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So Lincoln is Already Considering Killing Off the Continental, Apparently

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The Lincoln Continental offers plenty of tech for only around $45,000

That expression that X is why we can’t have nice things? Substitute X for the popularity of crossovers and plummeting sedan sales and nice things for the Lincoln Continental. (Also, conjugate that verb correctly.) Solve for why.

Yes, the Lincoln Continental, which only just returned from the scrap heap of vehicle names Lincoln abandoned for letters 18 months ago, is purportedly perilously close to being returned to blissful retirement. Citing sources “intricately familiar with Ford Motor Company’s future product plans for its premium Lincoln brand,” Ford Authority reports that production of the Continental will end at the end of the current generation.


More from Ford Motor Company: A look at the current model-year lineup


Ford Authority’s source could not explain in any specific terms why the Continental would be discontinued, but it’s a fair bet that lagging sales are the culprit. Lincoln sold just 758 Continental sedans in February, the lowest total of any month since the tenth-generation model launched in September 2016. Lincoln delivered 5,261 Continentals in its first four months on the market and 12,012 in the sedan’s first full year of sales, which is considerably beneath longer-tenured and better-established segment rivals; short of a miraculous turnaround, it likely won’t have a chance to challenge.

The anonymous source suggested that the Continental revival was made possible with more than $1 billion in investments from Ford, which begs the question of how long it would be left standing to recoup some of that investment. It is suggested by Ford Authority that the Continental—or a successor thereto—would be ported Ford’s next-generation D5 platform, but the source “wasn’t optimistic about this scenario taking place.”

On Thursday, a Lincoln spokesperson told Jalopnik, “I can tell you that the Continental remains an important part of the Lincoln lineup, but we aren’t going to speculate about our future product plans.”


Shopping Around? See current manufacturer incentives from Ford Motor Company


News Source: Ford Authority, Jalopnik

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