Friday, May 9, 2003
By Doron Levin / Bloomberg News
Almost four years ago, Ford Motor Co. introduced Gerry McGovern, its hot new Lincoln designer.
With shoulder-length curly hair, cowboy boots and a British accent, the 46-year-old McGovern cut a brash swath in staid Detroit. Having worked for Land Rover, he styled himself a hipster who translated cool into design. He dared to ridicule Lincoln's look as bland and outdated. He was right. But apparently he was wrong for Lincoln.
McGovern is returning to Great Britain to run Ford's Ingeni studio for advanced designs. It's the latest in a series of missteps and reversals that leave an impression of indecision at the world's second-largest automaker. As for Lincoln, Ford's luxury brand remains in disarray, a return to profit and prestige still elusive.
"McGovern's personality is so outsized, it doesn't really work with the leaner, tighter Ford," said Eddie Alterman, an editor of Automobile magazine. "He's not a good fit with the new Bill Ford style."
McGovern's legacies
J Mays, Ford's vice president of design, has reorganized his staff and now assumes overall responsibility for Lincoln design, a spokesman said.
Lincoln models (with the exception of the Navigator SUV) suffered from undistinguished exteriors and interiors. They still do. Buyers might be willing to overlook that fault if Lincolns offered superior refinement, like Lexus, or sophisticated engineering, like BMW.
McGovern's legacies are the snazzy interiors of the Navigator and the smaller Aviator SUVs. The first exteriors he has influenced will begin appearing a year from now on three new Lincoln car models, spokesman Dan Bedore said. Lincoln prototypes showing his design ideas have received mixed reviews at auto shows.
The highly touted McGovern hardly can be blamed for Ford's luxury woes. The division's sales through April were up 3.3 percent compared with 2002, although Ford is giving average discounts of almost $3,200 a vehicle, 45 percent more than last year, according to Merrill Lynch.
Lincoln had 15.1 percent of the luxury car market in 1993, a share that dropped to 7.5 percent by the end of 2002.
ãGrasping at straws'
"At the moment, I think they're grasping at straws," said Susan Jacobs, a specialist in luxury automotive trends. "The fact that two of the three new cars on the way are based on the Mazda6 just isn't going to fly -- especially when Cadillac is developing original platforms." Ford owns a third of Mazda Motor Corp.
The first new Lincoln car, to appear about a year from now, will be an entry-level sedan, about the size of an Audi A4. The second, to arrive in two years, will be a crossover like the Lexus RX330. The third will be a larger, rear-wheel-
drive sedan, based on the current Lincoln LS platform, possibly carrying the Continental name.
To create a brand that could compete worldwide, Ford in 1998 decided to move the Lincoln-Mercury division to Irvine, Calif., from Dearborn.
The idea was for employees to absorb the latest trends in West Coast fashion and taste and to live among those who prefer BMW and Mercedes.
Ford also decided to bundle Lincoln into the same organization with its Jaguar, Volvo, Land Rover and Aston Martin brands. Ford had spent $11 billion to buy the foreign automakers.
Ford expects its luxury operation -- the Premier Automotive Group and Lincoln -- to furnish a third of the automaker's profit by 2005. In the first quarter of this year, however, the Premier Automotive Group posted a pretax loss of $88 million.
Back to basics
After the shocking ouster of Jacques Nasser in 2001, whom Bill Ford replaced as CEO, Ford tore up plans for Lincoln, withdrew it from the Premier Automotive Group and ordered it back to Dearborn.
Nasser's ambition to make Lincoln competitive worldwide was deemed unrealistic.
The change of Lincoln's location and direction, as well as tight finances, have slowed progress toward a new identity. New themes are being sounded in Ford corridors: Back to basics and cut costs.
Much of the financial mayhem that has befallen Ford stems from the automaker's inability to find, focus on -- and stick with -- a practical strategy for building and selling luxury models profitably.
Nasser hired Wolfgang Reitzle, the former BMW executive, in 1999 to whip the Premier Automotive Group into shape. Reitzle, however, clashed with fellow Ford execs and resigned from Ford a year ago.
General Motors Corp., facing a similar dilemma as Lincoln with its Cadillac luxury brand, at least has begun a turnaround.
Its CTS sedan -- introduced last year -- is well-regarded by critics and is attracting a respectable number of buyers. CTS sales have more than doubled from last year, and Cadillac sales are up 17.2 percent.
Getting Lincoln back on the consideration list with Lexus, Mercedes, BMW and Cadillac will take more than celebrity designers. For Lincoln to have a chance, Ford must decide which path to take and stay on it
By Doron Levin / Bloomberg News
Almost four years ago, Ford Motor Co. introduced Gerry McGovern, its hot new Lincoln designer.
With shoulder-length curly hair, cowboy boots and a British accent, the 46-year-old McGovern cut a brash swath in staid Detroit. Having worked for Land Rover, he styled himself a hipster who translated cool into design. He dared to ridicule Lincoln's look as bland and outdated. He was right. But apparently he was wrong for Lincoln.
McGovern is returning to Great Britain to run Ford's Ingeni studio for advanced designs. It's the latest in a series of missteps and reversals that leave an impression of indecision at the world's second-largest automaker. As for Lincoln, Ford's luxury brand remains in disarray, a return to profit and prestige still elusive.
"McGovern's personality is so outsized, it doesn't really work with the leaner, tighter Ford," said Eddie Alterman, an editor of Automobile magazine. "He's not a good fit with the new Bill Ford style."
McGovern's legacies
J Mays, Ford's vice president of design, has reorganized his staff and now assumes overall responsibility for Lincoln design, a spokesman said.
Lincoln models (with the exception of the Navigator SUV) suffered from undistinguished exteriors and interiors. They still do. Buyers might be willing to overlook that fault if Lincolns offered superior refinement, like Lexus, or sophisticated engineering, like BMW.
McGovern's legacies are the snazzy interiors of the Navigator and the smaller Aviator SUVs. The first exteriors he has influenced will begin appearing a year from now on three new Lincoln car models, spokesman Dan Bedore said. Lincoln prototypes showing his design ideas have received mixed reviews at auto shows.
The highly touted McGovern hardly can be blamed for Ford's luxury woes. The division's sales through April were up 3.3 percent compared with 2002, although Ford is giving average discounts of almost $3,200 a vehicle, 45 percent more than last year, according to Merrill Lynch.
Lincoln had 15.1 percent of the luxury car market in 1993, a share that dropped to 7.5 percent by the end of 2002.
ãGrasping at straws'
"At the moment, I think they're grasping at straws," said Susan Jacobs, a specialist in luxury automotive trends. "The fact that two of the three new cars on the way are based on the Mazda6 just isn't going to fly -- especially when Cadillac is developing original platforms." Ford owns a third of Mazda Motor Corp.
The first new Lincoln car, to appear about a year from now, will be an entry-level sedan, about the size of an Audi A4. The second, to arrive in two years, will be a crossover like the Lexus RX330. The third will be a larger, rear-wheel-
drive sedan, based on the current Lincoln LS platform, possibly carrying the Continental name.
To create a brand that could compete worldwide, Ford in 1998 decided to move the Lincoln-Mercury division to Irvine, Calif., from Dearborn.
The idea was for employees to absorb the latest trends in West Coast fashion and taste and to live among those who prefer BMW and Mercedes.
Ford also decided to bundle Lincoln into the same organization with its Jaguar, Volvo, Land Rover and Aston Martin brands. Ford had spent $11 billion to buy the foreign automakers.
Ford expects its luxury operation -- the Premier Automotive Group and Lincoln -- to furnish a third of the automaker's profit by 2005. In the first quarter of this year, however, the Premier Automotive Group posted a pretax loss of $88 million.
Back to basics
After the shocking ouster of Jacques Nasser in 2001, whom Bill Ford replaced as CEO, Ford tore up plans for Lincoln, withdrew it from the Premier Automotive Group and ordered it back to Dearborn.
Nasser's ambition to make Lincoln competitive worldwide was deemed unrealistic.
The change of Lincoln's location and direction, as well as tight finances, have slowed progress toward a new identity. New themes are being sounded in Ford corridors: Back to basics and cut costs.
Much of the financial mayhem that has befallen Ford stems from the automaker's inability to find, focus on -- and stick with -- a practical strategy for building and selling luxury models profitably.
Nasser hired Wolfgang Reitzle, the former BMW executive, in 1999 to whip the Premier Automotive Group into shape. Reitzle, however, clashed with fellow Ford execs and resigned from Ford a year ago.
General Motors Corp., facing a similar dilemma as Lincoln with its Cadillac luxury brand, at least has begun a turnaround.
Its CTS sedan -- introduced last year -- is well-regarded by critics and is attracting a respectable number of buyers. CTS sales have more than doubled from last year, and Cadillac sales are up 17.2 percent.
Getting Lincoln back on the consideration list with Lexus, Mercedes, BMW and Cadillac will take more than celebrity designers. For Lincoln to have a chance, Ford must decide which path to take and stay on it