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How the demise of Lincoln's Town Car has kick-started a limo revolution

The deaths of the Ford Crown Victoria and the Lincoln Town Car have meant overhauls of three high-profile American fleets: police, taxi and livery car. Just as police fleets are more open to considering other options and a Nissan van is the new face of the NYC taxi, livery car companies are looking at replacements for the Town Car beyond The Blue Oval. Ford, via Lincoln, has made an MKT Town Car (pictured), but an article in the Detroit News claims "it has failed to win over most of the big limousine companies." The upstarts trying to move in include livery and limo editions of the Cadillac XTS, and livery specifications of the Toyota Avalon and Chrysler 300.
Each of those challengers, however, faces challenges. The Town Car was a workhorse, American, rear-wheel-drive sedan with plenty of rear legroom. Cadillac has been in the livery space before but with decontented models that were about selling the brand, not its luxury. It is taking the opposite approach with the XTS, pointing out that its livery edition is "contented in the upper half of the XTS range." Still, the CEO of Michigan's largest livery company says "it's quite a bit smaller than what we're used to," and he also prefers rear-wheel drive.
The Chrysler 300 is rear-wheel drive, and American, which matters to some companies, but Chrysler hasn't yet revealed the livery package for it. The livery Avalon marks Toyota's first time getting into that business in the US, a natural step after having done so well with taxi clients and with the Town Car out of the way. Still, the livery client is a different to taxi buyers, so the Avalon could face other soft-touch hurdles.

Ford Edge, Lincoln Nautilus to die in 2023

Last summer saw two separate reports that Ford killed the next-gen Edge due in 2023, the move leading to the death of the Lincoln Nautilus in 2024 since the Lincoln is based on the Ford. As part of its future product roundup, Automotive News looked into the futures of a range of Ford Motor Company products, reporting that the Edge and Nautilus will both die in 2023. The Edge is said to be dead for good, thanks to Ford having four two-row crossovers in the lineup with the arrival of the hugely popular Bronco line, and a three-row Explorer that's only $175 more expensive at the moment. The Nautilus, however, could get a second act. When Ford came to an agreement with Canada's Unifor union about the Oakville Assembly Plant, which builds the Edge and Nautilus, the automaker pledged to turn Oakville into an EV production facility. Lincoln's big on battery-electric vehicles in the near-term, Unifor mentioning Oakville product plans that would have at least one EV coming off the line by 2025 and four more by 2028. Automotive News says Lincoln's got a small crossover and a midsize crossover due in 2025, and the small one could come from Canada and slot into the space left empty by the departed Nautilus, perhaps carrying on the name, perhaps not. One step up in size, the Ford Explorer and its Lincoln Aviator platform mate will soon welcome two battery-electric cousins into the family. These will both probably debut in 2022 and go on sale in 2023, the Ford produced in the Cuautitlan, Mexico, facility that now builds the Mustang Mach-E. As for which platform they'll ride on, it's not clear yet. Ford has four dedicated EV architectures planned for the company fold: GE2, the evolution of the Mach-E's GE1 platform; TE1 for trucks, coming in 2025; the Rivian platform that will contribute a dedicated Ford vehicle; and a version of Volkswagen's MEB platform for European offerings, with Ford planning to have an all-EV lineup across the Atlantic by 2030. The Explorer and Aviator EVs could get the GE2, or if Ford wants to showcase extra-rugged chops for both, the TE1. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Ford announces four recalls, 1.4M vehicles affected

Ford is taking a bit of the spotlight away from General Motors, announcing a major group of recall campaigns, covering a total of 1.4 million vehicles built between 2006 and 2013.
Let's start with the big one, which covers the Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner and, according to The Detroit News, Ford-built Mazda Tribute CUVs. 915,216 vehicles are covered, all of which were built in model years 2008 to 2011. 736,000 vehicles are in the US, while Canada then Mexico make up the vast majority of the remainder. The problem is due to an issue with the torque sensor in the steering column, which could lead to sudden power steering failure. Manual steering would still be available, though.
"Dealers will perform one of three service fixes, depending upon what diagnostic codes are shown when the vehicle is taken to the dealer," Ford spokeswoman Kelli Felker wrote to Autoblog in an email. "They will either update software for the power steering control module and the instrument cluster module; replace the torque sensor; or replace the steering column, which includes upgraded power steering control module software."