Forbes columnist Jerry Flint, whose opinions are regularly read here at Autoblog (and sometimes
posted), discussed Ford Motor Company’s latest strategy to revitalize its luxury brand.
His opinion?
“URDUM”.
Instead of replacing the Town Car with a rear-wheel-drive vehicle or improving the
soon-to-be-defunct LS, Ford, according to Jerry, is renaming them.
That’s right. New names are the
new salvation. Thus, there’s no more Aviator. It’s now the MKX. And that concept model (pictured) shown at
the North America International Auto Show? MKS.
Why is Ford doing this? Must be because all the luxury
competitors’ brands use them. CK. A8. QX4. SRX. And they’re making money so they must be doing something
right. At least the new naming strategy will probably save money to generate: it’s a lot cheaper generating MKX
(three letters) instead of Aviator (seven letters) when creating name tags.
Jerry invites you to e-mail
suggestions to name some of Lincoln’s future vehicles. Hey, maybe one will actually be chosen. Personally, we
like the Lincoln YUK-E.
For some related reading on automaker’s propensity to indulge in a little alphanumeric soup, check out Autoblog’s
own Chris Paukert’s take on the matter here.