ice-capades Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 Per yesterday's FDNB (Fleet Distribution News Bulletin) the following timetable has been announced for the 2018MY Balance Out & 2019MY Job #1. 02/02/2018 - 2018MY Fleet Final Order Due Date 03/01/2018 - 2018MY Last Day to Spec Change 05/11/2018 - 2018MY Job Last Date 02/11/2018 - 2019MY Order Bank Open Date 03/22/2018 - 2019MY Scheduling Begins 05/14/2018 - 2019MY Job #1 Date The 2019MY Lincoln MKT Order Guide should be released to dealers on or about the date that the USOB opens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 Who thought MKT would still be around? Aviator, where are you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice-capades Posted November 11, 2017 Author Share Posted November 11, 2017 Who thought MKT would still be around? Aviator, where are you? And I keep waiting for Ford to kill off the Flex so who knows how much longer either the Flex or MKT will be around? How many years has it been now since Ford committed to rebuilding Lincoln and telling dealers that there was going to be all that new product development? Still waiting to see all the new promised Lincoln models! Instead they decide to put the Continental nose on every model and think that makes everything "new" again. Oh yeah... and they still have that idiotic MKC, MKX, MKT, etc. naming convention that is nothing but confusing. At least the Navigator and Continental have brand recognition. Time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 The MKT pretty much exists for livery use. No big deal keeping it around another year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 Who thought MKT would still be around? Aviator, where are you? Part designs were due from suppliers at the end of September. Prototyping should be starting soon if it hasn't already. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 And I keep waiting for Ford to kill off the Flex so who knows how much longer either the Flex or MKT will be around? How many years has it been now since Ford committed to rebuilding Lincoln and telling dealers that there was going to be all that new product development? Still waiting to see all the new promised Lincoln models! Instead they decide to put the Continental nose on every model and think that makes everything "new" again. Oh yeah... and they still have that idiotic MKC, MKX, MKT, etc. naming convention that is nothing but confusing. At least the Navigator and Continental have brand recognition. Time will tell. So completely redesigning or refreshing the entire lineup aside from MKT doesn't count as product development? The MK naming scheme is about to go away, potentially on the refreshes about to debut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 So completely redesigning or refreshing the entire lineup aside from MKT doesn't count as product development? The MK naming scheme is about to go away, potentially on the refreshes about to debut. I don't think the refreshes will get new names. Chrysler tried that with the Sebering/200 and people saw right through that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice-capades Posted November 11, 2017 Author Share Posted November 11, 2017 So completely redesigning or refreshing the entire lineup aside from MKT doesn't count as product development? The MK naming scheme is about to go away, potentially on the refreshes about to debut. There are things that Ford does extremely well and others, well, not so well. And yes, Lincoln has been making steady progress thanks to all those refreshes, etc. Unfortunately, it's taken a lot more years than promised to get to where Lincoln is today. Even still, product that was expected to fill voids is still a few years away. Promises, promises. There was a time, unfortunately decades ago when Lincoln was so distinctive that you could tell a Lincoln on the highway from a half mile away. The waterfall grille and body style of the Lincoln Mark IV/V series was simply unmistakable. But over the years the Lincoln division was badly mismanaged with inconsistent product development, etc. Lincoln decides on a new front end treatment and a few years later they change it to something totally different. In addition, Ford and Lincoln have a media problem beyond their control in that they're held to a different standard. BMW has used the kidney bean nose treatment forever and with the slightest revision the media gives glowing reviews yet if Ford does carry on a design theme they get criticized and/or crucified for it. To borrow a reference to another recent message thread... Imagine if Ford gave the same attention to development to all models as it does to F-Series and Mustang. At the same time, Ford's going through another of many cycles over the years again, thanks most recently to the Fields' cutbacks, where product development was cut and timetables pushed back by years. And in the meantime the competition catches up and then leaps past Ford and Ford is forced to do something to avoid losing even more sales, market share, etc. Sure, there are a lot more manufacturers competing in the U.S. marketplace now but Ford's lost 40% of the market share it had. Remember when Ford had 6 of the top 10 selling vehicles? Now all the decisions are dictated by the bottom line profit potential even if it means losing more sales, more market share and erosion of it's owner body upon which future sales are dependent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullynd Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 Isn't the continuation of Flex/MKT part of the union agreement? My Flex has been one of the best cars I've owned, far fewer issues than my 2015 Edge. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 The MKT Town Car pretty much exists for livery use. No big deal keeping it around another year. . Fixed....I refer you to the drivers side lower front door...MKT was at the front of the class with the march to give Lincolns proper names...now, when the whole "MK" naming scheme is scrapped, they only have to not put the MKT badging on the car, simply, Town Car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted November 18, 2017 Share Posted November 18, 2017 (edited) The explorer Platinum is the Aviator hiding in plain sight, an additional trim level that cost bugger all to develop and cost effective thanks to no sheet metal changes to implement. Now combine that with "do Nothing/ Unifor agreement" and it's clear that Ford is having its cake and eating it too with value adding Flex and MKT production, ~$40K each...... MY2019 has to be the last year for D4 based models surely.... Edited November 18, 2017 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbone Posted November 18, 2017 Share Posted November 18, 2017 They really could've done some things to improve the looks of this vehicle without much cost comparatively speaking. It's too bad they didn't as a hold over until the Aviator came online. I still think that's a missed opportunity. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jniffen Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 For the sake of discussion, would it been possible for Lincoln to change the MKT into a CUV/SUV? Raise it a bit off the ground etc. To me, it's more a wagon than SUV. I am wondering since it shares the current Explorer platform. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 Of course, MKT would probably end up looking like a longer Explorer but with the swoopy MKT skin and pretty much what Folks have been asking for with the Aviator. In hindsight, perhaps the Flex's squarer body silhouette could have made for a better more appealing MKT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice-capades Posted December 30, 2017 Author Share Posted December 30, 2017 Per yesterday's FDNB (Fleet Distribution News Bulletin) the following updated timetable has been announced for the 2018MY Balance Out & 2019MY Job #1. 02/02/2018 - 2018MY Fleet Final Order Due Date 03/01/2018 - 2018MY Last Day to Spec Change 05/11/2018 - 2018MY Job Last Date 02/12/2018 - 2019MY Order Bank Open Date 03/22/2018 - 2019MY Scheduling Begins 05/14/2018 - 2019MY Job #1 Date The 2019MY Lincoln MKT Order Guide should be released to dealers on or about the date that the USOB opens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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