1956 Lincoln Continental Mark Ii on 2040-cars

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Analysts warn Lincoln shouldn't follow Ford out of the sedan market

Lincoln looks set to mimic Ford's on-going shift away from sedans. The move makes sense on the surface, but analysts warn the luxury brand needs to keep some low-riding models in its portfolio. The company's current lineup includes two sedans, the MKZ and the Continental, plus five SUVs. The sedans aren't long for this world, according to The Detroit Free Press. The publication learned Ford's Hermosillo, Mexico, factory will stop manufacturing the MKZ in late 2020 or early 2021, and it pointed out UAW documents note Continental production will continue "through its product lifecycle." In other words, it's the last model on the Continental branch of the Lincoln family tree. These two nameplates represent 23.3 percent of Lincoln's annual sales so far in 2019, which is a surprising and respectable statistic. One in four cars the company sells is a sedan. The problem is that they accounted for 27.6 percent of the firm's sales in 2018, and that number will continue to fall in 2020 as customers flock towards crossovers and SUVs. And yet, exiting the sedan market isn't the right answer for a company that wants to re-establish its reputation as a luxury automaker. Eric Noble, the president of consulting firm CarLab, told The Detroit Free Press about 40 percent of American buyers in the market for a luxury car choose a sedan. The Chinese market — where Lincoln hopes to gain a secure foothold in the coming years — also has a healthy appetite for sedans. Going SUV-only is a strategy that might work well in the United States, but it doesn't suit Lincoln's ambitions. Germany's big three luxury brands all have a flagship sedan at the top of their range. We can't argue against sales data; the sedan market is shrinking. There are ways to keep buyers in the fold, however. The Continental is a stellar effort from the brand, and a solid foundation on which to build. Noble pointed out Lincoln could use the rear-wheel drive platform found under its Aviator and Ford's latest Explorer to build a four-door model with a fastback-like roof line in the vein of the Audi A7. It's a sleeker, sexier body style that tends to attract more buyers than a more conventional three-box sedan, which is often criticized as old-fashioned. Automakers can normally get away with charging a little bit more for these cars; the A7 is more expensive than the A6, for example. Electrification could be the Lincoln sedan's saving grace.

2022 Lincoln Navigator priced at just $5 more than last year

The 2022 Lincoln Navigator still isn't listed on the Lincoln site at the time of writing, but Ford Authority says it has a price — one you'll not be surprised to hear is higher than that of the 2021 Navigator. The 2022 Navigator Standard sets the baseline with an MSRP of $76,710, or $78,405 with destination, a trifle of an up-charge at just $5 more than last year's trim. After that, premiums for the tech and feature updates given to the new Navigator climb quickly except in the case of the lengthened Standard L in rear-wheel-drive guise. That trim comes down by $200 on its MSRP, going up overall by $200 because of the updated destination fee, totaling $81,400.    2022 Navigator prices and their differences from last year are: Standard: $78,405 ($5) Standard L: $81,400 ($200) Reserve: $89,100 ($4,955) Reserve L: $91,770 ($4,760) Standard 4WD: $81,405 ($735) Standard L 4WD: $84,400 ($530) Reserve 4WD: $91,440 ($1,760) Reserve L 4WD: $94,465 ($4,785) Black Label 4WD: $104,675 ($4,725) Black Label L 4WD: $107,720 ($4,570) All Navigators will benefit from Lincoln Enhance, the brand name for Lincoln's over-the-air software update capability, and the improved Amazon Alexa integration that can respond to more natural language. The substantial rises on the Reserve and Black Label trims pay for ActiveGlide and CoPilot360 2.0. ActiveGlide is the advanced driver assistance tech that allows hands-free highway driving if the right conditions are met (it's known as BlueCruise on Fords). Using adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability, lane centering and traffic sign recognition, the system can be activated on more than 130,000 miles of divided highways in North America. To help ensure hands-free doesn't turn into attention-free, ActiveGlide monitors the driverÂ’s head and eye positions with a driver-facing camera. Lincoln Co-Pilot360 2.0 bundles more ADAS like forward collision warning, pedestrian detection, and dynamic brake support, and for 2022 adds Intersection Assist and Active Sense Park Assist 2.0. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Car-crazy 5-year-old boy writes automakers for treasures, gets big response

Part of the beauty of children is that they can find worth in something adults might deem unworthy or overlook entirely. Five-year-old Patch Hurty didn't see garbage or a broken piece of a car when he spotted a Ford badge lying on the side of a road. He saw an artifact, a souvenir, a start to a collection he could only dream of. Ezra Dyer of Popular Mechanics tells the story of Patch and his quest to turn that one lost badge into a museum of manufacturer logos. According to the article, Hurty is a car fanatic through and through, even using car names as a way of learning to read. After finding the Ford badge near his Connecticut home, he and his mom put together a plan to reach out to dozens of automakers, confessing his love of things on four wheels. In each letter, Patch assembled a picture of himself standing next to one of the cars, and a penny to pay for whatever he hoped was sent his way. The response was unexpectedly and overwhelmingly positive. Of the more than 50 letters he sent out, including to obscure or defunct companies such as Bugatti, Suzuki, and Saturn, a majority responded with warm notes and some type of souvenir. Two of the coolest responses came from Lincoln and Bentley. Lincoln sent a sketch of a Continental (all car lovers enjoy drawing cars, right?), and Bentley sent a wheel center cap. How awesome is that? The story reminds us of something that can easily be lost in all of the negativity involved with the auto industry: Everybody is in this because of a common infatuation with automobiles. For more details on the souvenirs Patch received and accompanying photos, read the rest of the story. Related Video: News Source: Popular Mechanics Read This Bentley Bugatti Ford Lincoln Saturn Suzuki