That's fine that they may have more money, but you fail to see the larger picture. Toyota sells roughly a million Camry/Corolla/Rav4 per year. Compare that to how many Avalons/Lexus ES/GS/LS models per year. I think Toyota sells more Camry's than all Lexus models combined, so logically the most advertising money is going to be allocated to the Camry.

The future of a brand relies on whether or not people enter a brand at the lower price point. Not whether a 65 year old buys their last or second to last car.

 

Well, many kids today simply aren't interested in cars at all today....and they certainly don't spend hours on car-forums discussing them like we do. Kids and young people these days just seem to be preoccupied with other things, that's all. And part of it is the economic situation...they don't have the same job opportunities that previous generations had, so they don't have as much disposable income. What they DO have, Mom and Dad often buy for them.

 

Again...Lincoln and Cadillac are NOT companies. They are divisions of other companies. There's a difference. Their successes and failures are not individual, they don't succeed or fail on their own, it all ties into their parent companies.

It may be true that people have the most money when they're about to retire, but that is not a peak earning time or peak spending time. It's the opposite, people contract spending on things like cars and homes when they near retirement age and retirement as they prepare for living without their earned income. Peak earning and spending years are from the early 40s through the late 50s, that's the time when people are earning the most per year that they will earn in their lifetime, and it's a time in life when they are spending the most on lifestyle, luxury cars, expensive homes and second homes, expensive clothing, expensive restaurants, high end travel.

Retired people don't go out and lease a new $70,000 luxury sedan every 3 years in general, employed 45-55 year olds makings $250,000+ do, in general.

I'm not making this up; it's been tested and studied. I would recommend you do some research before you make incorrect statements like "retired people spend the most on cars" that is just NOT true.

As for age and people talking on car forums, how old do you think the average age of a CL member is? I bet it's not even 30.

 

How do you know any of this? The younger generation are still buying cars, it just so happens that is not the same as when you or I was when we were younger. Also, the U.S. highways, roads and infrastructure are based on vehicle ownership. The mass majority of people will still need a car.

Here is an article for you.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/classi...309-story.html

 

Are we still talking about the Continental? Anyway, timing of this thread was perfect. I was leaving work yesterday and saw a red one sitting in the parking lot. Exterior looked pretty decent and I did like how the grill shapes matched the emblem, but otherwise I wouldn't have noticed it if this thread hadn't brought it to front of mind

 

100% you did not mistake for the MKZ? I just built one on Lincoln USA and it topped out at $78K....that is crazy

 

Stopped by Lincoln (the small side of the Ford dealer Lincoln is relegated to) today, no Continentals yet.

 

Ah good catch. Didn't know they redid the MKZ to get rid of the dual grills

 

Ted Britt, out by Dulles Airport, has 11 of them on order, but they haven't arrived yet....didn't see any at all on Ourisman's site in Alexandria. I checked Sheehy's site, which is probably closest to you, and they didn't have any listed, either. Typically, but not always, on the dealer-site listings, you'll see a small flag on vehicles which have not arrived yet, saying "Dealer-Ordered" or "In Transit". The last I heard from Lincoln is that they are due out anytime from late this month into the middle of October.

 

I said that the peak earning years (which is correct) are usually just before retirement...not necessarily into retirement itself. If I did not make that clear before, that was my intention. That's because retirement often brings a sharp income reduction with it, though I myself was lucky to have a good pension and tax-free nest-egg (and my house paid off) which minimized that drop in income.

Oh, no doubt about it. Probably somewhere in the mid/late 20s....though that's probably been creeping up as many young people today just aren't into cars as much as we were at that age. And the majority of people in these forums, particularly in the early 20s, don't own brand-new vehicles, either.

 

I don't know why they didn't just use a Continental-type grille on the new MKC, MKX, and MKZ from the start. Those wing-shaped grilles (and the ones with the vertical buck-teeth) always did look awkward.

 

Yes, I agree, in the context that you are using the terms, although IMO, I don't think it is a big deal. Regardless of how you define them, though, last time I checked, there is only one Cadillac and one Lincoln in the auto industry.....company or division. And, dealership environment aside, Lincoln is finally starting to LOOK like a division again.

 

It is a big deal when you're talking about their goals as divisions. You do t recognize the difference in what they do and do not have to achieve to survive.

 

Of course it is a big deal if they survive or achieve their goals....that goes without staying. I very much do see the need for that. What I don't see is the need for arguing over how we define the companies/divisions....in my view, the vehicles themselves are the main issue, though, of course, I think we can both agree that Lincoln's dealership structure needs a lot of improvement. Apart from that Lincoln dealer issue, both are well on the way to meeting those goals....just in time, perhaps, since, soon, the Koreans will also be playing in this league with the new Genesis division , and adding even more competition.

 

They don't have to sell cars to "survive" is my point. You make a lot of comments about decisions made by these "companies" leading to failure, when that isn't automatically the case. Lincolns sales, or even Cadillacs sales are so insignificant compared to mother Ford or GM that it really doesn't matter. It all depends on whether these companies want to remain in the luxury space.