Death Of An Icon: Lincoln Will Probably Kill Continental To Due Disasterous Sales

Wait, I thought Lincoln was meeting their projections. At least that's what someone on here led me to believe last year.

LMAO. Build a Ford with extra chrome on it, slap on a brand name which you have ruined over the last couple decades and then act surprised when sales suck.

Still, I honestly would choose one of these over the Kia "Mall Racer".

Even the new Navigator is a sales disaster...it hasn't made much of a dent in Escalade sales and it is still outsold by the Mercedes GLS and the Infiniti QX80.

I don't think the car is the problem, it is the brand and its aging followers. So sad.

Not enough limo demand or is it a lemon?

Not even remotely a lemon.

Hmmm, that’s weird. I seem to recall MDarringer claiming when this first went on sale that millennials were lining up for the Continental. What happened?

When has the yuge blowhard Darringer ever been right about anything.... other than his far Right politics?

Hmmm, that’s weird. I seem to recall MDarringer claiming when this first went on sale that millennials were lining up for the Continental. What happened?
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The story will be that sedan sales are dropping like a rock and that SUVs are HOT. So of course the Navigator will be a huuuuuuuuuuuuuge hit.

The flood of early orders came and went. Aside from the early adopters, the momentum never built from that initial hysteria.

The demographics of the people buying the Continental are exactly what Lincoln wanted, but there are not enough of them to make this a bona fide hit.

Though the sales of the Continental have been consistent, they have not been as big as Lincoln hoped, BUT this is more due to the killing of CD4 development in favor of CD6.

Given that the CD4 Fusion got axed, it follows that the MKZ and Continental are getting axed too.

NOW if the Continental had replaced the MKZ, the outcome might have been different.

So... it's almost like the peanut gallery wisdom of "Lincoln and Cadillac should return to building a big ole soft sedan like they did when Eisenhower was president, and throw in the blue plate special too" hasn't really panned out. Almost like the type of customer who prefers this kind of car is... dead! and not enough to sustain its sales.

That is basically what the DTS was, which some people are clamoring to get re-instated. If anything, the Continental was better than the DTS, and a pretty good modern execution of that kind of car, and it still couldn't survive. The people who want American car companies to "return to their roots" have to face facts, that world doesn't exist any more, and they can't wish it back in to existence. This is what Cadillac is trying to avoid.

That being said, 18 months is too short a time to shut down a vehicle like this, it deserves more time to grow. It's also hampered by being a nice collection of bits and bobs stuck on to a Ford chassis, not an S-Class or 7-Series type mighty flagship.

If Cadillac and Lincoln were to build something like that, I'd be all for it, but those cars offer MUCH more than just a "nice boulevard ride". The Lincoln Continental was a pretty darn good and modern execution of what some of these people think Cadillac and Lincoln should be building, and guess what, all the people who want them are dead.

@NewQ I'd have preferred the Continental to have been a CLS type of vehicle built off the 15 Mustang platform and the FWD/AWD large sedan to have been a Town Car. Given that the former was not in the cards, offering the Continental's size at the MKZ price and killing the MKZ would have worked better. This is after all a SuperFusion.

Mathew McConnehey is what did it in for me. His smugness was the wrong image for the brand

Actually, the marketing research says the OPPOSITE. That campaign got people saying Lincoln when NO ONE was.

Again - I think that this is simply too early to tell.

The marketing for the Lincoln - while different - was not as compelling for the Brand as it could have.

What happened to Lincoln is that it was reduced to a second tier Brand - similar to Buick - BEFORE The Continental came out. Its only real car - the MKZ - was another Cimarron as far as cutomers were concerned - too much like the Fusion to really distinguish Lincoln - more like making Lincoln into the new Mercury. They had to discount the """" out of the car to sell it because it was overpriced for the IMPRESSION it gave (Almost none).

And while the Continental was a step forward - it was well over priced over the equivalent Buick (Which they cannot sell either) - at a time when cars were not selling to begin with. Again - it takes huge discounts and lease offerings to get them off the lots. THERE is no prestige to owning a Lincoln anymore - and people will not pay a major premium for them compared to real premium cars. Note - the LaCrosse and the Continental are BOTH based on smaller FWD Platforms - and that is easily seen. The car will sell better in the warmer weather though.

Clearly Cadillac - while no more successful with the CT6 - at least is producing real premium product on their platforms for larger cars. Ford really has no chance - as they went back to badge engineering - when everyone LAUGHS at that.

“...To Due Disasterous Sales” sounds worse than this sad news.

Should have had a V8!

Should have been a 300-mile all-electric.

Putting the high-end turbo as the base engine would have made it sell. The Black Label I had for six months was wonderful but it was almost double the price of the base Conti. The Continental is a brilliant car for $45K but as you get to $80K, it becomes too much for a Fusion.

Once people figured out it was a warmed over Ford Fusion, underneath a 5/4 scale Rover 75 http://bestcarmag.com/makes/Rover/75 from 2003, they just went and bought a Cadillac XTS.

You mean the 5/4 scale Malibu? The XTS isn't exactly selling well either.

https://www.carscoops.com/2018/03/lincoln-continental-rumored-discontinued/

The sedan customers that might have gone for Cadillac or Lincoln 30 years ago have gone to Lexus, Infiniti, or Genesis. Time for Cadillac and Lincoln to pull the plug.

While I might agree with that assessment for Lincoln - WE are just now getting to the introductions of the new Cadillac Fleet - including virtually all new cars - and filling in their Crossover offerings - and remember - Cadillac actually sells more cars in CHINA than they do here. WE will know more about Cadillac in about three years.

More importantly, Cadillac is returning to names. A vehicle that will carry the name "Escala" is coming.

To late, customers will not return. Brands have lost their value and are a negative to most.

The customers have shifted what they are buying. The MKC and the MKX are doing just fine attracting customers.

its not like the continental is the only sedan struggling , all sedans are doing poorly compared to suv's anyway .
my parents back in the day probably would have loved a Towncar , last month they got an MKC and have never been happier .