Has Ford, Lincoln and Mercury All Lost Their Compass?

Can you cite examples of manufacturers and models that represent good brand authenticity?

I enjoyed your post until it started to stink as a pro-Lincoln article. Maybe you should have titled it as such?

Funny, I didn't read it that way. I saw it more as a guy who is fed up with the companies not having any idea who they are.

There is a certain point there. But I can tell you why I don't like the "Jew Canoe" as my hubby calls the Lincoln. It's too big, too ugly and always been too bucksy. I always felt that in order to drive a Lincoln you had to be a

60+ year old fat, bald guy sucking on a 1.5" thick stogy or his bombshell bimbo being driven around in it.

Lil ol me.

"Just Me "Koi"" wrote in message news:EB3Qc.21951$ snipped-for-privacy@nwrddc03.gnilink.net... | Can you cite examples of manufacturers and models that represent good brand | authenticity? | | I enjoyed your post until it started to stink as a pro-Lincoln article. | Maybe you should have titled it as such? | | -- | _______________________________________ | "The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is | like an eggs-and-ham breakfast: | The chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'." | |

| | "Patrick" wrote in message | news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com... | > Pretty interesting article. I snipped out the other brands he | > discussed (he dissed a lot of others too), so if you want to read the | > whole thing in its entirety check out the Auto Extreme website. | >

| > ---- | > by Peter M. DeLorenzo | >

| > Brand Authenticity - The New Holy Grail of Automotive Marketing. | >

| > Detroit. After suffering through years and years of the various auto | > companies beating the term "DNA" to death when discussing their | > brands, I'm finally seeing a breakthrough of sorts. The concept of | > "brand authenticity" is slowly but surely creeping into the lexicon of | > the car companies' marketing discussions and efforts, and even though | > some companies still don't quite understand it - at least we don't | > have to hear "DNA" used much anymore. | >

| > The reason the concept of "Brand Authenticity" is moving to the | > forefront now is that after years of car companies flat-out | > mismanaging and botching their brands - some even doing it while under | > the banner of brand management - the people charged with the | > stewardship of these car brands have finally begun to see the light | > (even though for some it's still just a faint, pinpoint of fiber-optic | > light at the end of the tunnel). | >

| > That doesn't mean that all of these companies necessarily get it yet, | > by any means, but progress is being made. | >

| > The first step on the road to brand authenticity for a car company, | > any car company, is for the company in question to know and understand | > who they are to begin with. To gain that understanding, a brand has to | > delve into and be aware of its history, as well as take the pulse of | > where they are today - with the key thing being that they are then | > realistic about their standing. | >

| > Obviously, the most authentic brands have hardly, if ever, wavered | > over the years. Sure, the times change, and what's new and what's hot | > might fluctuate, but the great brands, after all is said and done, | > still have the same basic qualities that defined them from the | > beginning. | >

| > Once a car company evaluates its history and assesses its current | > standing in the market, they can ask this single crucial, | > billion-dollar question of themselves: | >

| > 1. Are we closer to our original premise today, or were we closer in a | > previous era? | >

| > In other words, are we more authentic in our current guise - or were | > we better years ago? | >

| > Now, this doesn't imply that a nostalgia exercise wallowing in the | > "good old days" is in order. Not at all. It does mean, however, that | > if a particular brand has lost its way, now is the time to get it | > straightened out and get it back on the right track. | >

| > In the car business today, there are countless examples of brands with | > various degrees of authenticity, from one extreme to another and | > everything in between - from "we haven't got a clue, and we're just | > throwing up anything and everything we can and seeing what sticks" to | > "we know exactly who we are, what we represent, where we want to go - | > and what we need to do to get there - and stay there." | >

| > Obviously, that's a wide spectrum that encompasses everything from | > abject failure to soaring success. | >

| > Examples? Plenty. | >

| > Ford is a flat-out mystery to me. Other than the F-150 truck and the | > Mustang, tell me please, what is Ford? It's clear they don't have much | > of a clue themselves, and if their market share continues to plummet, | > they will be left with a truck, the Mustang and the Focus and nothing | > else. The 500? Readers of this publication know exactly what I think | > about it. The Fusion? The Freestyle? I'm sorry, but where is the | > definitive, authentic Ford passenger car? The Mustang is great, but | > why can't Ford translate that kind of attitude into a "standard" | > passenger car? Ford was once part of the fabric of America, certainly | > as much as Chevrolet (although Chevy clearly made more of its | > Americanness in its advertising). But now, it's floundering and | > flailing about, hoping something, anything sticks. It can do heritage, | > no question. The Mustang and the Ford GT? Great. But as a company that | > desperately needs to be part of the American scene before they get | > relegated to also-ran status, I'm afraid they're losing ground at a | > prodigious rate. Ford intermittently gets it, apparently. But they | > can't seem to translate the authenticity that lives in their heritage | > cars into a car that can be a certified, mainstream, all-American hit. | > Obviously, no one at Ford, from Bill Ford on down, is asking the | > right, billion-dollar questions. What is Ford? What does it stand for? | > And where is the drop-dead, mainstream, authentic Ford passenger car | > that has the whole country talking? | >

| > What has happened to Lincoln is one of the saddest travesties in the | > history of the automobile business. What was once a proud, | > sought-after luxury automobile that gave Cadillac all that it could | > handle in this market, Lincoln is now fading into the abyss and | > falling off consumer consideration lists left and right. Ford Motor | > Company managers have repeatedly snatched defeat from the jaws of | > victory when it comes to Lincoln, coming up with excuse after excuse | > as to why they can't compete or why things just didn't come together. | > Now, they have a plan to unleash a couple of new, front-wheel-drive | > Lincolns to the market in the 2006-2007 timeframe. The fact that | > Lincoln is going to resort to FWD for its luxury class car is about as | > far away from being authentic to the brand as they possibly can get. | > Lincoln displayed a modern rendition of its classic Continental as a | > concept at the Detroit Auto Show a couple of years ago, and it was the | > most brand authentic Lincoln I have seen since the '60s. But then | > almost immediately, Ford announced that it wouldn't be built due to | > cost considerations. Brand authenticity is obviously not a concept | > that gets much attention down in Dearborn when it comes to Lincoln. | > And it's really too bad, because Lincoln was one of the most authentic | > American nameplates that ever existed. And it could have achieved that | > status once again, but now that a future product plan for mediocrity | > has been laid out - Lincoln will be doomed to the trash heap of | > once-great American brands. | >

| > The only thing I have to say about Mercury is that it has no brand | > authenticity. Period. And every dime that Ford is sinking into Mercury | > with their glorified badge engineering exercise in order to appease | > its dealers should have been earmarked for Lincoln. | >

| > These are the high hard ones of this discussion, and though I've | > obviously left out several notable brands, I'll conclude with this: | >

| > You can't create brand authenticity out of thin air. It has to be | > based on a foundation of history, heritage and tradition. | >

| > Some car companies know where they went wrong and are on their way to | > getting it back. | >

| > And some car companies don't have the faintest of clues as to where to | > even begin to find it. | >

| > And some are well aware of who they are, what they represent to the | > market and what they need to do to stay there. | >

| > The bottom line is this: Brand Authenticity matters, and it's the new | > Holy Grail of automotive marketing. | > ---- | >

| > Comments? | >

| > Patrick | > '93 Cobra | > '83 LTD | |

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (Patrick) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:

though

understand

plummet,

nothing

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heritage,

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Mercury

Some very good points, although I think the tone in general is a bit extreme. In all fairness, I don't think these issues are restricted to just Ford, but GM also suffers greatly from the same things.

Makers like Toyota, Honda, and Nissan have a much stronger brand authenticity than Ford and GM. Of the three traditional makers, I think DC has the strongest brand authenticity, and it's a direct result of the company's recent actions. Plymouth is now gone, so Chrysler represents the more upscale line and Doge represents the lower side, albeit more powerful line.

Simply put, what pops into your mind when you think of any given marque? Is the picture cloudy or clear?

Joe Calypso Green '93 5.0 LX AOD hatch with a few goodies Black '03 Dakota 5.9 R/T CC

"Joe" wrote | Simply put, what pops into your mind when you think of any given | marque? Is the picture cloudy or clear? | | Joe | Calypso Green '93 5.0 LX AOD hatch with a few goodies | Black '03 Dakota 5.9 R/T CC

That may depend on each individual.

When I think Chevy/Pontiac, I think Vette, Vintage Camaro & Cougars and 4x4 pickemups When I think Ford/Lincoln it's Mustang, Explorer and F-250 diesel 4x4s and Town Car When I think Dodge/Plymouth... I think Vintage Purple Cuda and .. uh ... uh.... well, that's the only one I ever liked except for the new Crossfire and I think Dodge pickups cause my brother is a Dodge Boy.

So, even though the guy may have a point, he surely cannot imagine that he speaks for most people because everyone has their own impression or visualization of each brand name.

Kate

Kate

Yes they do, But as an ever larger set of individuals are asked the cloudy picture begins to clear... And that car makers "brand authenticity" becomes much more clearly defined. Ford Motor Company has lost its way! Every time they have a good idea they enter into it so half heartedly (The SHO & Mercury Marauder) that they never quite get the job done.

Where is the (reasonably priced) ground pounding "Eat My Dust" GM and Mopar! Mustang of old (the late 60's) anyway?

BTW: Have you driven a brand new Corvette lately???

I might could almost violate my moratorium against ever owning aChevy...

It's in austrailia.

Because the marketeers just want to keep giving the US buyer crap. But the number of US buyers who accept crap is shrinking it seems.

It's how these corporations work, nobody cares about product, only profit. And they do not see that they are tied together.

Cougars!?!

I usually think Mercury for those. :)

MadDAWG

| BTW: | Have you driven a brand new Corvette lately??? |

| Damn! I might could almost violate my moratorium against ever owning a| Chevy... | |

Umm.. nope. The only Vette I ever drove was repaired in the body shop. I hated the whole thing. It was a bitch to get in and out of, it was all fiberglass and it was (what I considered) the same old cheapo Chevy fall apart interior.

I gott tell ya, the HP sounds great, but as far as user comfort I think they bite. I'll swap some ponies any day for a car that doesn't beat me up.

Kate

"SVTKate" wrote in news:KjcQc.165$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net:

My brother owns a C5, and he let me take it for a romp last Christmas. His car is basically stock except for a K&N and a chip, but the thing is absolutely unbelieveable in performance, comfort, and gadgetry.

Lesson learned: Don't judge a contemporary Corvette until you've driven one for at least 15 minutes. Simple awesome.

Joe Calypso Green '93 5.0 LX AOD hatch with a few goodies Black '03 Dakota 5.9 R/T CC

Well, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to sit in one let alone drive one...

But last week while visiting my friend, how could I refuse his offer to take his new Vet out for a whirl? I'll tell you what, don't try a new one, You won't believe how nice it is. They Flat get up and go, tap the pedal to pass and bam you are in triple digits before the pedal hits the floor...

140 miles per hour feels like 40... The way they get up and go and handle is an incredible rush for a speed junky :-) That's one fine Chevy.

The last Vet I drove was a 1972, these new Vets are related to the Vet of the 70's by name alone.

Hell the C5 is related to the C4 in name alone. Talk about a torture chamber to get in and out of. C5 and I'd imagine C6 is another world compared to even the recent C4.

///Mike

1993 BMW 525i of all the old cars

Think "Marauder" ! Now there is a cool Crown Vic...

Yes it was, and I really took a long look at them, It's a shame that Ford saw fit to thoroughly under-power them. Great idea, Way too little Horsepower.

It used to. I loved slab-sided Lincolns and thought they were much more appealing than the soft-looking luxo vehicles from Japan or Europe, but current Lincolns seem not much better as luxury vehicles than a Camry or other boring, mushy sedan. The average age of Lincoln buyers is 62 and most are male. Arguably, that market segment is a good one, because that group is growing, has money and tends to be brand loyal. So why aren't they selling many lincolns? Because you can't make much money catering to only one segment.

-Rich

Still don't have a whole lot going on in the "reading comprehension" department, I see?

Kate,

Cougars were made by Mercury. I think you meant Firebirds.

Patrick '93 Cobra '83 LTD

Hey Love! Where have you been? Missed you.

My reading is getting better little by little, now working on the comprehension thing. Thanks for caring.