Ford Does It!

AutoWeek reports: Holding Strong. This is an article about how Ford is going to launch new vehicles without adding any bribes into the mix. And while that is an admirable accomplishment, we're just happy they settled on a friggin' name! Oh, not the Ford branded one, that was always going to be called the Ford Edge. It's the Lincoln version of the thing. First, it was MKX (pronounced Mark-ex) and now they say it'll be MKX (em kay ex). Lincoln was doing the same with the Zephyr, then MKZ (Mark-zee) then to finally settle on the MKZ (em kay zee).

We didn't like the feel of the interior of the Edge when we were in it. It really felt like they spent the whole design budget on the outside. Here's hoping Ford can move the things off the lot.

Comments

[K]

You have been worrying about the Lincoln Code for weeks. I'll help.

MKZ first meant 'Mickey's.' Ford had a deal with Disney for a special edition - Bill Blass having opted out. When they saw the car and the market Disney balked. Ford was now under serious time constraints.

The response? MKZ would be pronounced Markey's. But Markey's car turned out to be the Mini (pronounced many) and seen by the seven people who watched the movie "The Italian Job". Wahlberg has settled out of court - he smiles a lot now.

Moving right along the new pronounciation was to be mark-ese. This was withdrawn when market research showed people pronounced it 'easy', adding 'yeh, it looks like a hooder's car'. The Mercury division said it would confuse people wanting to buy the "Marquis'.

Mean comments were made 'people who want to by the Marquis are already confused' and ' you are confused, no one wants to buy a Marquis'. An interdivision uncivil war seemed near.

The suggestion of 'model x' displeased Jaguar (even in lower case). 'Brand-X' was too daring - cars traditionally being models not brands.

'MFZ' lasted a day until someone asked Bill Ford why he had referred to it that way.

The current name is a placeholder until rights to 'OREO' are acquired.

[Josh Reiter]

It seems a lot of cars these days are getting increasingly aggressive with their external styling yet remain rather bland as far as interiors go. I know that was a knock against the 2003 350z. However, I kinda like its subdued yet functional appearance. I rented a 2005 Mustang and have to just say "Yuk!" to the interior. Looks cool through the window but when you sit and start to fiddle with things you wonder if Ford started hosting arts and crafts classes to 3rd graders. And that emergency brake handle!?! Could they have possibly designed are more cumbersome an complicate bit of metal for such a simple task.

[spider]

Is that supposed to be some big accomplishment? Because it isn't.