1957 Continental Mark Ii By Ford Motors Co - 2 Door Coupe - Partial Restoration on 2040-cars

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Lincoln again asking dealers to move out from under Ford's roof

Lincoln is once again looking at ways to stand out from parent company Ford and establish itself as a credible player in the luxury segment. The company has returned to its plan for standalone showrooms to give its sales and image a boost. In 2018, Lincoln asked 150 Ford-Lincoln dealerships in its 30 biggest American markets to make plans for a standalone showroom by July 2019, and inaugurate it by July 2021. Of those stores, 72 signed on — but the others resisted, partly because the move requires investing millions of dollars. Lincoln put the campaign on hiatus in December 2018, and now Automotive News has learned it's ready to relaunch the plan after finding a middle ground that satisfies both executives and store owners. The publication said dealers gained more freedom to choose how big of a store they build; square foot requirements are no longer tied to the market size. Lincoln also agreed to treat dealers who don't comply more fairly, notably by reducing financial penalties, and it made the aforementioned deadlines more flexible. Standalone Lincoln stores must now be completed by July 2022. The move makes sense, at least on paper. As Autoblog reported in 2018, research shows dealers with standalone showrooms sell more cars. The handful of Lincoln retailers that sell cars in purpose-built showrooms have seen their sales increase considerably faster than those who display the firm's models next to Ford-badged vehicles. Customers "want to buy a luxury product in a luxury environment," explained Robert Parker, Lincoln's head of marketing, at the time. Lincoln was historically tied to Mercury, though the Continental also incongruously shared showroom space with the De Tomaso Pantera during the early 1970s. Lincoln moved under Ford's roof when Mercury was done away with in 2011, and it began experimenting with standalone stores in the early 2010s. Auto News Lincoln

Hot-selling Ford Expedition, Lincoln Navigator get production boost

Ford is investing an additional $25 million in its Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville to increase by 25 percent production of the hot-selling and all-new Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition SUVs. The investment adds to $900 million in previously announced spending at the plant, which also builds F-Series Super-Duty pickups and employs 8,400 workers. Assembly-line workers are putting in overtime and working voluntary weekend shifts to keep up with demand. The new investment will cover upgrades to the assembly line but does not involve further hiring, Ford spokeswoman Kelli Felker says. The popularity of the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator is a bright spot as Ford stock has been battered by Wall Street amid concerns concerns about the automaker's future vision and slowness to detect trends. Ford says the investment is an example of its bid to improve "operational fitness," one of CEO Jim Hackett's common refrains. Ford says Navigator retail sales more than doubled in January, and Navigators are spending an average of just seven days on Lincoln dealership lots as customers trade in vehicles including Land Rovers and Mercedes-Benz. Nearly 85 percent of buyers are opting for high-end Black Label and Reserve trim packages, contributing to an average transaction price increase of more than $21,000 in January compared to a year ago. The 2018 Navigator won the North American Truck of the Year award and also topped a Detroit News poll of public favorites at last month's Detroit Auto Show. Sales of the Expedition, meanwhile, were up almost 57 percent last month as the full-size SUVs also spent an average of just a week on dealer lots. Platinum trim models represented 29 percent of sales, pushing transaction price increases up $7,800. Ford gave the 2018 Expedition an all-aluminum body to save mass in its first significant redesign since 2007. The plant last year got nearly 400 new robots, mainly in the body shop, to help increase line speed, and Ford added a robot lab where employees can test software tweaks or troubleshoot issues away from the factory floor. The Louisville plant also benefits from extensive new data analytics, with seven big-screen monitors providing minute-by-minute updates showing progress against hourly targets or alerting workers to pending parts shortages. A huge spare-parts "vending machine" lets workers more quickly locate needed parts and keep inventory at necessary levels.

NHTSA closes rollaway investigation into 1.56M Ford SUVs

It's taken four years of study, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has finally closed the books on its investigation into rollaway accusations surrounding 1.56-million Ford SUV models.
The probe, which centered on the 2002-2005 Ford Explorer, 2002-2005 Mercury Mountaineer and 2003-2005 Lincoln Aviator, ends without the federal agency calling for a recall. According to The Detroit News, the investigation was closed due to a "low number of complaints" - NHTSA documented 180 such complaints that resulted in 14 crashes and six minor injuries, but the number of incidents have been slowing. The suspected defect rate for the trucks' automatic transmissions was found to be 4.4 per 100,000 units, and the brake-shift interlock mechanism failure rate was judged to be even lower at 3.4 per 100k.