VIDEO: Is Consumer Reports Onto Something Or Being UNFAIR To The All-New Lincoln Continental?

The Continental was very much designed as a "Hail Mary", but there's nothing to be pissy about when living with one. It's a rather nice car.

Ford was planning a new Taurus by enlarging the Fusion, but wisely decided not to manufacture it for the USA given the soft sedan market. A version of that Taurus was to become a new MKS, but Lincoln dealers ARE NOT pleased with the alphabet soup naming of models.

Lincoln's most well-known product in consumer surveys is the rather lackluster and outdated current Navigator and very few consumers can name an alphabet soup model when surveyed.

I was told that at the 11th hour, Lincoln renamed the MKS the Continental, but the MKZ refresh was too far along to rename it Zephyr or some other name.

I have considerable personal experience with the Continental and it hides being a Fusion a LOT better than the RLX hides being an Accord, which the RLX betrays all too easily. I'd say the Continental's execution is on par with how well the Lexus ES hides being a Camry/Avalon, which is to say quite well.

The Continental is an expedient compromise. Lincoln needs a large sedan, but designing one from scratch given the meager sales would be ridiculous as well as take time from the development of crossovers.

The Continental is quite smooth with the turbo and it an extremely comfortable cruiser. It's a handsome vehicle especially in either of the blacks or dark blue.

They are selling consistently, if not rapidly. They are also selling without steep discounts. We worried that after we satisfied our "early adopters" on the waiting list that Continentals would be sold with lots of money off, but so far that hasn't been necessary. Discounted yes, but not stupidly so.

I'd love to see a Lincoln Town Car crossover between the Continental and the Navigator.

The closest Cadillac competition is the XTS. Arguably, I'd rather live with an XTS than a CT6 or a CTS because the Cadillac Impala in many ways is better at being a Cadillac than the RWD sedans. A CTSV, though would be another story.

dashboard shifting is ridiculous. Can you feel anymore disconnected from the car ? Put it in the console where it wants to be - same for you Mercedes

It's better than some of the counterintuitive wiggly things in cars these days.

I'm currently driving an E350 with the column shift and it's okay for me. It was easy to get used to. No problems.

had a BMW for 4 years, easiest thing to work with. Worked perfectly

It's all a matter of taste and preference. She sees things the way she sees it and you can't fault her for that. She states that the Continental has wide fenders and strong road presence - I wholeheartedly disagree with her on that. The ones I've seen in the real has been pretty anonymous and has no more presence than the MKZ (or whatever their current smaller sedan is). I didn't hear her negatively criticize the push-button door exits, she just said it was "unique". As far as the buttons near the radio, I couldn't agree with her more. Not about push buttons, but about the placement of these buttons.

It is interesting to see sales in this category. The primary players are the Continental, CT6, and G90. They are all new, large, luxo cars in the same price range. CT6 has been out for a while, while Continental and G90 just got into dealerships recently. The Continental is clearly the frontrunner with 2246 units sold YTD, while the CT6 has sold 1436 units, and the G90 has sold 795 units YTD. Clearly the Continental is resonating with buyers in the USA.

There was a pent up demand for a replacement for the Panther based Town Car - and a lot of the people who bought them - would not consider a Foreign Brand car - in some cases because they stick with their dealer. The sales numbers of the CT6 - and the Continental reflect that type of sale. Remember that the CT6 has internal competition with the XTS. The people that buy these cars - are looking for a smooth quiet ride - and lots of rear room for passengers - and this new Continental has good rear room. I actually have a CT6 and really like it - even though my brother was a Lincoln dealer for decades. I have a nice - small - local dealer who supports his products well. However - the CT6 styling is a real disappointment - the Cadillac arts and science styling has run its course - and needs a major update. I suspect the new cars coming over the next three years will look better - at least I hope.

It's also resonating w/ fleet sales...

@Agent00R Don't act like fleet sales aren't profit because they are. The Continental, XTS, and CT6 have all gotten interest from the livery trade. Cadillac and Lincoln have always been well-represented there, so this is no different.

Firstly, stop assuming. I said nothing about profit; however, it is an issue w/ nameplate perception.

Personally, I'd rather not have a black car for a personal ride. Optics do matter in the luxury market.

Second, yes, the XTS has been a prominent pick for livery cars. The CT6 much less so.

You said optics LOL You do know that Rolls and Bentley are used in liveries right?

Yeah, for the Mandarin Oriental and wedding services.

Not Uber.

Funny enough the last time I took a limo home from the Airport it was in a loaded Lexus ES. Black of course.... Livery vehicle options seem to be changing.

Largely because Lincoln's idea of a livery vehicle for the last few years was the truly UGLY MKT which totally destroyed Lincoln's livery sales.

That may be so. With 2 delayed flights I was up for 30hrs by the time I got home from my Seattle-Toronto flight. Being is was 7AM, I went to McD's and grabbed breakfast. After that I just got on with my Saturday. Strangest 48hrs of my life. But it was nice to have a ride home on a 787 Dreamliner. Wide bodies are great to fly on.

Cannot compare CT6 sales with Continental as it is really a competitor for the XTS. If you look at transition prices, the CT6 is higher than the the other two.
Would you say the EC 350 is more successful than the MB E-Class?

You most decidedly CAN compare the sales of the sedans in the price class. Customers do so all the time. The "transition" (sic) price of the CT6 may be higher on paper, but the CT6 comes with a hefty price cut to move it out the door.

Agreed with Matt here.

Only criticisms of Tesla are allowed on this site. Any comments about Lincoln - unless singing the praises of a car that is DOA - must by definition be unfair.