Apparently the new Navigator is a bigger hit than Ford expected. They are spending money at their truck plant in Louisville to increase production.

​​​​​​Navigator sales are up triple digits in every region of the country, including a 135 percent gain in Ford's western sales region, which includes California, Merkle said.

Average transaction prices surged in January, up $21,300 over the same month last year. That's because 84 percent of sales were of the high-end Reserve ($82,400 sticker) and Black Label ($96,650 sticker) trims.

"We could have sold a lot more in January if we had them," Mark LaNeve, Ford's vice president for U.S. marketing, sales and service, said on a Feb. 1 conference call.

Kevin Collins, president of Bill Collins Ford-Lincoln in Louisville, said Expeditions and Navigators are sitting at his store for only five or six days before they're sold.

"Stock is low right now and they're selling very, very well," he said. "We hope the days supply will continue at that rate because they're expensive; a dealer can't afford to have them sitting around too long."

Collins said customers have been impressed with both the exterior style changes and the interior technology.





Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/car-news...#ixzz576w6zeic

 

that black label sticker price tho. never knew they had that trim

 

All the more reason for Cadillac to get moving on long-needed improvements to the Escalade.

 

I have yet to see either on the road here in LA, but I'm rooting for the Navigator. Much, much better than the Escalade!

 

Black Label is more than just the vehicle. There is a separate show room, home or office pick-up and delivery, 4 year total maintenance, free unlimited car washes and yearly detail, special free deals on car rentals and restaurant meals, etc. Neither dealer here offers Black Label service and it is limited to 30 miles from selling dealer.

 

Too often, that means free, unlimited scratches. No, thanks.....I'll do my own cleaning.

 

Toyota better step up its game with its Sequoia and LX570 offerings soon!

 

The LX570 is based on the Land Cruiser, not the Sequoia. The Sequoia comes off the Tundra platform. But, yes, your point is noted.....the new Navigator will (likely) be something that all of these vehicles will have to contend with.

 

Ha. Not very long ago, there were those, among others, right here on Car Chat, who were ready to write Lincoln's obituary. One thing I've learned from watching the auto market....never say never. Even some companies that were forced out of the American market from low sales (Daihatsu, Isuzu, Suzuki, Renault, Peugeot, etc...) are still doing well overseas....time will tell if Mitsubishi joins them. The initial sales-flop of the Continental, when it was first released, only added to the Gloom-and-Doom predictions for Lincoln. Part of that seemed to have also been caused by the lack of media-reviews for the Continental....Steve, Jill, and myself, in late 2016, were looking at and writing up the car before even some of the auto-press reviews were released.

Of course, we also knew that SUVs, today, are the real bread-and-butter for many upmarket/luxury manufacturers...and that much would depend on the next-generation Navigator, as the last one was getting hopelessly outdated and unimpressive....its market getting eaten alive by the Cadillac Escalade. Lincoln apparently knew that, too, as the efforts that went into the new Navigator are obvious. From what I've already seen of it (minus a test-drive) I'd give almost everything on it, inside and out, an A or A+, with perhaps the sole exception being the way the center dash-screen was implemented. But, even then, the screen-housing is done with very solid materials, with nicely-trimmed chrome around the edges. Expensive? Yes....obviously. You can't design and build a vehicle like this and expect it to sell for chump-change. That's what was wrong with past Navigators....little or no real effort went into them.

But the new Navigator's promise doesn't mean that there aren't also other problems that Lincoln needs to address. Their image would probably be better with more stand-alone dealerships that aren't shared with Ford...a problem that Genesis is also facing. The MKT, in my opinion, is a joke....the sooner they get rid of it (or replace it), the better. The MKZ, an otherwise superb entry-level luxo-sedan (I almost bought one myself last year) needs a N/A V6 option.....there's too much spread between the 2.0L turbo four and the 400 HP TT V6. And the MKC, in particular, needs better quality-control at the plant.

 

Factory lay-offs are just one gas price spike away. How quickly companies forget history...

 

Can't totally agree on that. While, granted, it won't stretch gas-dollars like a Prius, not only will the Navigator's twin-turbo V6 have the latest technology for saving fuel, but also be hooked to the new 10-speed automatic (10L-80) that was jointly developed with GM for both company's RWD/AWD platforms. A transmission with that many gears, of course, provides almost the efficiency of a CVT....along with a generally better capacity to handle torque.

 

None of the above tech matters during a gas crisis. The end results are a dismal 15/21 for 2WD and 15/20 for 4WD. About the same numbers that killed past SUV sales during the last crunch.

 

I agree. It is very short sighted to all of a sudden adapt and build more Navigators. These giant SUVs by Ford will slow down and then what. Eventually there will be very hefty 5 digit discounts.

 

Well, then, if you were running Ford, how would you meet growing demand for them? Vehicles, unfortunately, don't assemble themselves....it takes a plant, investment, and workers/machines.

Now, I agree that one should not put all of one's eggs in a single basket...or over-compensate for a single market trend. There may indeed come a time, not far off, when large trucks and SUV won't be selling. But to use that, and that alone, as an excuse for not producing enough Navigators to meet demand, IMO, is foolish. Not only that, but large trucks and SUVs are extremely profitable for automakers (Ford and GM, supposedly, depending on trim-level and equipment, make up to $10,000 American dollars profit on each truck and SUV this size). So, each one sold today, even after the investment needed to produce it, means money in the bank for automakers that they would need, in the future, for any re-tooling required to shift production back to cars, and away from trucks.