Lincoln's new name game
Ford's luxury division will try to soup up its lackluster image with alphabetic vehicle names

Amy Wilson
Automotive News / January 2, 2006 - 6:00 am



DETROIT -- Lincoln will join other luxury brands by switching to alphabetic names for its vehicles, using letters instead of words.

The alphabetic names begin this fall when a new Lincoln crossover goes on sale, a Lincoln official confirmed.

Ford Motor Co. executives have long referred to that 2007 model as the Lincoln Aviator. Now it will be called the Lincoln MKX.

A final decision to go with MKX came the week before Christmas, after Lincoln got legal clearances for the name.

Company officials called it the Aviator as recently as mid-December. In October, Lincoln even distributed a press photo of the vehicle badged as the Aviator. A truck-based Aviator SUV was discontinued in 2005.

The alphabetic names are meant to elevate Lincoln's brand image. Lincoln has struggled in the last several years as product plans stagnated and the lineup aged. Lincoln's sales for the first 11 months of 2005 plunged 12.5 percent vs. the comparable 2004 period.

"We think it's important to build the brand image, so changing to this alpha system really helps put Lincoln more in the spotlight as a brand," spokeswoman Sara Tatchio said. "It also indicates a certain level of luxury."

Lincoln market researchers found that current Lincoln buyers usually identify more with their vehicles' individual names than with the brand itself. They'll say they drive a Town Car or a Navigator, rather than a Lincoln, Tatchio said. Using alphabetic names puts the emphasis on Lincoln, she said.



Sticking with 'Zephyr'
As it introduces other new vehicles, Lincoln plans to use more alphabetic names, Tatchio said. But there are no plans to drop the Zephyr nameplate, which was introduced in September on a new 2006 model-year sedan.

Tatchio wouldn't talk about future name changes. But Lincoln could drop current word names when an existing vehicle is redesigned. The next opportunity is the full-sized Navigator SUV, which will be redesigned this fall. It's not yet clear whether it will get an alphabetic name.

Two new Lincoln sedans being developed on a modified Volvo platform should get alphabetic names when they go on sale beginning in 2007. A production teaser of the smaller of those two sedans is expected to debut at the Detroit auto show next week.

The MKX crossover also will be featured at the Detroit show. Based on a modified Mazda6 platform, the five-passenger crossover features a 3.5-liter V-6 engine and six-speed automatic transmission. It is a sibling of the 2007 Ford Edge crossover, also being shown in Detroit.

Lincoln was studying the alphabetic naming strategy before Mark Fields became president of Ford's Americas operation in September. But under Fields' direction, the company made the switch.

Lincoln is late to the alphabetic or alphanumeric naming strategy among luxury brands. Cadillac started switching its models over to alphabetic names early this decade. Acura changed to alphanumeric names beginning in 1995. Other users of alphanumeric names include Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Jaguar, Lexus, Infiniti and Audi.

You may e-mail Amy Wilson at awilson@crain.com


What's in a name?

Why is Lincoln switching to alphabetic vehicle names?

It wants to emphasize the brand more than individual vehicles.

Most other luxury brands use alphanumeric names.

Ford Motor executives say alphabetic names suggest luxury.

 

Stupid....

 

Very stupid.
Ford:

 

Trying to be too much like Cadillac with the 3-letter acronym style nameplates... I prefer names myself... cars have personalities too!

 

The death of american cars. ****ing shame

 

That make the car more forgetable. :blah:

 

I thought it was stupid when Cadillac did it, and I still think it's stupid now that Lincoln is doing it. Even with Cadillac's switch, most people I know say "I own a CTS" or "I own an STS", not "I own a Cadillac".

The thing with Lincoln doing it is that the brand has virtually no credibilty with luxury buyers, so why emphasize something that no one likes? At least when their cars had names, you would say "I own an Aviator" and the mind would conjure up images of something new and fresh.

As for the name itself, I don't know it if was on purpose or not but it looks like shorthand for "Mark X" (at least that's how my mind reads it). And this isn't Lincoln's first alphabetical name; the Lincoln LS would hold that distinction in recent times.

 

^^ And look at how much that was recognized (LS). It was a pretty sweet car and very classy but nobody knew what the heck one was. Really, my buddy was saying he was thinking of getting one, and me, as a car guy, didn't have a clue what the vehicle actually looked like.

 

we have SO many LS's running around here, its ridiculous.
the mark thing is more than a little upsetting....

 

I still don't know why this is a problem. Most people I know do this. So the solution is apparently to not give the car a name...or come close to it. I imagine the insurance companies and government wouldn't let them make a car with no name...but they should just ditch the alphanumerics to while their at it. Just put a nice chrome bar code on the back.

 

Part of the problem is that "LS" is a common designation. I read where something like 30+ models used LS as part of their name (even if it's not the name itself). Hard to stand out in that kind of clutter.

There must be some psychological reason why almost everyone settles on the famous TLA (three letter acronym) for their alphabetical car names. Two letters aren't unique enough, and four or more are too confusing I guess. And it's not just car names; you'll almost never see a 2-letter acronyn used for anything. They'll usually add a redundant third letter to the acronym even if it doesn't really make sense.

 

Seems backwards to me too

Let's look at this logically: the problem is that the model is better known than the brand. So instead of strengthening the brand, they weaken the model! With the millions of dollars it takes to get a name recognized, why on earth would you weaken anything that the customers can relate to? Look at the brand equity Acura threw away with the Legend and Integra names. I dunno, I guess that's why I not in marketing ...

As to making cars with no names, I don't think there's any legal requirements around that. "Mini" comes to mind.

 

I will agree that 4 letters can be confusing. The 540x is not bad but if I didn't know it stood for it could be very hard to figure out.

One 5 letter alpha numeric does stand out as working ok 300zx and the 350z is pretty easy to understand as well. I just realized this post is pointless and adds nothing to the conversation but I will post it anyways+1

 

It wasn't too long ago Lincoln was going back to historic names (Zephyr, Continental, etc) as part of it's direction to recapture the spirit of what Lincoln was in the early 60s. Seems there is a sudden change of direction.

I suspect this is the result of some marketing bonehead of the type that knows more about research and percentages than emotion and feeling behind a car.

Although the actual vehicle itself didn't do well, saying you drive a Lincoln Avator conjures up a sort of mental picture just as much as the name Mustang, Thunderbird, or Corvette in their markets. Compare that with saying you drive a Lincoln MKX. Lame.

If the car is good, it's going to sell. If it sells, the company's making money. What's the problem in calling it a name that calls more attention to the car than the brand? As pointed out, people driving Cadillac's call their cars "CTS" or "STS", not a "Cadillac". People driving Mustangs or Corvettes don't instantly say they drive a Ford or Chevrolet 1st.

 

'MKX' just doesn't roll off the tongue.

I don't mean hard or unwillinging in some manner...I mean it's just akward to say. Are they trying to follow Jaguar (XJ, XJR) in some perverted way?

MKX...MKX...MKX...MKX...:blah: