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2017 Lincoln Continental pricing undercuts Cadillac CT6

For 40,000 people interested in purchasing a new Lincoln Continental, today is the day they've been waiting for. We have the full and complete list of prices and optional extras for the luxury brand's big, new sedan. The Continental will be offered in four trims – Premiere, Select, Reserve, and Black Label. The Premiere starts at $45,485 (including $925 in destination pricing), while the Select kicks off at $48,440. Speaking of the Select, the base 3.7-liter V6 can be swapped for a 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6, if you've got $2,250 to burn, driving the price up to $50,690. Going to the Reserve gets you more kit and the 2.7-liter comes standard, but the price increases to $54,840. Finally, the base Black Label starts at $63,840. In the case of both the high-end trims, Lincoln will let you upgrade to the eagerly anticipated 400-horsepower, 3.0-liter V6 for $3,265. All-wheel drive is a $2,000 option regardless of trim or engine. Standalone options include Lincoln's "Perfect Position" seats, a $1,500 feature that adds 30-way adjustability. It's easy to drive those prices up, of course. Lincoln is offering five options packages, spread across the Select, Reserve, and Black Label trims. The Select Plus (blind-spot monitoring and Sync 3) adds $1,255 to the price of the Select. The $695 Climate Pack (automatic high beams, heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel, and rain sensing wipers) and $3,105 Technology Pack (360-degree camera, adaptive cruise control, Enhanced Active Park Assist, lane keeping assist, and forward collision warning) can be added to the Select, Reserve, and Black Label. The $4,300 Rear-Seat Pack (heated, cooled, and multi-contour rear seats, inflatable rear belts, and a panoramic sunroof) will pamper backseat passengers on the high-end Reserve and Black Label, while the $5,000 Luxury Package will add LED headlamps and a 19-speaker Revel stereo to the Reserve trim. Standalone options include Lincoln's "Perfect Position" seats, a $1,500 feature that adds 30-way adjustability. That's just silly. More common features include a $1,130 Revel stereo, a $1,750 panoramic sunroof, $750 20-inch wheels, and a $335 CD player. So yeah, don't expect many of those base prices to make it to the showroom without some swelling. By our math, the Conti tops out at a cool $82,400. Lincoln says it's big target for the Conti is Audi A6, and its pricing matches up neatly with that car. The front-drive 2.0-liter turbocharged A6 Premium starts at $47,125.

Autoblog Podcast #391

Episode #391 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Mike Harley and Brandon Turkus talk about the appointment of Kumar Galhotra to run Lincoln, changes coming for Scion, the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, and which cars won't live into 2015. We also take a quick detour to talk about the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge prototype, which Mike Harley just came back from driving. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the new rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #391: Topics: 2015 Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge Prototype New boss at Lincoln Scion xB, iQ ending soon Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Cars that won't live to 2015 In the Autoblog Garage: McLaren 650S Hyundai Genesis Hosts: Dan Roth, Michael Harley, Brandon Turkus Runtime: 01:42:06 Rundown: Intro and Garage - 00:00 Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge - 30:05 Kumar Galhotra to Lincoln - 34:32 Scion Changes - 43:58 Dodge Charger Hellcat - 54:25 Discontinued Cars - 01:06:24 Q&A - 01:22:59 Get the podcast: [UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10 PM Eastern at UStream [iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes [RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Feedback: Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Podcasts Dodge Hyundai Infiniti Lincoln McLaren Scion Supercars mclaren 650s

Farley says Lincoln learnings in China could influence brand in US

Automotive News reports Lincoln is looking to Chinese luxury shoppers for customer service ideas. Those notions may eventually make their way back to the US in the form of new dealership training. Jim Farley, the executive vice president of global marketing for Ford, tells Automotive News, "In many ways, China will be a listening post for Lincoln in the United States. Soon China will be the largest luxury market in the world." Farley also said that in China, the Lincoln brand is currently where Lexus was when the Japanese brand first landed in the US.
Lincoln is slated to open its first Chinese dealerships in 2014. The brand is largely unknown in Asia, and Lincoln representatives have been visiting other luxury dealers in China for an idea of what buyers there expect. Lincoln has also studied non-automotive luxury shopping, paying special attention to high-end retail branding.
Of course, this whole song and dance feels awfully familiar. Lincoln has focused heavily on remaking the brand and recrafting its marketing here in the States, thus far without sufficient product to back the play. Lincoln is already late to the China game, and without the necessary products to lure buyers away from established bodies like Buick and Cadillac, Lincoln may be doomed to repeat its fate here in the US.