5 Years From Today Who Will Be The American Luxury Car Leader? Cadillac Or Lincoln

that picture can easily explain it.

Sorta like asking which will be the more articulate vegetable: zucchini or squash?

Doesn't matter...if Lincoln gets its act together (Ford is on a roll in other models) the consumer of these cars will both be better off from the competition.

It will be interesting to watch Lincoln try, but Ford has to be willing to invest the money in at least one Lincoln-specific platforms (or spread the costs by offering a large RWD Ford). Until they do this, they will be a luxury pretender.

It's a shame, because Ford had some good platforms to work with in the recent past, such as the IRS T-bird/Cougar, but insisted on saddling the Lincoln version with their stupid air-suspensions, and styling the Mark 8 like a giant Ford Probe. IMHO, the last Lincoln worth caring about was the 1992 Mark 7 LSC, which could have been even better with the 300hp DOHC offered the next year in the ugly Mark 8.

If there were any real "car people" in Ford's upper management, they could have easily modified the last Panther-platform Town Car with an IRS borrowed from a last-gen Explorer, added the 5.4 V8 and the better trans to go with it. Restyle the body to look like something very dramatic (rather than an inoffensive bar of soap) and although you still wouldn't have a "cutting edge" car, you would at least have something worth talking about, or making into a limo.

If Ford was smart they would have taken jaguar's approach and utilize the LS platform to produce a more stylish, higher quality car. They could have still used the current engine lineup in the MKS, and that they would have actually had a car with good driving dynamics. The MKS is a boat, and to have only 6 cylinder engines that get V8 fuel economy is rediculous. They should have restyled the LS, and produced that rear wheel drive concept car as their flagship, keep the MKZ as a front wheel drive/awd entry car, and made derivates of the LS and MKZ to fulfill the rest of the lineup along with the suvs. Im sorry but rebadging and giving Fords slightly better but not really interiors, with a new front and rear end doesnt make them luxury cars. Cadillac has the edge because they have more prestige than Lincoln by a long shot, they just need to focus their brand strategy much like acura(is acura a luxury company or a slight step up from Honda makes no sense).

Yes but both are a monstrosity

The Navigator is a truck, and the Town Car is no longer available to the public (sale only to livery companies and rental fleets). Soon it will be out of production.

What somewhat proves my point, (I am told, haven't looked it up) is that Lincoln TC sales are still fairly good. I also know dealers are keeping them on the showroom floor, even though they supposed can't be sold to "civilians", I expect dealers are probably finding ways around this. So if that car actually looked good, had a real luxury interior, and at least one foot in the 21st century via IRS and a newer engine/trans/telematics, Ford would have a very profitable machine in their Lincoln stores.

Classic case of ignoring your customers (dealers).

Was just gonna add the LS from a decade ago was very good for its time also. Once Lincoln gets better styling and differentiates its brands better from Ford they can look towards the future. But my gut tells me Caddy will still be the top US luxury brand in 5 years.

I really don't know , probably Cadillac but " ".

The new 300 is good but not that good.

Actually Bill you are closer to being correct than other responses. The plans for the Chrysler 300 are amazing. I see you have been deboosted for your response mostly due to where the three brands are viewed today. But the title says in five years. Chrysler is setting its sites higher than Caddy and lincoln because they have to in order to compete. The "executive" is a taste of the future. Just a matter of time.

I guess Ford's a Volve-based MKS and Mazda-based MKZ cancel that out.

Cadillac will not exist in 5 years so Lincoln... :)

Weird... i would have guessed Lincoln to be the riskier venture. Hopefully their billion dollar investment pays off.

I'll explain my point of view. Ford already made its restructuring, while GM still have troubles. Soon, pretty soon Buick and Cadillac will become rivals and GM should choose between them.

Cadillac already failed in Europe and has not very good sales in America. Buick on the other hand is very good accepted in China and has more and more customers in America.

Name doesn't matter, only the profit! It's all about the money!

To be king of any luxury hill, you need to offer an outlandish flagship sedan that is not just a luxury vehicle, but also a performance-luxury vehicle with outrageous offerings of power/performance. All of the other non-US luxury brands have this and Cadillac is in the mix with its V-Series line of cars now. Even though you may not see a DTS-V ( just like you don't see M7's with BWM ), there mere presence and implementation of true performance wing shows commitment to providing the biggest and baddest luxury automobile possible for the company.

As soon as the DTS is retired and they don't screw up the replacement ( XTS? ) - Cadillac will be poised to maintain their top ranking amongst US luxury brands. This actually isn't that hard to do. The Chyrsler 300C isn't really a true flagship luxury vehicle - but more along the lines of entry level luxury. Lincoln has been lost for a while a must re-invent itself like Jaguar did to stay in the game.

Winner in 5 years -> Cadillac

sorry but the DTS is DOA.

If the U.S. doesn't get its financial house in order, in 5 years, Kia will be considered a luxury car by most Americans.

lol

None of the above. They will all be selling far less cars than Jap and German luxury automakers (within the US), making this question irrelevant. As it is, you are better off in a used late-90s Lexus or BMW than to buy a brand new American luxury barge.