AutoVerdict
Ford Motor Company may not offer a second-generation Lincoln Continental sedan. The car that made a huge splash when it returned to market has seen sliding sales as the market migrates to SUV and crossover models, leaving its future questionable.
A new report from Ford Authority citing unnamed sources “intimately familiar” with Lincoln product plans says the Continental will be a one-and-done product. Basically, Ford’s luxury brand has no plans to redesign the car after the current generation sedan runs its course.
The news is a bit startling (and should probably be taken with a grain of salt) given Ford invested a reported $1 billion into bringing the new Conti to market. The car even had a backlog of 40,000 people who were interested in the sedan just prior to market launch.
Despite the initial fanfare, Continental sales have began to stall. So far in 2018 Lincoln has yet to sell even 1,000 copies in a month; a notable decline from the recent past. In 2017, its first full year on the market, Lincoln only sold just over 12,000 copies.
The car’s low volume and the grim market outlook for sedans in general makes this news slightly less shocking. Other automakers are also reportedly questioning the future of their large sedans in their portfolio, so it’s plausible Lincoln is doing the same.
What isn’t known at this time is if Lincoln would entertain offering something in the Conti’s place, but in all reality they already have an SUV version of the Continental; it’s call the Navigator and it’s selling very well.
I love the idea of the Tesla Model S however the interior is lacking big time and feels cold. Plop in an interior like the new Navigators and that would make one hell of a new Continental.
Call it what you want, but 40,000 hand-raisers to those sales stats is a rather poor conversion rate.
might not have to go that extreme could even add electrification