You can thank Jaguar for that basic style in grilles, but, I agree...it does a lot for both the new Lincoln MKZ and this new Volvo. However, even the new wing-grilles on the Lincoln MKC and MKX are probably a lot better looking than that silly tooth-grin on the older Lincolns.

 

The new wing grilles of the MKC and MKX are too subdued and boring, I expect the new MKZ/Continental front ends will be on the MKX/C sooner than you can say sales decrease. The MKC BTW is not growing based on the sales of the same month from the year before, the front end and dated design language of the interior is what is the problem.

 

I like it, unique, its unmistakably a Volvo. I would have to consider this compared to an ES.

 

I would probably take the Volvo over practically anything in the Lexus sedan line up. At least with exterior and interior design.

 

People who can actually buy these cars won't make that choice en masse though.

 

Not sure I agree, my parents the other day said to me that the remote touch is the dumbest thing that ever been offered in a car, and if they had a chance to go back and purchase their Lexus again, then would of bought something else. I think the touchscreen will be coming back to popularity going forward.

As for the Lexus front ends, they are good now for but long term its a really horribly disgusting design. The trend will be to move away from the front ends like on the Lexus IMO.

 

This is not a thread about Lexus, despite your attempt to make it into a flame thread.

Volvo is not going to eclipse Lexus ES sales with this S90. They don't have the brand reach, the dealer reach, or the capacity to do that...its not even their goal. The ES has huge owner retention rates, people aren't all of a sudden going to go buy Volvos en masse.

As for buying this over "any Lexus sedan" thats just ridiculous flame bait. This is a nice looking car, but this is an ES level car. Its not a competitor for the IS, GS or LS.

As for the RTC, trends change. Right now these controllers are the norm, but new advances in gesture control (a/la the BMW 7 Series) will change that over time. As I said, as someone who has actually had multiple Lexus vehicles with touchscreens and multiple Lexus vehicles with the RTC, I like the RTC just fine. So, I guess your folks opinion and my opinion cancel out, huh?

Lexus watches what their customers want. If they saw a big pushback about the RTC, they would have abandoned it. No drop in IQS, where we have seen huge drops in IQS in makes where they have made big infotainment changes (Ford, Cadillac, etc) means that for the majority of owners the RTC isn't an issue.

Thats your opinion, stop posting your opinion as fact...because it isn't fact and others feel differently.

Of course styling trends will come and go. Volvo isn't doing anything different, they have a corporate nose and grille and face. If you like Volvo's better, buy a Volvo. But don't try and present a "fact" that vehicles that other people purchase and enjoy greatly are are "horribly disgusting". Have a little tact.

 

You may be correct, but usually styling changes like that take at least one model year. A number of things in the plant have to be re-tooled....you can't redo the whole front styling like that just in one weekend.

Personally, I don't care which one of the two newer grilles they use...either the new Jaguaresue or the wing-grilles. Both, IMO, are a lot better looking than that silly tooth-brace grill on the older Lincolns.



Though I understand that you don't like the grilles, I disagree that styling is generally the problem. Consumer Reports has not given it good marks in the reliability department....and a lot of folks depend on that magazine for reliability data.

 

For the month of Nov sales of the MKC were -16%. For the 11 month period Jan-Nov they are +104%. A nice trend. The MKX was +17% for Nov and -14% YTD.

 

I wasn't looking at the year over year sales. Just same month.

 

I really liked the toothy grille and the former MKX.

So you are blaming sales on the poor reliability marks from CR?

 

Not directly, but it obviously doesn't help. Of course, what is considered poor reliability today is not like what it was years ago. Most vehicle-lines improve with time, and what is considered low reliability today was considered quite good some years ago.

 

Then you were looking at data that was totally meaningless. Seriously, one month doesn't count to a trend.

For Lincoln, a significant problem is accessibility to the brand. With the loss of all their dealers over the last few years simply finding a dealer to look at a Lincoln reduces the sales volume they can achieve.

 

Good Point. Have to agree. Even in the huge D.C. area, one of the largest new-vehicle markets in the country outside of California, there are only two Ford dealerships in Northern Virginia that carry Lincolns, and three in Suburban Maryand. That's ludicrous.

 

Anyhow, back to the S90, here's an interesting article from C/Net on this latest Volvo flagship and how predecessors helped shape it.

http://www.cnet.com/news/cars-that-h...017-volvo-s90/