Future Lincoln & Cadillac sedans.
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Back in 2012, the Tesla Model S shook the luxury sedan world. And by 2017, it was outselling the Mercedes S-Class in the US.
In 2021, the Lucid Air came out. Again, shaking things up with a fantastic design and amazing range.
Lincoln has had nothing like a true luxury sedan since the death of the Town Car. Which wasn’t really taken seriously as a true luxury sedan anyway. Later the “new Continental” was never popular and looked pretty horrible inside and out, I hate to say…
Cadillac did have the wonderful CT6 but canceled it. A typical GM move.
But so far, there is no competition to the Tesla Model S or Lucid Air from the US. A sad state of affairs since the US is also the home of Cadillac and Lincoln. Both of these should be competing in the luxury EV sedan segment. We already know that 2 new EV sedans are coming from Cadillac. One of these should be a direct competitor to the Tesla Model S and Lucid Air. But we’ve heard nothing from Lincoln. Only that they are scheduled to get a version of Ford’s 3-row EV SUV, now coming in 2026 or 2027. But it seems no sedans are in the works. At least that we know of.
Lincoln does sell the Zephyr sedan in China. As a gas or hybrid model. Sedans are still much more popular in China than in the US and that could be a reason for Lincoln to develop a new luxury EV sedan.
What we basically need here is a very modern EV version of a Cadillac Deville and Lincoln Continental. Something really good that could compete with the Lucid Air or Mercedes EQS.
What would be wrong with that?
the illustrations above show what these sedans could look like…
Thanks for sharing. I’m a huge fan of Lincoln, or what it could be. Lots of potential there. They have the RWD CD6 platform under the Aviator which would be great to build a sedan off of. I wish the Nautilus was on it.
There actually is competition to the Tesla Model S and Lucid Air from the US. Each other. Since they’re both made in the US by US car companies.
The Model S is now aging and sales are in decline. Lucid’s extreme pricing guarantees minimal sales volume. When Lincoln sold the iconic Continental, there was a strong market in the U.S. for luxury sedans. That has now dwindled. So the business case for developing new luxury EVs as sedans is very weak.
I agree with you, we do need some really cool sedans from Lincoln and Cadillac. I completely disagreed with GM and Ford’s decisions to discontinue sedans a few years ago. I also rejected their reasons for their actions by them saying Americans are no longer buying sedans anymore. That’s just not true, look around our streets and highways, there are sedans everywhere albeit they are all from foreign manufacturers. The true may be we aren’t buying American sedans, of course it’s difficult to buy something that’s not being built. I’m holding out that we will see some American sedans in the EV platform, but from what I read, EV product is down due to low sales. In any event, Detroit could be investing in better sedans that can compete with the foreign sedans. Yes it’s that same issue from before when our sedans were legacy remains from our past. I believe there are enough guys out there that would love to be driving a new Lincoln Continental, or Cadillac deville or better yet a state of the art Chrysler Imperial, wouldn’t that be nice. Something needs to change pretty soon because I can’t be the only one that’s sick to death of SUVs everywhere we look. Our US auto industry once owned 70% of the global automotive market. I say we do that again. I would submit that discontinuing sedans is not a good business strategy if you are an automotive manufacturer. There’s no reason the Big Three cannot dominate the automotive market again, even if it’s just in the US market. How do we shake things up in Detroit. It’s what America wants.
And by the way, the Lincoln Town Car was very much regarded as a true luxury car. It might not look that way because they sold so many of them. Back in the 90s, I made regular business trips to New York. To my surprise the streets were filled with black Lincoln Town Cars being used as upscale taxis, maybe that made them less exclusive as a luxury car, but then again it’s proof of how great the Lincoln Town Car really was. I’ve owned a few over the years and I found them to be excellent cars across the board. Try to find one on the used market, they are few and far between, and if you should find one you will pay a premium for it. Another testament of how great those Town Cars.
Why is car makers selling cars in China instead of here in the US.
There’s absolutely NOTHING that is keeping Ford (Lincoln) and GM (Cadillac) from producing cars with these kind of stunning designs, with or without BEV propulsion. So the question is: what are they waiting for? But, instead, they’ll tease a beautiful design like this, then wrap it around the hard points of something current that completely obliterates the aesthetic. Its because they’re A. cheap B. lazy C. have no conviction in what they produce. They absolutely could own the US market. Laws favor them. But you’d never know it because they have absolute c*@p toadie leadership – especially Ford. Chrysler gets a pass because they’ve been decimated by foreign owners. First, Diamler, then Fiat, now PCA. Those sales should never have been approved. And if they can’t figure out how to produce a decent hybrid system, they should be licensing technology. If they can’t figure out how to make their BEVs better, they should again be talking to a company like Lucid, about licensing their very compact and efficient electric motors. Good leadership doesn’t look at whats good for themselves, they look at how to remove roadblocks for the company to progress. In this respect, Ford is total ****. Its why their products are a decade behind and their cars fall apart. Believe me, we had a fleet of Escapes and Explorers at work that were done at 3 years.
It is unfortunate the ‘big three’ have decided to default to ICE products and retreat from building sedans. As has been mentioned in this thread, it’s due to ineffective and/or poor leadership, as opposed to the capability & capacity to design, produce, and deliver quality products. This is evident when we review the past century of auto manufacturing in the US. As one [of the big three] sparks creativity and introduces new designs, features, technology, or [out right] innovation the other two plagiarize it and incorporate into their styling. Yet, as the 70’s, 90’s, & early 2000’s proved.. the big three began loosing their creativeness to both the Pac Asin and European builders and have found themselves trying to catch up ever since.
The days of Detroit [like the city itself] has come and gone and it’s time to move west to Casa Grande and/or other locations of the US where the new generation of auto builders are producing sedans [among other products] to capture the hearts and minds of us. Like [so] many other US products / industries that faltered and eventually sold out to a competing country, the ICE vehicle will slowly continue a Detroit style decline and it’s competition will increase, all the while the US EV market will increase and the ‘big three’s’ Chiefs will wonder how they can partner with the LUCID’S, Rivian’s, and other EV manufacturers when it is too late. That’s unfortunate!
Great illustrations but the proportions are wrong. Not sure why they insist on low and wide luxury sedans.. they need to be taller and more upright. See RR, Bentley, new 7series, Toyota Crown. Many will be chauffeur driven.
Town Cars were excellent black cars in NYC, super comfortable and lasted forever. The SUVs are not as comfortable.
the fact that American car makers aren’t using the knowledge and capability gained from BEV development in order to create next-level PHEVs and standard hybrids tells me there’s something seriously wrong with the Big Three’s ability to get the job done.
You are right on.
I will bre in line to buy a true full size 5 to 6 passager sandan from any of the big 3.
I try to stay with US companies but all they build now are look alike boxes that are just station wagons.
I loved driving both my Lincoln Continental
And my Cadalec Deville.
Every police car, taxie, was a full size sadan.
GM, Ford. Let’s get back to being the leader.
Remerber when an add for excelence was,
” the Cadalec of the industry”.
Why doesn’t Lincoln bring back the Lincoln town car, like the one from the 70s the 78 Lincoln town car was cold blooded.
Kinda sorta agree, accept that both Lucid and Tesla are both technically American.