mmarshall

You just proved my point.....you can't sell what you don't PRODUCE. The reason WHY you haven't seen many newer Town cars is that when the MKS debuted, Town Car availability, like the Grand Marquis, became restricted to fleet buyers and special-orders, despite the fact that the car was selling well and there was no need for restrictions....it was very popular as it was, despite the fact that there was no AWD option like on the MKS. And, to boot, the MKS's first-year reliability record, according to Consumer Reports, has been poor......notably worse then that of the Town Car.

Mercury accomplished only one thing by restricting the supply of new Town Cars.......driving up demand for, and the price of USED ones.

Despite the good press that the new LaCrosse is getting, I'm afraid that Buick is going to screw up too, if they drop the Lucerne or restrict its sales, currently their most traditional product (and quite popular).

IS-SV

Aviator had different engine, front suspension parts, steering parts than both the Explorer and Mountaineer and was more capable in terms of acceleration, handling and steering, (fuel economy sucked). It was a pretty nice truck but most people viewed it as an overpriced Explorer. I think the doors and roof were the only shared body parts.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

No softer suspension and more sound deadening on a Aviator than a Explorer?
I can swear I heard or read that the Aviator did have those two items.
I never liked the exterior styling of the Mountaineer.

IS-SV

Yes Aviator had more sound deadening and more sophisticated suspension and steering parts and tuning for better ride/handling combo. I've read about it and I've driven it, nice truck.

Sweet engine too, not fuel efficient.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

It was a very nice truck.Never drove one,though.
Owned a '05 Explorer.

IS-SV

Honestly I was disappointed when they dropped the Aviator, but the typical buyer of SUVs was not sophisticated enough to appreciate it and the price was too high. The MKZ/X or whatever the alphabet soup version of the Edge SUV has sold poorly too, so much for skilled product marketing.

mmarshall

I don't know if you will agree with me on this or not, but, to me, the Aviator flopped because, while a nice luxury SUV in terms of trim and equipment, it appeared to be, style-wise, a strongly downsized Navigator for only slightly less money......in other words, overpriced for what it delivered.

IS-SV

Actually we are pretty close on why it failed, no doubt it did fail.

Here's my perspective and others in the industry (it's actually simpler and worse):

To most people the Aviator looked like a badge-engineeried fancy Ford Explorer and didn't seem to be worth the premium pricing.

I mentioned the premium real hardware earlier but the typical buyer could care less. And I think Lincoln regrets using the exact same roof and doors of the Ford Explorer which made it look almost identical to the Ford version.

IS-SV

I hope this isn't the theme with Lincoln (above) because the MKX is selling poorly and probably for the same reason.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

I feel it's gaudy and ugly.
Is there enough taillighting on that vehicle?

The G Man

Back to the subject of dealer's buying experience. I was looking at a MKS last year and I was treated very nice by the Lincoln Mercury dealer. They got me a cup of coffee and let me look around without folllowing me around everywhere, I hate it when they do that. In the end, it takes more than the buying experience to get me to buy a Lincoln.

mmarshall

Well, you got me on that one, at least partially. I knew that the Mountaineer, of course, was derived from the Explorer (the resemblance is obvious). But, now that you mention it, the Aviator, though with a different front end and interior, DOES appear to also have come from the basic Explorer platform. At first, I didn't quite remember it that way.


Aviator:




Mountaineer:



Of course, it makes sense from a marketing standpoint, and, in general, is that way that American companies often work. So, in other words, I knew that the Aviator was the Navigator's little brother, but didn't know it had that much in common with the Explorer/Mountaineer. It looked much more like a mini-Navigator.

IS-SV

Notice the same doors and roof shared with Explorer.

But in short you were right on the most important reason it failed, it was over-priced.