: Welcome to the 2019 New York Auto Show. It's the last auto show, and so far it's my favorite of the year. We have a new buggy, compact pickup and trail ready SUV from Volkswagen. Ford brought the new Escape and a new Mustang performance variant, and we have a brand new Toyota Highlander and Subaru Outback. Let's go take a look around. We're here at the New York Auto Show with the Subaru stand. Normally the Subaru stand is just some white carpet and some show lighting. This year it's like we're in a national park. It's ... Frankly, I'm from Oregon. You're from Colorado. Yeah. It's making us feel at home. And in that way what better place and what better people to introduce this Subaru Outback which is pretty much the official car of Colorado and Oregon. Yeah. You actually have to buy a Subaru before they let you move to Colorado. Now instead of climbing up there and taking a look because we've been told we can't do that we're gonna go over there and check out another one. So the exterior, not that different. No. Looks exactly like an Outback. There's actually oddly a little more black plastic trim on the outside. A little too much for me. Right. It's interesting because it kind of slowly went away from that from the beginning because in the beginning the black plastic trim kind of made it an Outback, and now they're kind of bringing it back. I guess they needed to make it more macho. Right. Right. Now we're inside. Inside it looks pretty different. Swank. It's kind of swank for an Outback which has been pretty plain. Now this is the newly available vertically gigantic touch screen here. 11.6 inches. That is massive. This is how big it is when it's turned on ... just for the viewers. Now this is the onyx trim. So with that you get the black mirrors, the black wheels. This upholstery is special to the onyx, so it's gray and black and you also have this green stitching. Yeah, I like this accent stitching. It's kind of neat. Oh there's also a little tray there. Well this is a deep bin here. You can probably fit a phone. There we go. Almost. Yeah there are two USB ports. There's an additional two in the backseat. So this thing here you pop in the cup holder and it gives you a little more space or less space. These are really big, so if you have one of those Nalgene bottles I'm guessing it's going to fit in there. One of my complaints about my Subaru that I own now which is a naturally aspirated Crosstrek is that up in the mountains. It's slow?

Lincoln MKC prototype spied out testing

As was the case with the Lincoln MKZ, it appears that Lincoln isn't wasting any time getting its newest model transformed from concept to production form. We just saw the MKC Concept earlier this year at the Detroit Auto Show, and based on these spy shots, it looks like the final touches are being put in place for the 2014 Lincoln MKC crossover.
Sharing its platform with the Ford Escape, we can definitely see some similarities between these two compact crossovers when it comes to the roofline and daylight opening, but through the heavy camouflage, Lincoln's signature split-wing grille can easily be seen and it looks like the concept's taillights will also make it to reality. On the disappointing side, it looks like the integrated exhaust outlets are being ditched for some round outlets, and we can't tell if the production version will keep the Audi-like clamshell rear liftgate.