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To me - the interior is very cheap also in addition to the FWD chassis.
The dash is straight out of Fusion/Taurus with a tiny screen and cheap plastics. The seats were the only unique high quality part.
The new Navigator and Aviator in Black Label trim do have very high quality interiors.
They don't look anything alike, the Continental is much nicer and looks like a luxury car.
^^^ I'm not impressed at all with that video. First of all, it doesn't agree with my own experience while looking at and test-driving several of the newer Lincolns. Second, the guy, to me, sounds like a jerk.....he's deliberately trying to make fun of the vehicle, looking for things (or creating things) that may or may not actually exist. Third, I certainly would not choose a new vehicle based on his comments.
I like the guy, his attitude is like that in all his videos, including the ones with the Mercedes he owns. However, even if you disregard his opinions and one-off findings, Ford and Lincoln's numerous QC issues with the Explorer and Aviator as of late demonstrate that they are far far away from the out-the-factory quality of other brands, nevermind premium ones:
When the issues are so bad that it actually delays production, it's not something that can be ignored. Even Tesla with their recent Model Y issues was never this disastrous of a launch.
Unfortunately for the Continental, it never found its demographic. The old guys who remember the Contis of the old days would definitely want a big RWD sedan with a proper V8. Younger buyers? Their first question is going to be: Continental? What's a Continental?
This version of the storied name fell victim to its Taurus/Fusion roots among other things. This vehicle debuted in 2016 and went on sale in early 2017. That's around the time that Ford's new CEO took over, so this was not his baby at all. Jim Hackett stated pretty quickly after taking over that he was going to make Ford an SUV company. And we now see that he's kept his word on that. So Continental just became part of the housecleaning that he did upon taking over.
But really, Genesis along with the German trio have proven that you can keep big sedans around, price them for their niche and still not worry about making or losing money on them. All those SUV sales just prop them up. In this case Ford management decided that's not good enough.
The Continental never looked right with its FWD proportions.
The concept car was beautiful but Lincoln went the cheap route instead of developing a true luxury RWD platform.
Definitely sad state of affairs for American sedans.
You talk as if the concept was shown in 2015 and then the Continental was developed or designed from there on out. Most certainly not what happened. The concept was given bigger proportions to look grand on center stage and be life of the party in NYC.
In reality vehicle D544 was developed as the 2016 Lincoln MKS, since late 2010, based on the new CD4 FWD platform debuting on upcoming Fusion redesign and 2013 MKZ in October 2012. Taurus and MKS would move to a longer version of CD4 platform, replacing old D3 platform sedans (Volvo P2 basis).
Come 2012-2013, most of the final design decisions were being made for both the new CD4 platform Taurus equivalent and MKS, under Lincoln director Max Wolff.
I was not a blue oval engineer then, but I very much know the story behind this vehicle, D544.
D536 Taurus failed US consumer clinics in spring 2013 and redesign was canceled for the USA. Became a China only vehicle as a consequence (Job 1 Nov 2015, Jan 2016 intro), while old D3 basis (Volvo P2 offshoot-1998) Taurus soldiered on through 2019. That wasn't supposed to happen though.
D544 Lincoln became a vanity project for Mark Fields as soon as he expected to ascend top office and reworked this car heavily, including changing the whole brand nomenclature. The whole Lincoln brand became his vision of renaissance and got billions of dollars in capital investment in 2014, right after he became CEO and immediately ordered modular CD6 to fit both front wheel drive and rear-wheel drive vehicles.
The dismissal of Mark Fields was a setback for Lincoln sedans and Ford brand full lineup.
The 2017 Continental was nothing more than the intended vision for the 2016 MKS, mixed with latestage aspirations and delays to liven it up to live up to the Continental nameplate. This was a placeholder flagship, because there was more to come.
Originally Posted by UDel
That is sad. Lincoln was once a respected luxury brand with a respected name and now it is reduced to only selling fancy vehicles based on Ford pickups and SUV's, totally different from its foundation and tradition. Considering how mostly good the Continental was based on a FWD platform with only a 3.0tt V6 it could have been a dominant vehicle if not game changer if given a RWD platform and V8 options. While it was no run away success, it managed pretty decent sales for a Lincoln sedan. It is one of the few American sedans over the past 10 years that I like and would choose over several German and Japanese luxury sedans. Like many luxury products they got the pricing wrong, it was priced way too high for the ones people wanted, the 400hp loaded Black Label ones which were well above 70K in price which means people went to other brands when they saw that price.
I wouldn't say that a V8 was ever coming, but there were GREAT plans for Lincoln sedans in the 2020s back in 2015-16. Look up the model code CD714 (and CD622). If you ever find out what that vehicle was going to be, you'll be very disappointed at what happened to it. Would have been good enough to be a presidential limousine.
Continental was nouveau MKS, not particularly designed from the beginning as a Continental. It was approved as the final design before the concept was ever shown in 2015, but RWD CD6 just wasn't ready yet. A redesign in 2023 would have corrected that and left its front wheel drive era behind.
Originally Posted by RNM GS3
To me - the interior is very cheap also in addition to the FWD chassis. The dash is straight out of Fusion/Taurus with a tiny screen and cheap plastics. The seats were the only unique high quality part.
The new Navigator and Aviator in Black Label trim do have very high quality interiors.
That's just reaching and rather biased. And secondly, since you're probably US based, I imagine you have the wrong Taurus. D3 FWD platform USDM Taurus shares 0% with this car. But I wouldn't be surprised if you were quick to go after what I said above and claim you referring to the Chinese market car.
Originally Posted by UDel
They don't look anything alike, the Continental is much nicer and looks like a luxury car.
Exactly, it's just reaching. Owning many generations of flagship luxury and ultra-luxury sedans in my family and currently driving an M760i as my sole luxury (non sports) vehicle, I wouldn't say that the Continental has a horrible interior.
I have compared both the MKZ and midspec Continental, and couldn't wait to run back to Continental. Hated MKZ. Interior scent of Continental reminded me of my father's oldest Jaguar XJ when new back in 2000.
Originally Posted by MattyG
Unfortunately for the Continental, it never found its demographic. The old guys who remember the Contis of the old days would definitely want a big RWD sedan with a proper V8. Younger buyers? Their first question is going to be: Continental? What's a Continental?
This version of the storied name fell victim to its Taurus/Fusion roots among other things. This vehicle debuted in 2016 and went on sale in early 2017. That's around the time that Ford's new CEO took over, so this was not his baby at all. Jim Hackett stated pretty quickly after taking over that he was going to make Ford an SUV company. And we now see that he's kept his word on that. So Continental just became part of the housecleaning that he did upon taking over.
But really, Genesis along with the German trio have proven that you can keep big sedans around, price them for their niche and still not worry about making or losing money on them. All those SUV sales just prop them up. In this case Ford management decided that's not good enough.
Which Taurus are you referring to in terms of "roots"? I hope people are up-to-date on their Ford knowledge, because 2 different Taurus sedans exist.😏
I'm not going to get into company politics, but you would be wrong about the timeline for the D544 called Continental. I recall that this vehicle was launched in June 2016 after the concept was shown at NYIAS in April 2015. It was not launched in early 2017, because if that much extra time was permitted, a lot more could have gone into this car to make it more special. It was already delayed from original launch date in 2015 as the 2016 MKS flagship.
The Continental was only the beginning for the Lincoln brand in terms of the sedan department and not just SUVs. Billions earmarked. It all hit a rock wall in 2017, where so many model programs for Lincoln were killed. Ditto for Ford sedans.
All of what I am saying is fact, but people can believe what they want of course.
The Continental is based on Ford platform also used for Taurus and Fusion.
The interior share numerous parts. Look at the center console and Gauge cluster which is Identical!
The fact that it was originally planned as MKS and not Continental makes even more sense. They were looking to capture the momentum from the concept car and instead rolled out a turd for production and then have the audacity to wonder why nobody bought it? 😂 I remember I built one online and it was like $80k fully loaded with AWD etc - complete joke.
All of what I am saying is fact, but people can believe what they want of course.
Perhaps you should have jumped into the Lincoln Continental threads earlier to correct the misinformation. Doesn't serve any purpose at this point does it? The vehicle is cancelled.
The Continental is based on Ford platform also used for Taurus and Fusion.
The interior share numerous parts. Look at the center console and Gauge cluster which is Identical!
The fact that it was originally planned as MKS and not Continental makes even more sense. They were looking to capture the momentum from the concept car and instead rolled out a turd for production and then have the audacity to wonder why nobody bought it? 😂 I remember I built one online and it was like $80k fully loaded with AWD etc - complete joke.
That's fine, clearly you're well aware of the "cop Taurus" not being related to this and have it 100% right. Yes, the international Taurus is very much the Continental (neé MKS) and that I definitely would not disagree with, as that's what you're saying. The Continental interior is not that bad though.
2016-2020 D544 Lincoln Continental Black Label (Finalized 2013-14)
2015 Lincoln Continental Concept (Developed 2014-15)
2016-20 D544 Continental Black Label (Finalized 2013-14)
2015 Lincoln Continental Concept
2016-20 D544 Continental BL Rear 3/4
2015 Lincoln Continental Concept (RWD Proportions)
2015 Lincoln Continental Concept Rear (Wide Stance)
2015 Lincoln Continental Concept (Wider Track)
The earliest spy shots of the international Taurus were mistaken for the facelifted 2017 Fusion (CD391 MCA-1), ironic within itself. Anyway more importantly, it was a dumb desperate mistake to make by desperate Mark Fields, since nothing unibody and rear-wheel drive would exist outside of a Mustang until 2019.
Many people there before me, called it back in early 2015 (before concept) and said they should not rename the MKS as Continental. That the nameplate should have been saved for the Lincoln flagship sedan that would have launched in September of this year.
Well this is the problem I have with a lot of companies doing a bait and switch. Subaru infamously did this with the 2013 WRX concept, knowing very well they had already designed the production model many months earlier and it would look nothing like that by the time it entered production in 2014.
Ditto for Acura with the Type-S concept, although to a less offensive degree. It is so ill-advised to spice up a pre-production vehicle and show it as a concept, for five minutes of fame without a disclaimer.
The LF-LC was a really unique unicorn, that was engineered around the design for production. They didn't just tack on glitzier panels and a bigger stance to show it off 5 minutes before release. Ditto for 2016 NSX and original Audi R8. I digress.
More damn annoying EV & CUV revolution negatively affecting other segments/ICE, versus supplementing them with a new way to travel/commute, killed a roster of rear wheel drive CD6 platform Ford and Lincoln cars.
Town Car unibody replacement would have gone into production last week Wednesday for September 2020 launch and start around $75,000. CD714 program Flagship Sedan aka "Town Car", has been indefinitely suspended since 2017 in favor of BEVs, and utilities just like 300B Lexus GS.
Many are so quick to criticize the brand, not knowing what was coming until a change in leadership ended it all.
Note: I did learn on Tuesday that Continental production ends October 30, 2020 ahead of factory production changeover to the 2021 model year Mustang refresh the following Nov. Monday. The latter of course goes on sale in January and Mach 1 Stang follows in the spring. There is no Continental replacement in the works.
Originally Posted by MattyG
Perhaps you should have jumped into the Lincoln Continental threads earlier to correct the misinformation. Doesn't serve any purpose at this point does it? The vehicle is cancelled.
That's quite silly, considering that it's not my job to do that anyway. Google exists doesn't it? Most people have it right and thus don't need the correction.
I don't really live on this website, so I'm often tardy to the party.🙃 I'm just here to clear up any inconsistencies, which can be expected to be held by those who own premium exports and do not have the time to know more about Lincoln and its struggles. Time is money of course.
An understatement if anything. IMO, the Continental interior was an enormous advance over the MKS, both in plushness and material-quality. Some of the new Lincoln SUVs debuting after the Continental brought even better improvements in interior quality.
Many people there before me, called it back in early 2015 (before concept) and said they should not rename the MKS as Continental. That the nameplate should have been saved for the Lincoln flagship sedan that would have launched in September of this year.
Here on this forum (and on other forums here in the U.S.), the general line of thinking was that Lincoln should dump the archaic and confusing alphabet-soup of naming everything MK(*) and go back to simple word-names. I don't think the Continental failed because of the name-change...or because it was done on a FWD/AWD Taurus platform. Heck, the RWD/AWD Cadillac CT6 didn't do any better. No, both cars failed because large sedans simply went out of favor in the U.S. in favor of crossovers.
In response to you above, I don't really feel it truly did fail. And I never did say it has to do with nameplate (ha).
It simply failed the expectations of those in charge, an adamant desire for immense profit margin on lesser CD4 sedans, phasing out of CD4 platform, and unwillingness to develop a RWD replacement in the midst of BEV craze.
New Continental 5-year development was supposed to begin in 2018 and such a thing has not been underway by request of you-know-who. Nor did he want to commit to a mid-cycle facelift for 2021.
That's quite silly, considering that it's not my job to do that anyway. Google exists doesn't it? Most people have it right and thus don't need the correction. I don't really live on this website, so I'm often tardy to the party.🙃 I'm just here to clear up any inconsistencies, which can be expected to be held by those who own premium exports and do not have the time to know more about Lincoln and its struggles. Time is money of course.
Sure. Seems a common pattern of these posts, but perhaps it's for the sake of posterity. My point as seen in my previous posts about the Continental was that it was fwd/transverse engine and in the segment that it tried to participate in, that was going to be a tough sell. Doesn't matter which international platform it came from, at this point... nobody cares. Seems it is you job apparently.
I liked this latest Continental. The exterior design is interesting and I liked the interior. The themes Lincoln was using was refreshing to see. The door handles was a nice touch. It is quite essential an “American sedan” and that is fine. The reverse opening Coach doors was a wild thing to do......so production moves to China for the Chinese market....
No surprise, and no loss. Lincoln clearly is focusing much more on utilities and it shows, the Navigator and Aviator are excellent, this Continental was a car that could have been excellent, but wasn't. Even livery services never adopted it, most of which having moved to large utilities already.
07-05-20, 03:29 PM
