Ford Motor Co. used the New York Auto Show last week to unveil the reason it spent $2.5 billion in 1990 to purchase Jaguar–the Lincoln LS, a sedan designed and developed with its British partner to attract more and younger buyers into the Lincoln fold.
Jaguar will get its own version of the rear-wheel-drive luxury sports sedan shortly after the LS6 and LS8 arrive next spring as 2000 models.
The LS6/LS8 refer to the choice of engines, a 3-liter, 24-valve V-6 or a 3.9-liter, 32-valve V-8.
Though the car won’t go on sale in the U.S. for about a year, Ford tipped its hand early to give luxury-car wannabes pause before running out to buy a Lexus ES300, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, a BMW 5-Series or even a Cadillac Catera.
Robert Widmer, vehicle-line director for the LS, Mustang, Thunderbird and Lincoln Mark VIII at Ford, refused to discuss LS pricing or how many sedans Ford plans to assemble.
But he said the LS would compete in the $30,000 to $55,000 segment, and the sticker would be considerably less than that of a Lincoln Town Car or Continental, which start just under $40,000. Ford’s other Lincoln, the Mark VIII coupe, will be dropped at the end of the ’98 model run.
It is expected the LS will start around $30,000 to $35,000 in the so-called entry-level market, where Lincoln isn’t represented.
“This is our missing link, the car to broaden our appeal in the (entry-level) segment and round out our luxury line,” Widmer said.
Widmer said pricing will depend on what equipment the automaker decides to make standard or optional. At the moment, he said, dual front and side-impact bags, four-wheel anti-lock brakes and all-speed traction control are earmarked as standard and a sophisticated suspension system with yaw control similar to StabiliTrak at Cadillac is slated to be optional.
“We’re not 100 percent sure what will be standard, what will be optional or what will be standard or optional on our competitors’ cars,” Widmer said.
Though details are a bit sketchy, the automaker has revealed that the LS sedans will be about the same size as the Lexus ES300 or BMW 5-Series sedans; are rear-wheel-drive; and offer a choice of three transmissions, two 5-speed automatics, one 5-speed manual (with the V-6 only and primarily for Europe but in limited supply in the U.S.). One automatic will feature SelectShift, which like Porsche’s Tiptronic, offers automatic or clutchless manual shifting.
Widmer wouldn’t disclose engine specs, but said the V-6 probably would develop a little more than 200 horsepower, the V-8 about 250 h.p. No mileage figures were available. He said Ford forecasts V-8s will be the primary choice in the U.S., the V-6 in other markets. The V-6 and V-8 will ride on 16-inch all-season tires, but the V-8 will get sportier wheels. An optional sport package with a more aggressive sport-tuned suspension will offer 17-inch tires with brushed aluminum wheels.
Other goodies will include eight-way heated power seats, 60/40 split folding rear seats, power and memory seats/mirrors/steering column, dual automatic climate control, rear-seat heat and air conditioning ducts, Alpine sound system, power locks that engage when the gear lever is moved out of park or reverse and remote keyless entry.
The LS will be built in right- and left-hand-drive versions to serve world markets.
Previously, Jac Nasser, president of Ford’s automotive operations, had said the next-generation Thunderbird will be built on the LS platform and offered in a two-seat version like the original was in the ’50s.
Widmer wouldn’t discuss the upcoming T’Bird, or upstage his boss other than to say, “The LS platform would make a good Thunderbird, and a two-seat Thunderbird is a great idea that I’d love to see.”
He did, however, say that, “We are looking at the potential of offshoots from this platform and think it offers us several options, but let’s see how this car sells before we plan to do more. It has the potential for different derivatives as well as different powertrains.”
That would be in keeping with Ford’s plans to produce more vehicles off common platforms to reduce complexity and cost.
The LS will be built at Ford’s Wixom, Mich., plant that assembles the Town Car and Continental. Widmer said the plant can build all three models and increase LS output on demand.
“But we aren’t going to demand certain volume or push the car as we are going to let customer demand determine how many we build,” Widmer said.
Nothing, of course, upsets the pricing structure more than an overload of cars at introduction.
Though unveiling LS, Widmer also addressed the issue of sagging sports-coupe sales–primarily the sharp declines in the Pontiac Firebird and Chevrolet Camaro and hints those two may have outlived their usefulness. The Mustang, of course, compete with those GM coupes.
“Mustang volume is up. We did 125,000 last year and are on course for volume of 145,000 this year and have some improvements coming for ’99. If the competition stops building their cars, it’s not a bad thing for me. If they aren’t there for their 80,000-unit share of sales, I expect to go after those 80,000 sales,” Widmer said.
While the LS captured the most attention in New York, other introductions included the 1999 replacement for the subcompact Suzuki Sidekick sport-utility vehicle that will be called Vitara.
Vitara will be offered in two-door softtop and four-door hardtop versions with two- or four-wheel-drive. The two-door strongly resembles the Suzuki X-90, the four-door the Toyota RAV4. Vitara is powered by a 2-liter, 127-h.p., 16-valve 4-cylinder. The upgrade, called Grand Vitara, comes only as a four-door hardtop in 2WD or 4WD. Grand Vitara is powered only by a 2.5-liter, 155-h.p., 24-valve V-6.
Chevrolet will get a version of Vitara this fall, but only the four-door in 2WD or 4WD and only with the 2-liter 4. The Chevy version still will be called Tracker, only now it looks a lot like a mini Chevy Blazer.
Also at the show, Honda displayed its 1999 front-wheel-drive mini-van built off the Accord platform. The rear seats in the van, which is not named, fold flat to accommodate a 4-by-8 sheet of plywood. Honda still won’t confirm whether its Odyssey mini-van will be dropped when the new FWD van appears–but hints it will.
Pontiac provided a look at the GT performance version of its restyled compact 1999 Grand Am, which this fall will join the SE now in showrooms.
Hyundai, which pulled the Avatar concept car out of the Chicago Auto Show at the last second, had it in New York. Avatar is a thinly disguised look at the next generation 1999 Hyundai Sonata. Avatar is slightly larger and sports a new more powerful V-6 engine than Sonata.
Infiniti unveiled the 1999 G20, its entry-level luxury sedan making a comeback after a brief absence in which Infiniti loyalists made themselves absent from Infiniti showrooms.
