WHICH Premium Automaker Has The WEAKEST Product Portfolio In Dealers RIGHT NOW?

These days, it's clear that all automakers have to be competitive on all fronts. It's tough for an automaker to survive on one volume product. That's because buyers are not nearly as loyal as they were previously, with good reason, of course.

Now with specific manufacturers sweetening up deals by covering maintenance over the course of vehicles' warranties and all-new emerging niche products, you'll see consumers jump ship quicker than a speeding bullet.

This had the Agents thinking.

WHICH premium automaker has the WEAKEST product portfolio in dealers RIGHT NOW?

Although we've seen BAD cars sell in large numbers, that doesn't always mean it is sustainable. And if there's a slew of bad products in a company's lineup, its time will come when buyers start looking elsewhere for the best-in-breed vehicles — or the cheapest.

Though I used Lincoln in my cover image, we're open to hearing ANY of your suggestions! I have a couple more in mind, but I'll reserve them for the comments. :)

jeffgall - 5/21/2014 9:00:15 PM

+1 Boost

Acura. Can anyone disagree?

poot66 - 5/21/2014 10:36:31 PM

+4 Boost

Yea its not which one you dislike but who is the weakest and there are plenty worst than Acura. Mine is Chrysler at least Lincoln has a verity of turds. Also I'm an Infiniti fanboy but I don't like that they've only made two cars for nearly a decade and now 4 different SUV's.

cidflekken - 5/22/2014 5:44:00 AM

+2 Boost

I'd agree that Acura's lineup is in need of help and the delay of the TLX and RLX SH isn't helping. But even considering that, they're still holding their own.

BUT, Lincoln and Volvo definitely need a defribillator. If Infiniti didn't have the Q50/G, they'd be almost non-existent. Chrysler desperately needs to get the 200 out and even then, they have a minivan and a convertible.

Manny99 - 5/22/2014 8:22:41 AM

-2 Boost

Mitsubishi, Lincoln, Chrysler and Acrua

MattDarringer - 5/22/2014 8:33:46 AM

-3 Boost

Mitsubishi and Chrysler are not premium. Lincoln and Acura are near-premium pretending to be premium when are really Mercurys. Of the premium brands, Maserati definitely has weak product given that Marchionne is aiming them at Mercedes/BMW. Jaguar may be even worse given its dismal sales.

jeffgall - 5/22/2014 10:29:03 AM

+3 Boost

Jaguar may be weak compared to Audi, BMW and Mercedes today, but they see the light and are moving in the right direction. Will be interesting to see how the new 3 series fighter and SUV do.

MattDarringer - 5/22/2014 8:25:23 PM

-3 Boost

@Jeffgall...you're delusional. Google their sales ABYSMAL

autobroker - 5/22/2014 9:11:13 AM

0 Boost

Lincoln by a mile, and Acura is in the rearview mirror not far behind, although as mentioned before, they are near luxury brands. They both are so far behind the competition, it isn't even funny. On a side note, have you guys noticed that ever since Jaguar, Land Rover/Range Rover, Mazda, even Aston Martin, have left the Ford umbrella, all the brands have really shined and flourished? Maybe they should take a page out of the VW Group and see how they run all their other sub brands like Audi, Bentley, Bugatti. Those brands are all doing well and growing and competing to their respective competitors.

RobertPaulson - 5/22/2014 11:47:21 AM

+3 Boost

Lincoln. If you can really call Lincoln a premium car company, that is.

It's interesting that they tried to reboot the franchise with warmed over retreads of much more successful Ford products.

This ain't the 70's or 80's when consumers were not as sophisticated and you could essentially fool customers into thinking that more chrome, a nicer grade of leather and a nice radio (with de-luxe cassette) was 'luxury'.

Benzes1 - 5/22/2014 1:05:04 PM

-2 Boost

WAY TOO EASY:

1. Lincoln
2. Acura
3. Infiniti


Mercedes, BMW, Audi in that order have the strongest lineups, they offer nearly everything you could want. Lexus and Cadillac are in the middle somewhere.

Lincoln - Nothing lineup. All warmed over Fords and nothing special.

Acura - Ditto. NSX isn't here yet.

Infiniti - they don't what they want to be sport/luxury, or luxury/sport.

Jaguar - Missing at the bottom end and no suv/crossover on sale yet.

jeffy210 - 5/22/2014 7:09:16 PM

+3 Boost

As much as I liked them, I'm going to have to go with Volvo:

- Ditched the C30
- Ditched the S40
- Ditched the C70
- XC90 is badly in need of a refresh
- S60 looks gimped compared to when it first came out
- Newest car they bring over is the V50?!

They really need some work on their portfolio and bad.

vwowner1 - 5/22/2014 10:31:46 PM

0 Boost

First of all, this article is about the strength of premium brand portfolios, not sales number. Two different things.

Given that, Jaguar's portfolio has been steadily rebuilt with increasingly desirable and competitive products since Tata took ownership. However, the XK and XF need new iterations soon. And the new 3-series fighter and SUV models will nicely round out the Jaguar portfolio.

Jaguar sales in the US have never been huge like say MB's for instance, and that's not such a bad thing in a day where the market seems saturated with premium models from MB, BMW, Audi, Cadillac, and the rest. Incidentally, Jaguar's 2014 YTD sales as of the end of April are up 22% over the same period in 2013. Again, talking small numbers here but at least the growth is in a positive direction.

cidflekken - 5/24/2014 3:12:25 AM

+1 Boost

I actually think that Jaguar has a pretty strong lineup for a premium brand. Granted, they may not have alot of models from which to choose, but those models hold thier own nicely in their respective segments, and they're not afraid to go head to head with the big guns (take a hint, Acura).