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Ford
2014 Ford Fusion Gets Seatbelt Airbags, Lincoln MKZ Looks Even More Marginalized
August 16, 2013 at 2:45 pm by Justin Berkowitz
2013 Ford Fusion
Good news, everyone! Starting with the 2014 model year, the Ford Fusion will be available with optional rear-seatbelt airbags. Until now, the inflatable belts were one of the very few features not offered for the Fusion but available with its fraternal twin, the Lincoln MKZ.
We’ve yet to conduct quantitative research on whether the option of inflatable rear seatbelts has been the proximate factor in anyone’s decision to enter a Lincoln showroom, but we’re comfortable guessing that the answer is “not in the slightest.” It’s not that inflatable rear seat belts aren’t a reasonable safety idea, or that Lincoln’s marketers are wrong to highlight them in advertising. Safety just isn’t sexy, and relatively small, extra-cost safety equipment is even less so. #BeltBalloons will never, ever be trending on Twitter. But at least on paper, seatbelt airbags were something that differentiated the MKZ and the Fusion. And thus, the Lincoln’s edge—not to be confused with Lincoln’s Edge, the MKX—is down to the option of a V-6 engine, some trim levels, and attractive sheetmetal.
When Ford announced the end of the Mercury brand in 2010, it said the following: Mercury originally was created as a premium offering to Ford and was an important source of incremental sales. Of Ford Motor Company’s 16 percent market share in the U.S., Mercury accounts for 0.8 percentage points, a level that has been flat or declining for the past several years.
Any guesses on Lincoln’s market share in 2012? Even less than Mercury’s when Ford killed it—0.57, to be precise. But we’d have to be looking at the trend, and it’s not like Lincoln’s level has been flat or declining. Wait, Lincoln’s market share hasn’t been flat or declining, right? What was it in 2011? That would be . . . 0.67? Uh oh.
Perhaps the latter number is a little unfair, though. The Lincoln Town Car was discontinued last year, taking 9000 sales with it. Since Ford lost the Crown Victoria at the same time, maybe it would be more reasonable to look at the size of Lincoln in 2012 relative to Ford. Lincoln brought in only 3.66 percent of the Ford Motor Company’s sales in 2012. Mercury’s share within FoMoCo in 2009 was significantly higher, at 5.5 percent.
Well, at least Lincoln has Abe Lincoln as its namesake. Who did Mercury ever have? Oh, Mercury had Mercury: the Roman god of financial gain and prosperity.
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Ford
2014 Ford Fusion Gets Seatbelt Airbags, Lincoln MKZ Looks Even More Marginalized
August 16, 2013 at 2:45 pm by Justin Berkowitz
2013 Ford Fusion
Good news, everyone! Starting with the 2014 model year, the Ford Fusion will be available with optional rear-seatbelt airbags. Until now, the inflatable belts were one of the very few features not offered for the Fusion but available with its fraternal twin, the Lincoln MKZ.
We’ve yet to conduct quantitative research on whether the option of inflatable rear seatbelts has been the proximate factor in anyone’s decision to enter a Lincoln showroom, but we’re comfortable guessing that the answer is “not in the slightest.” It’s not that inflatable rear seat belts aren’t a reasonable safety idea, or that Lincoln’s marketers are wrong to highlight them in advertising. Safety just isn’t sexy, and relatively small, extra-cost safety equipment is even less so. #BeltBalloons will never, ever be trending on Twitter. But at least on paper, seatbelt airbags were something that differentiated the MKZ and the Fusion. And thus, the Lincoln’s edge—not to be confused with Lincoln’s Edge, the MKX—is down to the option of a V-6 engine, some trim levels, and attractive sheetmetal.
When Ford announced the end of the Mercury brand in 2010, it said the following: Mercury originally was created as a premium offering to Ford and was an important source of incremental sales. Of Ford Motor Company’s 16 percent market share in the U.S., Mercury accounts for 0.8 percentage points, a level that has been flat or declining for the past several years.
Any guesses on Lincoln’s market share in 2012? Even less than Mercury’s when Ford killed it—0.57, to be precise. But we’d have to be looking at the trend, and it’s not like Lincoln’s level has been flat or declining. Wait, Lincoln’s market share hasn’t been flat or declining, right? What was it in 2011? That would be . . . 0.67? Uh oh.
Perhaps the latter number is a little unfair, though. The Lincoln Town Car was discontinued last year, taking 9000 sales with it. Since Ford lost the Crown Victoria at the same time, maybe it would be more reasonable to look at the size of Lincoln in 2012 relative to Ford. Lincoln brought in only 3.66 percent of the Ford Motor Company’s sales in 2012. Mercury’s share within FoMoCo in 2009 was significantly higher, at 5.5 percent.
Well, at least Lincoln has Abe Lincoln as its namesake. Who did Mercury ever have? Oh, Mercury had Mercury: the Roman god of financial gain and prosperity.
