With the demise of Mercury, Ford can now concentrate on Lincoln.
What does Lincoln need? Variety.
Today's Lincoln essentially comes in two flavors -- four-door sedans and crossovers/utilities. That's it. No sporty cars here -- no coupes, no convertibles.
That sure limits the buyer base.
From this writer's perspective, a luxury buyer wants what everybody else wants: Choices. Take a look at Mercedes-Benz's successful C class family. How do you want your C class -- sedan, coupe, convertible, wagon? Take a look at the E class family. Ditto for BMW.
Of course, these cars have a global buying base that makes the business case for a wide ranging model line, right?
Not exactly.
Cadillac's primary sales are in North America. Yet Cadillac is heading in the right direction with the CTS family -- a sedan, wagon, and later this year, a sleek coupe. Next year Cadillac adds the compact rear-drive ATS, a model line that will be composed of a sedan, coupe and possibly a convertible (I hear). I think this is a winning formula to boost Cadillac's overall sales.
To my friends in Dearborn, here's my advice. When Lincoln's redesigns arrive in the next few years, offer some coupes and add a convertible.
