Update, strategy, and a no-no for Lincoln

I am still working on my vehicle lineup posts. March has just been an unfortunately hella busy month. First will come the Ford lineup, followed shortly by Mercury, and then Lincoln. As a preview, here's how I see each brand fitting into the USDM landscape:

Ford

The brand is the volume lineup with the broadest reach within the FoMoCo family. Everything from entry-level economy subcompacts to full-size sedans with luxury pretensions to legitimate sports cars to large trucks and SUVs. Styling would be a hybrid of the current "Bold" flavor and the European "kinetic" design language, with a version of the current grille evolved into more of a narrow billet-style, like this one. While there will be some specific comparisons among specific vehicles, generally Ford would be positioned against Chevrolet, Dodge, Honda, Jeep, Nissan, Toyota, and other mainstream brands.

Mercury

Mercury is being positioned as a combination entry-lux brand and a European competitor. The lineup is obviously not as comprehensive as that of Ford, but it does cover the high volume market segments with vehicles that aspire towards the higher-end of the segment, with sportier, European pretensions. Styling would mainly incorporate the "Kinetic" design language, with waterfall grilles, HID headlights, LED taillights, and other minor tweaks to fit the USDM. As with Ford, certain vehicles would be targeted at specific competitors, but generally the brand would be positioned against Saturn, Volkswagen, Saab, Acura, Buick, Chrysler, and other near-luxury brands.

Lincoln

Lincoln is the moon-shot brand, the aspirational brand that will be aimed at the best in the world. Styling would incorporate the current design language of the split grille with a chiseled, look more consistent with the current "Bold" design language. Luxury cues would obviously abound, including HID/LED headlights, thin, wide LED taillight clusters, etc. Lincoln would be aimed at the best brands, including Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Infiniti, Jaguar, Lexus, Mercedes, etc. As with Cadillac, it is expected that pricing against competing vehicles would be likely 10 to 15 percent lower, due to the ability to amortize platform and powertrain costs across several vehicle lineups.

In any respect, the lineup posts should be coming soon. One Lincoln vehicle that will have no place in my lineup is this:Lincoln is envisioning the MKT, which would be based on the Ford Flex (which is another vehicle I want no part of) as their competitor to Buick's Enclave. I have two issues with this. First, the MKX is already in place for this...and to enlarge it to add a third row would help to differentiate it from the Edge. Besides, with its new Limited package, the Edge treads very closely to the current MKX. But more importantly, THIS THING IS FREAKING UGLY!! Pontiac Aztek ugly!! This vehicle has no future in my world, and even if Ford did move forward with it, there's no way it's going to sell in any quantity, with looks like these!

Posts coming soon!