LexFather

Lincoln. WardsAuto.com sent out an email this morning touting the positive sales performance of the Lincoln MKX SUV crossover. The only problem is that they called it the MDX, Acura's name for its crossover (the actual article had the name right). As an alert reader pointed out, "If there was ever proof-positive that the current Lincoln naming strategy is an unmitigated disaster, this is it. One of the leading automotive publishers confusing the name of the Lincoln with that of an Acura - in an article intended to congratulate Lincoln for doing fairly well these days - simply speaks volumes." Amen to that. The Lincoln naming "strategy" is a joke, but since nobody's home in Dearborn, it's an issue that will never be addressed, apparently.

http://www.autoextremist.com/page6.shtml

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

MXK is hard to remember. Its a name that will be forgotten in a few years

juniorEXE

agreed the kmx will be forgotten soon

encore888

Just like Acura IMO, Lincoln should have stuck with actual names for their vehicles. They were more memorable, had heritage; the new 3-letter stuff smacks of me-too ism.

LexFather

I agree, both should have kept the names, its not like using these random letters changes the product.

AM1

iTrader: (6)

how did sonmeone make a mistake like that?

Iceman

I remember a thread back when the MKX was announced regarding a lawsuit from Honda due to expected confusion with the MDX. Here's the proof, apparently, that Honda was correct.

If there truly is confusion in the marketplace, which model do you think stands to lose the most? The well-established, highly-regarded MDX or the unknown MKX?

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

On the inside cover of this week's *AutoWeek* they reference their article on the LS460h.

In the article it's the LS600h of course.

mmarshall

They're just following arch-rival Cadillac, who basically does that same 3-letter nonsense.

mmarshall

I have to disagree, Iceman. IMO, that was a friviolus lawsuit. Today's auto market, just from the sheer number of vehicles......and list of associated names.....is so complex that even dedicated car people like us, who discuss cars around the clock, sometimes get them mixed up. So, little wonder that other automotive sources do as well. That is just going to happen sometimes. It is not Honda's fault, Lincoln's fault, or anyone else's.

However, the tendency to use numbers or letter-number combinations, I agree, is just making an already bad problem worse.

geko29

I understand why Acura did it. I don't agree, but I understand. They did studies that found out that people knew the names Legend, Integra, etc, but the vast majority didn't know that those models were Acuras. The brand was devalued as a result. So they purposely obfuscated the names to increase the knowledge and cachet of their brand.

Cadillac and Lincoln, on the other hand, everybody already knew. A lot of people couldn't tell the difference between the Seville (now STS) and the Deville (now DTS), but they were instantly recognizable as Caddys. Likewise to a lesser extent with the Towncar and Continental. A casual observer could easily mistake one for the other, but they'd never think it was a Mercury or a Cadillac. There was no excuse for either of them to switch, except for enigma's me-too-ism.

Lexmex

The name doesn't confuse me, but I have a hard time remembering those 3 initials of that Lincoln.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

they changed the names to be "more like" the luxury car industry naming convention of short combinations of letters and numbers rather than have actual names

LexFather

While it makes "sense' as other luxury carmakers do it, quite frankly it was too late.
On top of that NON-LUXURY car makers don't even use names anymore or slap numbers on their car.
Mazda, 3, 6, 9, 0394, 007, 2909039020,
Nissan Altima 2.5, 3.5, Murano 3.5
Pontiac G4, G6, G8...
Scion tC, xB, xA

What the hell happened to using a good ole name????

marshmallo

MKWHat?

Never heard of it.