A little more information about the upcoming Lincoln Blackwood filtered out of the New York Auto Show.
Lincoln Mercury general marketing manager Jim Rogers says the automaker projects first-year sales of 50,000 units for the Blackwood, which Ford President Jac Nasser calls the “ultimate sport-utility.”
Blackwood basically is a Ford F-150 full-size pickup converted into a Lincoln Navigator SUV then transformed into a Blackwood by adding a pickup bed.
Blackwood will bow in the first quarter of 2001, probably February, as a 2002 model.
No price projection as yet, but Rogers admits, “It won’t be inexpensive.”
LS success: While waiting for Blackwood to join the lineup, LM is busy selling Lincoln LS entry-level luxury sedans that first arrived last June as 2000 models.
Rogers said first-year sales easily will total 50,000 units.
LS success is creating interest in what LM can do for an encore.
“We’d like to do a V-8 with a 5-speed manual, and there’s also a lot of interest in an open-top version, either by creating a coupe version of the LS with a convertible top or a purpose-built convertible version of the four-door. We’re looking at a lot of things off the same platform. We’ve said we want to sell LS in Europe but to do so we would need more than one model,” Rogers said.
Cougar tamed: Mercury Cougar sales have slumped dramatically, though Rogers said don’t give up on Cougar because LM isn’t.
“We were going to bring out an S (high-performance) version this year but now that’s been delayed until the fall,” he said.
Advancing Marauder: Word is a new Marauder performance version of the Grand Marquis will join the Mercury lineup when that car is redone (but stays rear-wheel-drive) for 2002.
“We’re working hard on a Marauder to do it right,” Rogers said.
What about the Bird?: The 2001 Ford Thunderbird was on display at the show. In red. In a corner. Invisible.
RIO grande: Kia surprised many members of the media when it unveiled the RIO SV concept sedan at the New York Auto Show, a hint at the next-generation RIO sedan that doesn’t go on sale in first-generation form until fall. The SV (specialty vehicle) came with navigation system and e-mail access.
Clever twisting of the sheet metal put some noteworthy small-car rivals, including Cavalier, Corolla and Neon, to shame. Perhaps most surprising is that the RIO SV is built off the same platform as the old Ford Aspire. Kia officials said the SV could bow in four to five years. Insiders hinted sooner because in the small-car segment, styling updates tend to influence the purchase.
MDX in the house: Acura said the 2001 MDX sport-ute coming out this fall will carry a sticker price around $35,000. Acura expects to sell 35,000 to 40,000 copies annually.
Bravada tweaks: The 2002 Oldsmobile Bravada sport-ute coming out next spring will feature an air suspension with air bladders replacing traditional metal springs. To expand the lineup and to give Olds a lower-cost version, Olds will offer Bravada in two-wheel-drive for 2002, not just four-wheel-drive as it has.
By the way, the hump in the passenger-side floor under your feet caused by the catalytic converter underneath is gone for 2002. Well, not gone, but moved to the left closer to the drivetrain hump between the two front seat occupants. So rather than having to rest your feet on the hump as you do now, you get to rest your feet on a flat floor, only you have to rest your feet close together to keep the left foot from bumping the hump that’s now to the passenger’s left. Call it progress.
SCoop: Lexus said it expects to sell 10,000 SC430 retractable hardtop convertibles when that vehicle joins the lineup in the spring a year from now. And Toyota won’t get a retractable hardtop convertible version of the SC430.
Truck worthy: Esmond unveiled the 2001 Toyota Highlander at the New York Auto Show, the Toyota version of the Lexus RX300. Highlander and RX300 are designed as a car-like SUV hybrid.
The difference between the Highlander and the Toyota 4Runner SUV is that, “sometimes you feel like a truck, sometimes you don’t,” said Esmond. Esmond said the sales projection is 50,000 the first year, 75,000 annually (same number for the redesigned Toyota RAV4) after that.
Highlander is a midsize SUV powered by a 220-horsepower V-6. The estimated base price will be about $25,000. It will compete in a crowded field with the Ford Explorer and Jeep Cherokee.
Esmond said while the industry is running at roughly a 50/50 mix of cars and trucks, Toyota is at a 60/40 rate of car to truck sales. With the new Highlander due next spring as a 2001 model and the redesigned RAV4 and new Toyota Sequoia SUVs coming out this fall as 2001 models, Esmond said he expects the mix for the year to even out at 50/50.
Toyota insiders say the addition of a more car-like Highlander to a line that offers the more truck-like off-road capabilities of the 4Runner will test the fate of the 4Runner.
“We’ll see if all the talk about people wanting car-like SUVs is true or if they really want an off-roader. Will 4Runner be phased out? Stay tuned,” a source said.
Theater of the sedan: Mercedes-Benz used the New York Auto Show to unveil a new AMG Mobile Theater package for its S-Class sedan.
The rage is to offer entertainment systems in mini-vans to keep the kids quiet on long trips. General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler have or soon will have such systems with screens that pop down from roof for video movies or games.
Mercedes goes a step farther. The Mobile Theater developed by Mercedes’ high-performance AMG division in Germany uses Alpine full-color video monitors for rear-seat passengers mounted in the back of each front-seat headrest.
A wood- and leather-trimmed center console ahead of the rear seat houses the DVD components. Two TV tuners, one per monitor, receive broadcast signals.
The rear console also houses remote control receivers and remote hand sets, and soft lined pockets with flip up covers for headphone storage.
Mercedes said the Mobile Theater will be offered in the S-Class this fall. Mercedes’ only word about price on the option? “Very expensive.”
To the MAXX: DaimlerChrysler officials in New York denied reports that the company has given the go-ahead to produce the Dodge MAXXcab concept truck that’s made the auto-show circuit this year. But rather than say that it isn’t going to happen, at least they said any announcement about MAXXcab is premature.
MAXXcab is an SUV/truck hybrid built off the Dodge Dakota pickup platform. There have been reports MAXXcab would be produced in Canada at a plant that builds the full-size Dodge van. The plant has capacity for 125,000 vehicles annually, but the full-size van accounts for only 75,000 annual sales. Adding MAXXcab would bring the plant to capacity.
Reportedly D/C was planning to build a full-size SUV to take on the Ford Expedition that would be offered in two versions, Jeep Commander and Dodge Adventurer, but shelved that program in favor of the MAXXcab.
