Beginning this fall, Lincoln will join other luxury carmakers in naming its new models with a string of letters instead of actual words, according to a report published in the industry paper Automotive News.
The move is an attempt to bolster the image of the Ford Motor Co. brand in light of declining sales over the last few years, the News reported.
“We think it’s important to build the brand image, so changing to this alpha system really helps put Lincoln more in the spotlight as a brand,” spokeswoman Sara Tatchio told the paper. “It also indicates a certain level of luxury.”
This is one of those occasions when I think there is a surplus of marketing whizbangs on the Lincoln/Ford payroll — who should go out and get an honest job.
Here in Europe Renault did the exact opposite a few years ago….
Yes, too many marketing guys, too little to do… And they get millionaire salaries…
You laugh, but you may be temporarily overlooking how many people in this country will fall for junk like this. There is a generation of people out there who spent their money on pet rocks, by-the-by.
I have driven this. Even tho I AM from Detroit I love this car and I believe many other folks will to.
Is this the inovation Mr. Ford illudes to in Fords latest add campaign.
It’s hard living in Michigan while the American automotive industry flushes itself down the toilet.
It has always amazed me how many cars or trim levels on cars begin with an S and end in X. SVX, STX. SFX etc.
Company research suggested that Lincoln owners identified more with the specific model rather than with Lincoln as a brand, saying they drove a Town Car or a Navigator, the report said. The branding switch is an attempt to put the emphasis on Lincoln.
Funny how this reminds me of Acura. They didn’t like the fact that the “Legend” model-name got more emphasis than the Acura brand-name. So they started using model alpha-numeric model names.
How about the Lincoln P-U?
Harold, maybe they should try SEX and see how that sells. I’m sure the commercials would be good or at least the car would finally have something to do with the advertising. : )
Who used vowelless names first: The car makers or the rappers? Now choose either car or rapper…DMX, DLX, DMC.
I love my Ford Taurus SES. It is nicer then the SE. It is comfortable, quiet, and decent mileage. I don’t think I would have bought it if it was called the Ford SBX SES.
My wife and I refer to our vehicles as “the Ford” and “the van”. I wouldn’t want to refer to either by letters.
Ford has too many marketing managers with too much time on their hands.
Cars, the scourge of civilization. What no one wants to admit is that one, with reasonable care and maintenance the average flivver will last for twenty years or more, and two, should the manufacturers suddenly cease production there would be more cars already sitting on lots than we could use in probably ten years. And what would the manufacturers do if they didn’t build cars? Well, we could use personal sized space ships, hell, I’d buy a space ship a helluva lot quicker than I would a car. That day is coming, the technology is probably closer than we think, and the tragedy is I was born too soon and will probably just miss the window. Damn!