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2015 Lincoln MKC priced from $33,995* [w/poll]

Looking to build on the momentum it struggled to establish with the MKZ, Lincoln recently unveiled the production version of its all-new MKC last month at the LA Auto Show. With a proven platform shared with the Ford Escape and striking design, the 2015 Lincoln MKC goes on sale next summer ready to take on the ever-expanding world of luxury compact crossovers. Breaking into this new segment, Lincoln has priced the MKC aggressively as one of the least-expensive offerings in its class, starting at $33,995 (*including destination charges).
At that price, the 2015 MKC costs a little bit more than a fully loaded 2014 Ford Escape Titanium and is just slightly less costly than the Acura RDX and Volvo XC60. More importantly, it's thousands less than Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Mercedes GLK-Class. The MKC will be offered in three trim levels for now - there is still no more information about Lincoln's new Black Label products - ranging from the base Premiere up to the range-topping Reserve.
The Premiere will come standard with features like active grille shutters, push-button start, remote start, dual-zone climate control and heated front seats, while the midgrade Select starts at $37,225 and adds upgraded 18-inch wheels, ambient lighting, daytime running lights and a steering wheel featuring Wollsdorf leather. The top-shelf Reserve trim level starts at $40,930 and brings even more luxury features including the panoramic roof, navigation, cooled front seats and wifi access.

Lincoln scales back free maintenance

Complimentary scheduled maintenance programs have been great tools for luxury automakers to draw in new customers, but some are starting to scale their programs back considerably. According to Automotive News, Lincoln is joining Jaguar and Volvo on the list of automakers reducing the length of time it will be providing free maintenance to its customers.
Lincoln's four-year/50,000-mile maintenance program first kicked off as an incentive in 2010 and became permanent later that year, but starting with the 2014 model year, this will be cut to just two years and 24,000 miles. This could make short-term leases even more appealing for some consumers, but according to Automotive News, some Lincoln dealers are unhappy with the scaling back. The move admittedly comes at an odd time for Lincoln, with parent Ford seemingly working hard to increase consideration among luxury buyers as it looks to reverse the marque's long decline.

Ford 2Q profit drops 86% as it restructures overseas

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford's net profit tumbled 86% in the second quarter due largely to restructuring costs in Europe and South America. Net income for the April-through-June period dropped to $148 million, or 4 cents per share. Without the charges the company made 28 cents per share. Revenue was flat at $38.9 billion. On average, analysts surveyed by FactSet expected earnings 31 cents per share on revenue of $38.49 billion. Chief Financial Officer Tim Stone says the company had charges of $1.2 billion as it moved to close factories in Europe and South America. He says Ford already is seeing an impact from its global fitness measures that included a reduction of 7,000 white-collar workers. Ford, which released numbers after the markets closed Wednesday, says its results include a $181 million valuation loss on an investment in a software company, trimming 4 cents off adjusted earnings per share. Its stock fell 6.3% in after-hours trading to $9.68. Stone said Ford is in the early stages of its restructuring, but already is seeing improvement in some regions. Free cash flow also improved by 80% to $2.1 billion in the first half of the year, he said. "We're already starting to see some early benefits," he said. "A lot of work to do." The company expects improvement in the second half of the year as more new big SUVs hit dealerships and more of the restructuring takes hold. Ford on Wednesday forecast pretax adjusted earnings of $7 billion to $7.5 billion for all of 2019, compared with $7 billion last year. The company previously had only said that pretax earnings would improve. Full-year adjusted earnings per share are forecast to be $1.20 to $1.35, up from $1.30 in 2018. Previously it did not give per-share guidance. Ford's U.S. sales fell nearly 5% in the second quarter, according to the Edmunds.com auto pricing site, as the company exited most of its passenger car business. But Stone said sales of the new Ford Ranger small pickup offset much of that as its share of the small truck segment rose 14%. Edmunds, which provides content for The Associated Press, said Ford's average vehicle sale price rose 2.8% to $41,328 during the quarter. In North America, Ford's biggest profit center, pretax earnings fell 3% to just under $1.7 billion, which the company blamed on switching its Chicago factory to build new versions of midsize SUVs.