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The deaths of the Ford Crown Victoria and the Lincoln Town Car have meant overhauls of three high-profile American fleets: police, taxi and livery car. Just as police fleets are more open to considering other options and a Nissan van is the new face of the NYC taxi, livery car companies are looking at replacements for the Town Car beyond The Blue Oval. Ford, via Lincoln, has made an MKT Town Car (pictured), but an article in the Detroit News claims "it has failed to win over most of the big limousine companies." The upstarts trying to move in include livery and limo editions of the Cadillac XTS, and livery specifications of the Toyota Avalon and Chrysler 300.

Each of those challengers, however, faces challenges. The Town Car was a workhorse, American, rear-wheel-drive sedan with plenty of rear legroom. Cadillac has been in the livery space before but with decontented models that were about selling the brand, not its luxury. It is taking the opposite approach with the XTS, pointing out that its livery edition is "contented in the upper half of the XTS range." Still, the CEO of Michigan's largest livery company says "it's quite a bit smaller than what we're used to," and he also prefers rear-wheel drive.

The Chrysler 300 is rear-wheel drive, and American, which matters to some companies, but Chrysler hasn't yet revealed the livery package for it. The livery Avalon marks Toyota's first time getting into that business in the US, a natural step after having done so well with taxi clients and with the Town Car out of the way. Still, the livery client is a different to taxi buyers, so the Avalon could face other soft-touch hurdles.

Don't expect to see any of them flooding the streets immediately. The US fleet of the world's largest livery firm remains 85 percent Town Car, and companies are still finishing their research into what drivers and passengers want. But a brave new black car world beckons, and it look like it won't include nearly as many Lincolns as it used to.

How the demise of Lincoln's Town Car has kick-started a limo revolution originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 30 Dec 2012 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>300avalonavalon liveryavalon town carcadillacchryslerlimousinelincolnliverymktmkt town cartown cartoyotaxtsxts liveryxts town carSun, 30 Dec 2012 10:59:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/20411187/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2012/12/30/how-the-demise-of-lincolns-town-car-has-kick-started-a-limo-rev/20411187/article-detail.xml 20411187 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2012/12/mkttowncar_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2012/12/mkttowncar.jpg <![CDATA[Lincoln debuts new MKT Town Car and Limousine]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2011/02/14/lincoln-debuts-new-mkt-town-car-and-limousine/http://www.autoblog.com/2011/02/14/lincoln-debuts-new-mkt-town-car-and-limousine/http://www.autoblog.com/2011/02/14/lincoln-debuts-new-mkt-town-car-and-limousine/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Lincoln MKT Town Car interior
Lincoln MKT Town Car - Click above for high-res image gallery

The Lincoln Town Car is a the ride of choice for limousine companies and car services around the world. One problem, we're rapidly approaching the official death knell of the panther platform, and that means that soon enough no more new Town Cars are going to be built. Lincoln is ready to fill that upcoming void and is using the 2011 Internation Limousine, Charter and Tour Show as a platform to debut its MKT Town Car and Limousine.

Comfort is the name of the game with livery operators, so Lincoln has pushed the rear seats of the MKT further back to add 1.5-inches of legroom. The rear seats can also recline and the right rear can access even more legroom by controlling the front passenger seat.

Cargo room is improved compared to the outgoing Town Car. The MKT Town Car offers 39.6 cubic feet of space, which means passengers can cram in more luggage, golf clubs or cases of cheap beer for post prom-night activities.

In addition to the MKT Town Car, Lincoln has an MKT ready to do serious limo duty thanks to a a heavy-duty chassis that can be streched up to an additional 10 feet in length. The MKT Town Car is available with either front or all-wheel drive while all-wheel drive comes standard on the MKT Limo.

Read more about both versions in the full press release after the jump. You can also check out photos of the MKT Town Car's interior in the gallery below.


Gallery: Lincoln MKT Town Car

Lincoln MKTLincoln MKTLincoln MKTLincoln MKTLincoln MKT

[Source: Lincoln]

Continue reading Lincoln debuts new MKT Town Car and Limousine

Lincoln debuts new MKT Town Car and Limousine originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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