Ford drops Lincoln Town Car

[Directedby]

Seems Ford will not make them after next year.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/452359p-380614c.html

http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2006/09/14/town_car_soon_t.php

[STLR FN]

Seems Ford will not make them after next year.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/452359p-380614c.html

http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2006/09/14/town_car_soon_t.php (http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2006/09/14/town_car_soon_t.php[/quote) All good things must come to an end.

[Mad4Macs]

All good things must come to an end.

Except the Mustang :D

[STLR FN]

Asposted on Fords Employee site:

Lincoln will continue offering the Lincoln Town Car to meet ongoing demand. After assembly ends at Ford’s Wixom (Mich.) Assembly Plant in 2007, Ford intends to move Town Car production to Ford’s St. Thomas (Ontario, Canada) Assembly Plant. St. Thomas will be reduced to one shift of production, as previously was announced.

[cyclopsram]

I heard that the Town Car would live on.. CNBC this morning.. and that the Fairlane would come to life...

[jerrym3]

The real question is will Ford live on?

[whd507]

not if beancounters continue to control new vehicle development.

accountants are great in their appropriate role of keeping the dreamers in line, but when they run a company, it always goes in the toilet.

walmart and autozone are current examples of this phenomenon

[MdnightMarauder]

Thats a stupid idea if they do get rid of the towncar. Thats lincoln's best selling car. How many towncar's do you see on the road? I see a ton!

[Directedby]

Found this in Autoweek...

Ford Crown Victoria, Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis

The fate of the ancient Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis is becoming clearer.

Suppliers are working on some chassis upgrades for the 2009 model year, although cosmetic changes are expected to be limited to a freshening. Ford has told the Canadian Auto Workers that it will invest $200 million in the vehicles, which are assembled in St. Thomas, Ontario. The vehicles date back to 1978.

Ford also has told the CAW that it will reduce production at the plant to one shift beginning in the 2007 calendar year and that the Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis will be phased out somewhere in the 2010 to 2012 time frame. In the meantime, expect the bulk of Crown Victoria sales to continue to be police cars and taxicabs.

The platform is shared with the Lincoln Town Car. Lincoln's sedan likely will be dropped in the 2007 calendar year when Ford idles the Wixom, Mich., assembly plant, where it is produced. Ford has told the CAW that it will not move the Town Car to St. Thomas once Wixom closes. It is unlikely that production of the Town Car would be moved to any other plant.




Asposted on Fords Employee site:

Lincoln will continue offering the Lincoln Town Car to meet ongoing demand. After assembly ends at Ford’s Wixom (Mich.) Assembly Plant in 2007, Ford intends to move Town Car production to Ford’s St. Thomas (Ontario, Canada) Assembly Plant. St. Thomas will be reduced to one shift of production, as previously was announced.

[the_pack_rat]

Maybe they need to try something retro like other cars have.

Combine some traits & touches of the 1980 - 1989 body & the 1990 - 1997 bodies that people loved so much, with todays technological advancements in power - handling & gadgets .....

And make a limited production Town Car called with an "HRL" (Hot Rod Lincoln) option package with a S/C 5.4(or larger) engine. No false expectations of selling close to 18K a year like they did with the MM ... put a 5000 unit per year cap on production from day 1, which should also have some effect of creating a buzz or rush to go out & buy one ... before all 5000 units for the year have been spoken for. This should also help being able to sell them closer to MSRP as well, & not having to resort to giving them away ... for way under sticker.

Approach the right people in the know in regards to television & movies ..... and offer up a couple of these limited edition TC's free of charge for their use in a hit TV show or movie that's guarenteed to be a big hit, in which the car is a big part of the story(get the car some EXPOSURE). Think General Lee - Dukes of Hazzard, Trans Am - Smokey & The Bandit - Eleanor - Gone in 60 Seconds, etc etc etc.

And yes, there are plenty that won't care about a car like this .....

Not everyone that drives a car, is a car buff or could even point out an anti-sway bar or tell you what an alternator does, but you can still reel in a few sales here & there ... even from those types of people. IMHO, the world we live in today is chock full of "followers" that want to appear to "fit in" at no cost. For most of those ... it's all about the media & who/what's hot & what's not.

Example(I'll use someone mentioned here often) -

Give someone like Jack Bauer of the TV series 24 one of these cars to tool around in on the show, making sure the car itself gets a fair share of air time hauling ass & whipping around curves & such ..... & there will be people, car buffs or not that live & breathe Jack Bauer & 24 365 days a year .... that will head over to their local Lincoln dealer & drive home with one just BECAUSE it's a cool car cause' Jack Bauer drives one. :rolleyes:

Not the best person to sell one of these to ... but nevertheless it would be a $ale.

Don't forget the TV & radio commericals where the song "Hot Rod Lincoln" is a big part of the advertisement.

Of course' ..... most limo builders would not have any use for a high performace version so .....

They can stick with the butt-ugly 1998+ bodied car & regular SOHC 4.6.

( SLAP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Oops ...

Back to reality ....

It'll never happen.

:o

[RCSignals]

Found this in Autoweek...

Ford Crown Victoria, Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis

The fate of the ancient Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis is becoming clearer.

Suppliers are working on some chassis upgrades for the 2009 model year, although cosmetic changes are expected to be limited to a freshening. Ford has told the Canadian Auto Workers that it will invest $200 million in the vehicles, which are assembled in St. Thomas, Ontario. The vehicles date back to 1978.

Ford also has told the CAW that it will reduce production at the plant to one shift beginning in the 2007 calendar year and that the Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis will be phased out somewhere in the 2010 to 2012 time frame. In the meantime, expect the bulk of Crown Victoria sales to continue to be police cars and taxicabs.

The platform is shared with the Lincoln Town Car. Lincoln's sedan likely will be dropped in the 2007 calendar year when Ford idles the Wixom, Mich., assembly plant, where it is produced. Ford has told the CAW that it will not move the Town Car to St. Thomas once Wixom closes. It is unlikely that production of the Town Car would be moved to any other plant.

There really isn't much new in that.
Other indications are, on the Police Interceptor front anyway, that the car will continue beyond 2012.

I love when they robotically state the car dates back to 1978. The 'platform name' might, but there is little if any resemblance between a current 'panther' and a 1978 'panther' They may as well say it dates back to 1957!

they also make it sound like "some chassis upgrades for the 2009 model year" are the first since 1978. Complete crap info, usually Autoweek is better than that.

[RCSignals]

Asposted on Fords Employee site:

Lincoln will continue offering the Lincoln Town Car to meet ongoing demand. After assembly ends at Ford’s Wixom (Mich.) Assembly Plant in 2007, Ford intends to move Town Car production to Ford’s St. Thomas (Ontario, Canada) Assembly Plant. St. Thomas will be reduced to one shift of production, as previously was announced.

So, the Town Car isn't dead, it's just dead at Wixom.

For larger limo use, Ford uses a truck frame anyway, so there is no reason to expect an end to livery Town Cars.

[STLR FN]

Found this in Autoweek...

Ford Crown Victoria, Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis

The fate of the ancient Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis is becoming clearer.

Suppliers are working on some chassis upgrades for the 2009 model year, although cosmetic changes are expected to be limited to a freshening. Ford has told the Canadian Auto Workers that it will invest $200 million in the vehicles, which are assembled in St. Thomas, Ontario. The vehicles date back to 1978.

Ford also has told the CAW that it will reduce production at the plant to one shift beginning in the 2007 calendar year and that the Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis will be phased out somewhere in the 2010 to 2012 time frame. In the meantime, expect the bulk of Crown Victoria sales to continue to be police cars and taxicabs.

The platform is shared with the Lincoln Town Car. Lincoln's sedan likely will be dropped in the 2007 calendar year when Ford idles the Wixom, Mich., assembly plant, where it is produced. Ford has told the CAW that it will not move the Town Car to St. Thomas once Wixom closes. It is unlikely that production of the Town Car would be moved to any other plant.That is old news. Here in Detroit all the news channels broadcasted The 7am web cast of the announcement at 9am. Fields stated that the TC will move to St Thomas.

This is an excerpt from our employee web site.


Product-Led Turnaround
70 percent of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury products by volume will be new or significantly upgraded from today through the end of 2008. The new lineup builds on Ford’s strength as America’s truck leader while expanding in growth segments, such as crossovers.
Ford will introduce an all-new full-size crossover based on the Ford Fairlane concept. The seven-passenger vehicle for modern families goes on sale in 2008 and will be produced at Ford’s Oakville (Ontario, Canada) Assembly Plant.
Ford will continue to lead the American truck market with a new Super Duty pickup confirmed to go on sale in early 2007 and an all-new F-150 pickup confirmed to go on sale in 2008. The vehicles boast powertrain, design and feature upgrades.
Ford will continue to lead America’s sports car market with new Mustang derivatives each year.
The new Lincoln MKS flagship sedan will go on sale in 2008 – packed with more technology and features than any prior Lincoln, including all-wheel drive. Current plans are to produce the vehicle at the company’s Chicago Assembly Plant.
Lincoln will continue offering the Lincoln Town Car to meet ongoing demand. After assembly ends at Ford’s Wixom (Mich.) Assembly Plant in 2007, Ford intends to move Town Car production to Ford’s St. Thomas (Ontario, Canada) Assembly Plant. St. Thomas will be reduced to one shift of production, as previously was announced.
Product development work is intensifying through 2008 on creating new small cars and even more crossovers that will go on sale in the future. These vehicles will be based on the company’s global vehicle architectures, including “B” and “C” platforms not presently used in North America.
Major investments continue in new gasoline, flexible-fuel, diesel, hydrogen and hybrid powertrains, including additional E-85 ethanol-powered and hybrid vehicles on the road by the end of 2008. In addition, two out of every three Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles will be offered with fuel-saving 6-speed transmission technology by the end of 2008.
The new products and a voluntary consolidation of the Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealer network are designed to significantly improve the dealers’ through-put and profitability by the end of 2008.

[mr.continental]

I wonder if they'll rename it the MKTC to commemorate the move.



:eek: Oh I hope no big shots at Ford just read that.

[STLR FN]

I wonder if they'll rename it the MKTC to commemorate the move.



:eek: Oh I hope no big shots at Ford just read that.You need to be shot if they do name it that.:uzi: