Lincoln Town Car.
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We have not seen a new Lincoln Town Car since 2011, its last year of production.
I just saw one a few days ago in my neighborhood, and it reminded me of a time, not so long ago, when luxury was defined by sedans and coupes, not huge SUVs.
Lincoln sold just 15,264 Navigators last year. Its best year ever was 2005 with 25,844. That same year, the Town Car sold over 47,000 units. Of course, since luxury sedan sales numbers kept going down over the years, and the number slowly crashed to just 9460 in 2011.
I think there is still life in a large American luxury sedan priced below the German competition, like the Town Car was. Of course, the Panther platform is long gone, and adapting the current Mustang platform would probably be very costly.
A new large EV platform would be the only way to revive the Town Car. It would instantly become quieter and more powerful than it has ever been.
No one really knows what Ford is doing with their future EVs, (maybe not even Ford itself). We only know a 2nd generation Mustang Mach-e is still scheduled for the end of next year, and 2 new smaller models are coming later this year. A small pickup and, of course, an SUV. Both are based on a brand-new, simpler EV platform. And they will probably be called “Bronco something”.
A large EV platform for big 3-row SUVS has been delayed. That is probably the only one a new large Lincoln sedan could use.
Cadillac is working on 2 new EV sedans. We are supposed to see these “soon,” as they say. Let’s hope it will push Ford to compete by adding a new sedan to their SUV-only lineup.
As I recently found out, the Town Car still has tons of fans. Of all ages, it seems. It was a super reliable car, and many of them can be bought for around $10,000 or so. Making it a great deal for those looking for a big luxury car that isn’t too old. And then, you start looking at various generations of the Lexus LS (why not). These are also not very expensive and super reliable.
It seems Ford’s EV future is quite a mystery, and Lincoln could suffer from it. The huge and very important Chinese market is hungry for luxurious electric sedans, and Lincoln is just not there. GM is planning new EV sedans for Buick and Cadillac. Meanwhile, we hear nothing about Lincoln.
This is just getting sad…