#NAIAS: WHO Is Lined Up To STEAL The Luxury Buzz From Detroit? G90? E-Class? Continental?

The Continental will certainly command attention as will the E Class and the G90. Of the three, the Continental is by far the most important launch. The E Class is an important launch--yes--but it will merely maintain Mercedes' momentum. The Conti needs to help Lincoln not die, thus it is crucial. The G90 will be snubbed by the Euro bigots who can only say Mercedes, Audi, or BMW.

I spent most of my life with Volvo being considered to be second tier premium - like Buick AND Saab (Audi was second tier for most of that time too). In my mind - attempting to move that far upmarket without any intermediate moves - won't work - Volvo is not a luxury brand - for years it touted Safety for children and families.

The Lincoln will be a success - but the question is - will it actually "identify" an American LUXURY car market - separate from the Premium Sports sedan market the others are fighting for. I believe it will - because the new Cadillac - again is smaller and lighter than competitors - but is likely less spacious inside. I am sure the Lincoln will have lots of space inside AND trunk space too. WHo knows - it might even have a spare tire!

@TomM If Geely had any brains, they would have taken Volvo much more mainstream toward being a sensible, values-oriented brand.

The brilliance would have been two-fold. It would have sped Geely's entrance into the US market with cars engineered by Volvo.

Volvo should have been the face Geely used to sell its products in non-Chinese markets.

If the XC90 delivered a premium feel at Ford Explorer prices then that could have been good, but delivering a near-premium product and pricing it in the stratosphere like a Mercedes is idiocy.

Ford no doubt sold Jaguar, then Volvo, and killed Mercury because it had 4 brands (Mercury, Lincoln, Volvo, and Jaguar) that could only succeed as near-premium brands but all of which needed reinvention and investment.

While I agree with you about Volvo AND Jaguar with Ford - Mercury was a different problem - although I did own a few - my brother was a Lincoln/Mercury Dealer. Mercury was nothing more than higher spec FORDS - for a little more money - and a whole complete need to market them - which made no sense - they could add a higher line FORD and get rid of Mercury. While older folks like me remember when Mercury was clearly more upmarket - the current buyers - offered only hardly changed Ford cars - didn't. So Mercury could not charge a Premium Price for its cars. ANd you ended up with Mercury selling against the local Ford Dealer. At least Buick retained some more styling differences than Chevy - and was clearly the second tier premium - the Doctors car - for years.

As far as the Genesis - I am not sure that Hyundai is doing the right thing either - and we still don't know how pricing will affect them. Right Now - in my area - Hyundai dealers sell at huge discounts to get buyers - I don't see many Hyundai cars selling anything close to list price - they are just perceived as a "cheap" car - regardless of how well they might make them. Frankly - the Genesis might be better targeted at the Second Tier Premium as well. But for most premium car owners - Hyundai simply does not have the "Class" of even Buick - so buying a Genesis is not even considered - even if they drive well. Keeping Genesis in existing facilities is a mistake too - they are not in the Luxury car customer business and do not treat the customer that way. As far as bigotry against Koreans - that is not the case - Hyundai and Kia are low end cars - and they took advantage of their pricing ability to make their market in the USA - so they established their slot. It took Toyota(And others) many decades to become "reliable" enough to compete with Chevy and Ford price wise too. And I don't believe that the Really High priced Volvo's will sell in any great numbers because the simply are not perceived to be in that CLASS. And CLASS is the story - not race - People don't Buy Rolls Royce because they are made bespoke by white English - they buy them because they have been top of the line for decades.

I realize that this vehicle was not in the header...but I do not think anybody should be ignoring the S90. The S90 is probably just about as important to Volvo as the Continental is to Lincoln.

The irony is that two brands desperately in need of sales are doing sedans when crossovers--unfortunately--are all that seem to sell.

Yes, the SC90 is extremely important for Volvo. However, its "debut" a bit ago generated only the initial buzz of its premiere, with little to no afterglow. Unlike the XC90, with its gorgeous styling inside and out and its incredible technology, whose buzz never stopped after its initial intro to the public. The new SC90 is already forgettable from a styling standpoint (exterior) and it's highly doubtful it will drive better than anything in its direct line of sight.

The XC90's sales are dramatically higher on a PERCENTAGE basis than the old one only because the old was was dead for sales. The new one is incrementally better but hardly a hit with consumers who--for the money--drive past the Volvo dealer for Lexus, Porsche, Audi, BMW, or Mercedes. The XC90 would pretty much have to triple its sales to catch up to its German competition.

I predict the S90 will arrive with DOA sales.

The Continental will generate the most curiosity since there's a lot of unknowns surrounding it. What will production styling bring compared to the stunning concept? Will it be up to the task of rejuvenating Lincoln? Will it up to the task of shaking up its segment? Will it be up to the task of rejuvenating a seemingly forgotten American segment, and once again benchmark American luxury?

But what is the Conti's segment? I'd argue that it's NOT the CTS/5/A6/E but instead it's going to be a segment buster because it will be sized like German mid-sizers and priced like smaller offerings (it seems). If that's true it's a wild card that will succeed on price versus features. If it can define "American Luxury" succinctly and satisfy monied buyers, it will succeed against "German Premium".

Cadillac's mistake is trying to compete with the Germans instead of being as American as blue jeans.

This will be an interesting 2017 model year.

If you remember the first Ford 500 that was based on the Volvo Platform (Also called a Mercury Sable) - it was cavernous inside - larger inside than the then still made Lincoln Continental - and it also had great trunk space. When they got away from the VW derived styling, they also reduced the interior space so much so that it was no longer worth it. I am betting that they will be returning to a size with MORE room than an XTS - which has a big rear seat - clearly much larger than an E/6/5 class car - the current Fusion is actually larger inside than those cars - and the Continental will be bigger inside and out than the Fusion.

So - what we will have is a LARGE American LUXURY car - something that there is a clear market for - maybe with older Americans - but then they have the money to buy them too. YOu are correct - Cadillac made a mistake by abandoning these customers - for German premium sports car junk. I have several friends who wanted a CTS - until they realized that once they were in the Front seat - there was no rear seat room.

And just as I mentioned in the article about the 4x4s in Detroit - there are some people who buy American (Even if it is made in Canada) rather than a Foreign car - and want a Large American Luxury Car - would buy a CIEL right now if it was available. THese are the types that drive Cadillac Escalades in Winter - and want something for warmer weather that is big and Luxurious. THey don't want a little sports car - and they laugh at those

New pictures of the Conti are floating around one that's a dark red metallic that makes it look like money. It is surprisingly faithful to the concept. There are also pictures of a creme colored one that make it look dull and lifeless.. Color will sell this vehicle. LOL I will make sure to suggest that we skew as much of our allotment as possible to dark colors it looks like.

Makes me wish for a new, formal Town Car.

This Millennial loves it.

Hyundai Genesis is the clear winner.

I predict the G90 will be quite good. Given a fair chance? No! I mean we must maintain our racist bigotry against the Koreans. *rolled eyes*

The Lincoln looks as exciting as the current Acura RLX...not very. I actually like their current design language better.

I am really curious to see the Acura Precision Concept...it will show the new design direction of Acura...and not a moment too soon! The teaser looks promising, but I'm not holding my breath for any significant beneath the skin changes...