Lincoln MKX review

Edmonds Inside line has a first drive of Lincolns new MKX and this is one of the things that they had to say…….

It's not by accident that we have focused here on the front grilles of these two
new crossovers. Except for styling elements such as the grilles, these two
orbs are almost identical. They share the same unibody platform, a much
modified version of the Mazda 6 structure. Both are powered by the same 3.5-liter V6. Both send their substantial power through the same excellent six-speed automatic transmission. And both comfortably seat up to five passengers in a body
that's shorter than the Ford Fusion sedan. And, like many of us who frequent
the bar or the egg crate, they both could stand to lose some pounds.

Now this bothers me, the fact that the MKX resembles is almost identical to the Ford Edge is not good news, This comes at a time when Ford really needs to establish separate brand identities for all its auto divisions and to have what will be key players in what’s a growing product segment be so close in appearance Isn’t the way to do it. Lincoln mentions that they bench marked Lexus in respect to certain things is a good start, but what they should have done is bench marked Toyota and one of the ways they could have started is by making the Ford and Lincoln versions of this platform share parts extensively but share no body panels and very little trim pieces, as Toyota does with the RX330 and it’s almost identical(under the skin) Toyota Highlander crossover.

To me this seems to be the way that Ford liked to do things in the past, the very same things that helped them lose market share.
As I’ve said before, Ford need to do things differently and even though it’s under pressure to make money and stem market share losses, they can’t go back to the old way of doing things.

Joe

New Super Vette spied

Autoweek has another small story that seems to conform that the long rumored super corvette is shaping up to be more than that, while it’s obvious from the looks of this car that it’s still in the prototype or mule car stage, Corvette engineers seem to be serious about bring this super corvette out in time for the 2009 model year. The oversize hood bugle shows the car is still a long way off from being ready from a public release.
With rumored numbers in the six hundred horsepower range this next Vette will no doubt have rabid buyers with the connections and the coin, ready to plunk down the hinted one hundred thousand dollar price tag.
Sill a bargain by super car standards.

Joe

Porsche Family does the shuffle

This from Reuters
The Porsche and Piech families that control all the voting rights in Porsche have reshuffled their holdings in the German sports car maker, which is itself the largest shareholder in Volkswagen.The foundation Ferdinand Porsche Privatstiftung as well as the Ferdinand Porsche Holding GmbH, both headquartered in Salzburg, now hold 100 percent of the common shares in Porsche since Oct. 20, after previously controlling less than 5 percent, the company said today in a financial advertisement.Previously, Porsche and Piech family members also owned common shares directly. All shares traded on the stock exchange are preferred shares that carry no voting rights.Volkswagen had already said the roughly 21 percent stake Porsche owns in the world's fourth-largest carmaker was parked at the foundation and the holding company.

While it’s obvious that this is news worthy in the automotive world, especially because the Porsche and Piech families are pretty low key and rarely draw attention to themselves.
There’s a tight connection between VW and Porsche and It doesn’t look like this will change anytime soon.
This writer remembers the AUDI VW Porsche dealers of the eighties and nineties, as a kid I could never make the connection, and even now I feel that Porsche had to do its own thing. Not that VW is anything to be embarrassed about, but you can already see the day that there would be a Volkswagen Audi Porsche Buick Hyundai super store.
Joe

Automotive news reports
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., a small automaker in Mumbai, India, is quietly preparing to enter the United States. Mahindra has signed an independent distributor, Global Vehicles U.S.A. Inc., of Alpharetta, Ga.
Dealers who have heard Global Vehicles' sales pitch say Mahindra plans to reach the market in October 2008. The venture plans two vehicles, they say: a regular-cab pickup with a 2.6-liter turbo diesel engine and an SUV called the Scorpio. The company already sells farm equipment in the United States.
This comes across to me as another duh, why anyone would like to enter the market right now is beyond me, the fact that they want to enter the market with a vehicle that resembles
A Mitsubishi Montero just as market trends indicates that people want cross over’s and don’t want full or Midsize Suv’s.
I don't know, I really don't use farm equipment, so I can't judge their products, but this doesn't seem like a winner to me.

Joe