The Happiest Man in Detroit - BusinessWeek (page 4 of 5)

Ford CEO Alan Mulally took a broken car company and made it the world's most profitable.

Here's why this fairy-tale turnaround is still far from complete

By Keith Naughton

February 3, 2011, 5:00PM EST

...The first glimpse of Lincoln's new look was scheduled to arrive in April 2011 at the New York Auto Show, say three people familiar with Ford's plans. Mulally had intended to unveil a concept of the next-generation MKZ sedan. Larger than the current model, it also looks more elegant while retaining the prominent split-bow grille Lincoln introduced three years ago, according to two people who have seen the car.

Just last month, Mulally opted to hold back that concept car to give Lincoln's new chief designer, Max Wolff, a chance to put his stamp on the brand. Ford poached Wolff, 38, from Cadillac in December. Just when the new Wolff-designed Lincoln will make its debut remains unclear; dealers remain anxious. "They need to refine their styling," says IHS Automotive analyst Rebecca Lindland, "because some of their products are turning heads for the wrong reasons."

In 2012, Lincoln will debut its small car, known tentatively as the MKC, which is based on the foundation of the Ford Focus. A small Lincoln SUV, based on the Ford Escape, will also hit showrooms in 2012 along with a larger sport-ute aimed at taking on the Lexus RX 350, the people say. The next generation of Lincolns designed entirely by Wolff, however, lies beyond those remakes...

TONS More, but this the Lincoln part

Edited February 4, 201115 yr by 2b2

altho I don't consider ^this^ definite confirmation,

I remember seeing the C-car mentioned in the Media.Ford.com article announcing the murder of Mercury - - only to have that part re-worded by Ford very quickly as "vehicle".

Also just recently refound where I saw them say specifically that the Mercury Tracer (C557) would be reworked to be a LincolneTTe ... it was InsideLine

hmm ... couldn't edit my above post

so

for discussion purposes (if there is any)

since

I've gotten a good chunk of the web to refer to the small Lincoln Cuv as the MKG (for KuGa)

please

refer to the small Lincoln car as MKE ('rhymes' with XKE - cuz I'm lobbying for it be very sporty )

Here comes the Lincoln Focus for $25,995 and the Lincoln Mariner for $28,995. Horraaaay volume by way of dead Mercury rebadging!

With the arrival of the new explorer, the new focus right around the corner and the new escape later this year or early next year Ford is on a roll and I am not worried about them keeping their momentum.

Lincoln on the other hand I am very concerned with. I've resignmed myself to the fact that they will likley use FWD/AWD platform for everything. I think that's alright as long as they go the Audi route, i.e. standard awd of future models with the possible exception of the c-car and base MKZs.

For Lincoln to be successful they need the following.

1 - nothing can be seen as a rebadge! Platform sharing isn't a bad thing but the vehicles can't look you can swap a grill and ti would be a ford.

2 - exclusive tech! This might be harder because Fords these days are tech leaders and can often be compared with other luxury makes. Lincoln needs some stuff that you can't get in a Ford to help justify the premium pricing.

3 - They need to make performance versions of some vehicles to spice things up (like an AWD 3.5 TT MKZ)

4 - They need a halo vehicle or two. Lincoln will have it's 3 basic sedan sizes and crossover sized (small, medium and large) but they need something sporty. I wonder if they can get an SLK or z4 competitior off the next Mustang platform. It could be 3.5 tt only with the 3.5 tuned to for max RWD performance.

Anyways I anxiously await the new direction of lincoln.

Lincoln seems to be following the Buick direction...compact, midsize and fullsize FWD sedans, compact and large CUVs. With a bit of Cadillac in the mix w/ the Navigator.

Yeah, and just think... Buick was a MERCURY competitor.

^ well, if we consider Ford's Titanium trim to be a large part of what Mercury was (& I do)

then FORD is now competing with Buick, ocnblu

4 - They need a halo vehicle or two. Lincoln will have it's 3 basic sedan sizes and crossover sized (small, medium and large) but they need something sporty. I wonder if they can get an SLK or z4 competitior off the next Mustang platform. It could be 3.5 tt only with the 3.5 tuned to for max RWD performance.

Imho a Mustang-based Lincoln coupe-cabrio & sportsedan is a no-brainer...

...add a Falcon-sibling Continental & that's all the RWD (&or halo) Lincoln needs, imho

btw

re: #2, I got ask Nancy Gioia, Ford's director of global electrification , a question about hybrid leadership by Brand & she said they would never restrict technology to just one Brand ... fwiw

Ford only has two brands.....