I was being tongue and cheek abut the lower age. As for fail, i do not agree. 12000 units a year is decent for this car. The car was made for other markets. It's not cheap and thw competition is pretty tough. I don't think current LS460 sales get close to 1000 a month. I highly doubt the next gen will sell more than a 1000 units a month

Curious. Where does the monthly sales of Tesla S or A8 and S class currently stand?

 

The LS460 is 10 years old and its way more expensive.

And let's see if it does 12k units a year. Sales have declined MoM every month its been at full capacity and now it's under 1000 units. I would disagree that Lincoln would consider a car at this price range a success at 12k units a year.

Tesla? A8? S Class? The Continental does not compare to these cars. It's like 1/2 the average transaction price.

 

All that being said, I still need to get some time to go drive one. Interested to see how the chassis handles the 3.0TT. Often after a drive I feel completely different about a paricular car, for good or bad. The idea of owning a low sales volume car has often appealed to me (ie Integra GSR, Legacy Spec-B in Texas of all places, and our current IS-F)

 

I think some people are confusing the G80 with the former Hyundai Genesis, not realizing that the G80 is just the same car with a few small modifications and some nicer interior trim.

 

Which people? The G80 sold 1,450 units last month that's not up for debate. Not sure what any of that has to do with the cars sales performance vs the Continental.

 

If you are going simply to evaluate the 3.0TT and the chassis, keep one thing in mind. Both the Continental and MKZ use the 3.0TT in a transverse-engine layout, but there is a major difference in marketing/specs between the two. Continentals use the 3.0TT only with AWD and the full 400 HP/400 ft-lbs. of torque(presumably because,with AWD, torque steer is less of a problem). The MKZ, in contrast, uses the full-power ratings for the 3.0TT in the AWD format, but de-tunes it to 350 HP for FWD versions, while (surprisingly) keeping the 400 ft-lbs. of torque even with FWD (The engineers have some explaining to do on that one) . The Continental, of course, does not offer that FWD version.

Also, according to the Lincoln web-site, both the 2.0T and 3.0TT give their specs with 93-octane fuel, with no mention of an 87 octane option. So, it is unclear (?) if the lower-cost regular can be used or not, as with some of today's turbos. With these engines, one might be stuck buying the expensive 93-octane stuff.

 

I will eventually give it a try. Just can't stand having to deal with sales staff and such. I really do like the design and they are pretty low key as for how many you will see. So that is kind of cool.

 

Yes, maybe a little off-topic, but I was only replying the comparison of Continental/G80 sales. Actually, in this area, I think I agree with you.....I've seen more G80s on the road than Continentals. There's little question that the Continental, so far, has been poorly marketed, though you would never know it by the ton of stuff that Ford has sent me in the mail about it (that's what happens when you get on vehicle-manufacturer's mailing lists LOL) I've gotten everything from electronic down-load brochures to a small battery-powered folding-video-box to press-releases to a traditional paper-brochure to E-mail updates to wallpaper-icons to you-name it. Ford really pushed this car in the mail, but, for some reason, credible road-tests were WAY late in getting done. You and I actually drove the car before most reviewers...or, at least before those reviews were actually published.

 

even bentley likely sold twice as many as non-fleet lincoln continental sales last month.

http://carsalesbase.com/us-car-sales-data/bentley/

 

You're assuming that your estimate of 85% fleet sales is correct and that leaves only 145 retail sales. The local sales manager says that there are not many fleet sales on Continentals because the supply is still short. Apparently, Lincoln delayed some shipments to add HUD as an option. He says sales are right now limited by supply more than demand. He does, however, expect a significant demand for fleet sales of the V-6 FWD models at low prices ($45K) when the supply issues are solved. Lincoln had a similar supply issue at the introduction of the current MKZ and it cost them a lot of sales.

I know many here don't believe or trust anything a dealer says, but this guy had no reason to give me a bad answer. I had gone in to test a loaded Continental and they had none in stock.
Steve

 

I don't believe dealers lol, for one thing I have seen multiple Continentals and all have been fleet cars, if you look on YouTube the car has been reviewed by people who review cars for livery use. The car is clearly hugely popular for that purpose.

Another thing is what is his definition of "fleet sales"? Does a company have to come buy multiple through the fleet department? A lot of these smaller livery companies just. It cars retail like you or I do.

 

Yes, salespeople can and often do B.S....I've seen that many times. But, unlike most of us who just talk about cars, and occasionally shop or test-drive, they sell vehicles for a living, and are usually in more of in a position to know what sells, what doesn't, and why.

 

I think I follow this logic. I don't think there are many fleet sales out there for the new Conti. Supply shortage is the likely reason.

 

They know their own small little area and nothing else. What happens at their dealer, or what sales they are involved in, etc. I know many car salespeople and used to work with them in a previous business, I know them pretty well lol

They LOVE to talk and sound like they have a lot of inside info, but in reality they know very little.

 

dealers will say whatever is necessary to have a possibility of a sale, like "better get this one because the one you actually want won't be coming in any time soon" b.s., etc.