While the fans have been insisting for years that American luxury brands Cadillac and Lincoln ditch the alphanumeric naming practice favored by the Germans and return to using storied nameplates like Eldorado and Town Car, it seemed all their pleas were falling on deaf ears—especially considering Cadillac has just ditched one virtually meaningless naming strategy in favor of another .
Lincoln Continental concept, 2015 Shanghai Auto Show
Enlarge PhotoDON'T MISS: Ford Moving Quickly To Ensure Cheap, High-Volume Carbon Fiber Production
Everything changed, however, when Lincoln rolled out its Continental concept carat the recent 2015 New York Auto Show and confirmed that it would spawn a production versionalso bearing the Continental name. Now, a senior Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] executive has hinted that there might be more classic names to come.
“Without divulging the future, we’re very excited about the Continental name and the attention it’s gotten,” Ford’s president of the Americas, Joe Hinrichs, told Automotive News (subscription required).
Hinrichs added that Lincoln was aware that its current MK-based naming strategy was hard to decipher for anyone not familiar with the brand, and that returning to classic names could be another way for Lincoln to distinguish itself in the crowded luxury market.
CHECK OUT: 2016 Acura NSX Tech Secrets Revealed
Oh, and in case you were wondering why Lincoln changed to the MK-based naming strategy back in 2006, which plays off the classic Mark series of cars (Lincoln originally envisaged names like MKZ and MKS being pronounced Mark Z and Mark S), Hinrichs explained that it was to get people to focus on the brand as a whole rather than an individual model.
_______________________________________