1989 Lincoln Mark Vii Bill Blass Sedan 2-door 5.0l on 2040-cars

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Ford's Jim Farley hints at Lincoln sales rebound

If you're a fan of Lincoln, get ready for "a really great story" come May 1. That's how Ford marketing boss Jim Farley, in a call with analysts, characterized the coming April sales report for the MKZ. At the moment, there are probably few things that the executive VP could want more than a happy ending for the ballyhooed sedan that has made people cry boo-hoo for the past six months.
The massive glass roof of the MKZ is trying to support a burden that would make Atlas tap out, and it hasn't shattered, but it has shown a few cracks. The car we called "a big step in the right direction," the embodiment of the reinvention of the brand and a test of Lincoln's commitment to a new rear-wheel drive offering was given an $8-million dollar Super Bowl ad spend earlier this year, then quality control issues during its assembly scuttled deliveries. Lincoln got over that and kept up the ad blitz, now it just wants the good work to take hold.
If Farley's not leading us on, April could be the month. He said the results (so far) show "the product is being very well-received," inventory is finally where it should be and the MKZ Hybrid is doing better than expected. It bears noting that Lincoln is offering some aggressive incentive programs at the moment, including 0.9-percent APR and $1,000 off for conquest buyers stepping out of competitors' vehicles.

NHTSA closes rollaway investigation into 1.56M Ford SUVs

It's taken four years of study, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has finally closed the books on its investigation into rollaway accusations surrounding 1.56-million Ford SUV models.
The probe, which centered on the 2002-2005 Ford Explorer, 2002-2005 Mercury Mountaineer and 2003-2005 Lincoln Aviator, ends without the federal agency calling for a recall. According to The Detroit News, the investigation was closed due to a "low number of complaints" - NHTSA documented 180 such complaints that resulted in 14 crashes and six minor injuries, but the number of incidents have been slowing. The suspected defect rate for the trucks' automatic transmissions was found to be 4.4 per 100,000 units, and the brake-shift interlock mechanism failure rate was judged to be even lower at 3.4 per 100k.

Preposed class-action lawsuit targets 'defective' MyFord Touch

A national law firm, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, has filed a proposed class action lawsuit whose presupposition is that MyFord Touch is defective. Specifically, the complaint states that the system - as well as the MyLincoln Touch and MyMercury Touch clones - often freeze, fail to respond to voice or touch commands and have issues connecting to mobile phones.
According to Hagens Berman managing partner Steve Berman, MyFord Touch is a theoretically "brilliant idea" that falls short in actual execution. Said Berman in a press release, "In reality, the system is fundamentally flawed, failing to reliably provide functionality, amounting to an inconvenience at best, and a serious safety issue at worst."
Other MFT issues enumerated within the 41-page filing include problems controlling the window defroster, rear-view camera and navigation system. The suit maintains that Ford is aware of the problem but has yet to submit a workable and acceptable solution to MFT customers. Scroll down if you'd like to read the full press release.