1965 Lincoln Continental California Car on 2040-cars

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Chevy, Lincoln dealers say they still want sedans

Detroit automakers have famously turned their backs on sedans as they make the strategic bet to double down on money-making trucks and SUVs, but dealers for at least two American brands are giving the companies contrary signals. In separate recent interviews with leading national dealer councils for Chevrolet and Lincoln, Automotive News reports that both brands’ dealers still see a need for cars. The publication published a Q&A interview with Mike Bowsher, chairman of the Chevrolet National Dealer Council, who said Chevy dealers managed to hold onto market share last year despite the phase-out of the Cruze compact sedan and hatchback, thanks to products like the Spark and Sonic subcompacts and the Trax and Equinox crossovers. But, he acknowledged, “We do feel like we could use a car, especially in the low-MSRP range.” The comments follow similar recent comments from Tom Lynch, who chairs the Lincoln National Dealer Council. He told AN, “If weÂ’re not in segments where there is still a good amount of business, I think the company and the dealers lose out.” The Cruze was one of the victims of GMÂ’s November 2018 announcement of plant closures, with production having ceased with the closure of GMÂ’s Lordstown, Ohio assembly plant last year. GM sold 47,975 Cruzes in 2019 but a healthy 142,617 in 2018. At Lincoln, Lynch said the council has been telling the company it needs to stick with the sedan segment, despite plans to kill the MKZ sedan in the coming months and unconfirmed reports that the Continental isnÂ’t long for this world, either, despite the buzz of the suicide-door Coach Door Edition, shown in the photo above. Lincoln sold 17,725 MKZs and 6,586 Continental sedans in 2019, down a combined 15%, but still good for almost 22% of overall Lincoln sales. It's worth noting that Lincoln competes in a luxury segment that still expresses allegiance to four- and two-door cars. Even Cadillac, its cross-town rival, is staying active with the upcoming CT5 and CT4 sedans. Lynch pointed to Tesla as evidence that strong sedan products can resonate with consumers, though he conceded that “What that looks like for Lincoln going forward, IÂ’m not sure of.” For now, anyway, Chevy still offers the Sonic and Spark subcompacts, the latter of which saw sales climb 32.5% in 2019 to 31,281 (Sonic sales fell nearly as steeply).

Lincoln goes sedan-free after sending the Continental into the sunset

Lincoln has ended production of the 10th (and, presumably, final) generation of the Continental, according to a recent report. Built in Flat Rock, Mich., the flagship model was the last sedan in the company's range. We can't say the guillotine dropped without warning; the writing has been on the wall for months. Introduced in 2016 for the 2017 model year, the Continental found about 12,000 buyers in America during its first full calendar year on the market, but sales quickly dropped. 8,758 units were sold in 2018, followed by 6,586 in 2019. 3,872 examples found a home through September 2020, and Ford Authority learned production ended on October 30. It's a shame, because the Continental stood proud as Lincoln's best effort in the luxury sedan segment in decades. It was built on a Ford platform, but it didn't exude an overpowering whiff of Blue Ovalness. Upmarket variants benefited from 30-way adjustable front seats, all-wheel drive and a 3.0-liter V6 twin-turbocharged to 400 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque. Lincoln even built a handful of Coach Door Edition models with a longer wheelbase and suicide rear doors reminiscent of the fourth-generation Continental released for 1961. These were stunningly expensive at $115,470 plus destination, yet they were all spoken for in record time. Lincoln hasn't announced plans to replace the Continental; the odds of seeing an 11th-generation model in the near future are extremely low. Nothing suggests another flagship sedan is in the works, either. Like its parent company, the brand is pivoting away from sedans and towards crossovers and SUVs, which sell in far greater numbers and tend to be more profitable. Sending the Continental to the pantheon of automotive history leaves the Navigator as the Lincoln brand's sole flagship, though an electric model might slot above it in the 2020s. America's take on the luxury sedan isn't dead, however. Arch rival Cadillac recently replaced the ATS and the CTS with a pair of sedans named CT4 and CT5, respectively. Both will spawn high-performance variants in 2021. Related Video:

Car subscription services: A slow, expensive start — but the potential is huge

Americans are used to paying for subscriptions — to magazines and cable television, for instance — but experience shows they'll cancel when the price of admission gets too high, or there are more tempting alternatives. Cord cutters ditched nearly 1.5 million pay-TV subscriptions in 2017, according to a survey by Leichtman Research Group. Cable TV started out cheap with basic offerings, and then got expensive. The auto industry's subscription offerings are new, but they're starting out costly, and not price-competitive with traditional leasing. The upside is that they take the hassle out of car ownership for busy people by letting the service take care of maintenance, insurance, licensing and taxes. And they give consumers choice, often allowing relatively painless switches between different cars in the automakers' lineup. Subscription services also point the way toward an ownership-free auto experience, and offer an easy transition to a potential world where ride- and car-sharing will be dominant. Subscriptions are here to stay, but consumers may take a while to "get" them. Lincoln's subscription service for lightly used 2015 to 2017 models, offered through the Ford-owned Canvas beginning this year, got off to a slow start. Many early subscribers canceled. Last month, Cadillac announced it would " temporarily pause" its $1,800-per-month Book subscription service for "adjustments" as of December 1. According to the Wall Street Journal, "Snags with the back-end technology used to support the service made some customer-service functions tedious and time-consuming, adding costs for the company." The challenge for automakers is to come up with a strategy that offers consumers a compelling, affordable option to regular ownership, and one that can also make a profit. I think they'll find that sweet spot, but they're not there yet. Jack Nerad, former executive editorial director at Kelley Blue Book and author of " The Complete Idiot's Guide to Buying or Leasing a Car," points out that "A lot of people expected that subscriptions would be very valuable for people who wanted inexpensive transportation, but the reality is quite the opposite. Subscriptions are offering more choices for the wealthy.