How is Lincoln still around?

How is Lincoln still viable as a brand? I basically never see any newer ones driving atound. I have been trying to take a mental note of the number of modern Lincolns I have seen over the last 3 days and it has been 2. I have seen the same number of Maseratis, and Alfas and from a few more to way more of about every other luxury brand. Is Lincoln just living on a life line at this point? 

Lincoln has great SUV offerings with the navigator, aviator, and one other that have truly great styling IMO. The sedan category is fairly dead in general but hoping Lincoln starts churning stylish EVs as their next step once ford starts cranking them out.

I see lincoln SUVs everytime I drive around town it seems.

Some of the Lincoln CUV/SUVs are almost indistinguishable from their Ford counterparts and would be easy to miss. I've gotten to the point where I don't recognize very many new vehicles without reading the badge or name plate.

It's a valid question, and I do feel that they are probably not far from the end of the road.   According to sales figures from https://carsalesbase.com/us-lincoln/

they sold a little more than 230,000 units in 1990, sank to a low of just over 80,000 units in 2013, and recently poked back up over 100,000 units in the last few years, which represents well under 1% of the market.  Not sure how Ford can justify their existence, honestly.  They probably just keep them around so they can fool themselves into thinking they are competing with high-end brands.

I agree with the SUV assumption, I see more of whatever their big suv is than the Ford version which is crazy as the Lincoln version runs $100k or so. It is a nice place to be, I sampled one while my truck was having a recall done and man is it nice

Lincoln is just Ford's version of Cadillac.

They show some of the upcoming technology that may or may not filter down the the "basic" brands.

I stopped paying attention when I heard MKX, pronounced emm kay ecks.

MK stands for mark. Lincoln mkVII, mkVIII. Mark 7, Mark 8. Its dumb. Should I now call them emm kay vee eye eye eyes? 

In reply to Appleseed :

That drives me CRAZY!

Appleseed said:

I stopped paying attention when I heard MKX, pronounced emm kay ecks.

MK stands for mark. Lincoln mkVII, mkVIII. Mark 7, Mark 8. Its dumb. Should I now call them emm kay vee eye eye eyes? 

Lincoln executives used the term "em kay zee" for that model and simultaneously with "mark ten". There's no surprise that the public started using "em kay ex" in my mind. If they wanted a consistent nomenclature system they could have done better. I've heard Ford employees using "em kay ex", too.

I can see it as pretty viable going into the future.  Much like Jaguar, they are well positioned for electric cars.  All SUV's (easier for electric), high end (so cost isn't as big an issue) and buyers more likely to have the infrastructure to easily support an electric car (240 in a garage).

Cadillac sales for 2020 were nothing to write home about either. You have to wonder how the math works.....keep 150,000 Cadillacs, but dump Saturn, Pontiac and Oldsmobile, which were largely badge engineered.

Appleseed said:

I stopped paying attention when I heard MKX, pronounced emm kay ecks.

MK stands for mark. Lincoln mkVII, mkVIII. Mark 7, Mark 8. Its dumb. Should I now call them emm kay vee eye eye eyes? 

Funny you mention that. Back when I still worked for the blue oval, Derrick Kuzak (head of global product development) had an employee town hall meeting. This was probably late 2007, early 2008 when Lincoln was switching to this alphanumeric naming. I actually got up and asked him what the logic behind it was. He told me that they were doing it to emphasize the "Lincoln" brand instead of the individual car lines. Needless to say, I thought it was a bad idea then, and it's still a bad idea now.

Fortunately, they seem to be going away from it. All their new SUVs have actual names, like Corsair, Aviator, Navigator, etc.

I kept wondering if Lincoln's "MKT" truck was supposed to be pronounced "Lincoln Market".

I think that they have the best looking lineup, on average, of any of the non-exotic brands. 

I see a bunch of their SUVs around hockey rink parking lots. You're not driving around enough McMansion heavy areas if you don't see them. 

I think the newer Continentals with the door handles in the beltline are pretty cool. Somehave suicide doors, 400hp and AWD. Just that segment of the market is basically dead.

Lincoln has been out of touch for a while now. 

The new luxury car display at Pebble beach in 2016 showed it clearly. Every manufacturer had their best, top tier concept sedan there. Lincoln showed up with a tarted up kid hauler platform.

Good job guys, thanks for coming out.

It’s a mystery to me too. Maybe the cost of “Lincoln-izing” the equivalent Ford is negligible is my only guess.

I like the new Continental looks-wise. But I’ve seen about three of them since they came out.

I actually think they COULD have a really cool lineup if they went full retro with an American mid-century vibe. 

Appleseed said:

I stopped paying attention when I heard MKX, pronounced emm kay ecks.

MK stands for mark. Lincoln mkVII, mkVIII. Mark 7, Mark 8. Its dumb. Should I now call them emm kay vee eye eye eyes? 

I call them Mark Ten, Mark Z, Mark S.

People insist on using "Merc" for Mercedes when it's been used for Mercury since forever.

In reply to ShawnG :

Also drives me CRAZY

I wonder if their relevance is diminishing as their traditional market is aging out of the driving game and just about everybody builds a very well appointed vehicle these days?

In reply to mtn (Forum Supporter) :

I mean my neighborhood has a pretty good mix of Audi/BMW/Range Rover/Lexus. Never see a Lincoln. 

I see a few.  Don't know much about them except I sat in an Aviator recently and it was seriously nice inside.

25 years ago we took a trip to DC and I went to see the Memorial thinking they'd have some cool old 30 & 40s cars................it was just some statue of some guy.  I haven't forgiven Lincoln since.

I see at least 3 or 4 continentals a week in my 7 mile drive to work. Not counting the two our owner has had. He now has the stretch wheelbase anniversary edition with the suicide doors. He got so good a deal on that he bought it on the spot during a business trip and drove it home. 
 

I really like the styling in the Conty, and in the new Aviator and Navigator. It's not attention grabbing but it's very clean, classic, and stylish. The interiors are generally really nice too. If I spent a lot of time on the road that 400 hp AWD Connie would be on my short list. 
 

sales may not be great, but I think they've made a solid effort design wise in the last few years.