scourge said:
The thing with Lincoln is that its put in a weird position. Ford has bought Jaguar, so if Cadillac really goes upscale, the Jag is what ford will use to counter Caddy. So, Lincoln sorta finds itself without a mission. Ford is the "every car" and Mercury is the "step up" car while Lincoln had always been Ford's premier brand. Lincoln vs Buick? IMO, Lincoln is waaaaaaay above Buick. What now?
I'd love to fix Ford. There is no market study needed.
I would position Jaguar as the higher end sporting refined european luxury vehicle. I would target the European makes. $35,000-$90,000.
I would position Lincoln as the American luxury muscle vehicle. I would target the Japanese and Cadillac. $25,000-$60,000
I would then position Aston Martin to take on Bentley, Rolls Royce and Maseratti. It would be exclusive luxury with heritage. $90,000+
Ford could then take Lincoln into Lexus IS300 territory and take Aston Martin up into Rolls Royce and Ferrari territory.
GM wouldn't be able to compete against Ford if all they have is Cadillac. You can't cover the 30,000-300,000 with the same brand. As nice as the Cadillac 16 concept was, and as cool as it could be, no way will very many people pay $150,000 for it. It'd have to be $75,000 tops.
And we haven't even used Volvo or Range Rover yet! So look out Hummer, Escalade and SRX.
But it won't happen. Ford will sell Volvo (all Volvos fault), Aston Martin will linger as a step child with no higher aspiration than Porsche (you could choose a lessor goal) and Range Rover won't supply military vehicles again (so where does the enginerring money come from?).