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2021 Garden Update, just completed the harvest before the heat hit and was able to harvest 242 bulbs of garlic. I have 7 different types. Garden and corn over all doing well. Off to water.

Porsche in the 1990s was in the very real danger of going bankrupt. Porsche in the 1990s 1. didnt have volume 2. didnt have the bread and butter volume products to MAKE money 3. believe it or not, Porsche didnt even have brand cache in the 1990s. Especially from going away from their air cooled engines in their 911. 4. Porsche's brand image was on a steady DECLINE since the 1980s. Actually, since the 1970s, but most will not admit to that. Two things happened in the 1990s. Mid to late 1990s. 1. Porsche re-branded itself with specializing the 911 into many models if you will. It took awhile for folks to understand what a GT2 911 was all about. Which had a different mission from the Turbo model for example. 2. Porsche started developing a model BELOW the 911 to get people in the show rooms. They tried that before in the 1970s and failed MISERABLY. They did that in the 1980s and ALSO failed miserably. The 911 was always a strong seller. But very very low numbers. The Boxster was a semi success as it was an ALL OUT PORSCHE effort rather than a VW collaboration as the previous 914 of the 1970s was. Marketing was better in that regard too. 3. Porsche started doing the SUV thing. THAT alone did not make Porsche any money. It brought volumes to Porsche. As where the 911 was expensive for folk and the 911 was sold only to a SPECIFIC set of people, the SUVs brought in NEW clientele. Clientele that were and still are NOT pure Porsche fanatics... 4. What DID bring in the money is that Porsche used Volkswagen platformed SUVs as a way to save on the economies of scale thing. And the VW sharing part was kept on the hush hush... And if it leaked out that the SUVs were VWs, Porsche marketing at that point had placed Porsche engineering on a high list of a selling point. So no... Had Porsche NOT been able to 1. sell SUVs 2. switch to a VW platform SUV 3. market THAT successfully Porsche woudnt be here today... But they did switch in making SUVs at the time when SUVs were getting to be hot. Got economies of scale with using VW SUV platforms. But now...it seems there are 2 kinds of Porsche clientele. 1. 911 clientele 2. Porsche SUV clientele that might not know what a 911 is or really care.

Can't make profit on 500,000 EV's a year, but Lincoln will make profit on 100,000 EV's a year?

@smk4565—And bringing up the low volume G-Wagen was just dumb. Sorry. If you’re going bring Benz into the folks with full size SUVs like the Lexus and Lincoln, then you have to bring up the GLS. I’m guessing there is a good reason why you didn’t though. Let me help you.

Depreciation. As far as the recent temporary price rise in used cars, supposedly my Jeep is worth a few thousand more than last year at this time. Even though it is 7 years old w/ 50k miles.

Very cool that the Bronco is finally showing up for customers. Ford Broncos Are Showing Up at Buyers’ Doors (msn.com) Seems this is Jeeps answer to the Ford Bronco. Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Xtreme Recon is an extra-hardcore off-roader (msn.com)

Good choices!

Today Rivian released the most detailed interior review to date. WOW, liking what I am seeing from the Panoramic roof and audio system to the little details. This is a huge step ahead from what Tesla has out and the EQS that comes out at the end of 2021 as a 2022 model. The Inside Story by Rivian - Rivian Stories Seating Details A few weeks back, Rivian also posted a detailed review of their R1T exterior you can view here: Sizing up the R1T by Rivian - Rivian Stories Official Dimensions

"Lincoln volume' means; the volume that Lincoln averages out at. They've been steady since 2015, which is all up since '08-14, and only slightly below where they were in the mid '00s. The brand has its customer base and it keeps buying a steady stream of Lincolns. Your claim was "Lincolns don't sell" but obviously that's baseless nonsense... still tied to an arbitrary sales volume you think needs to be met. You're creating this conspiracy theory doom scenario that sales are plummeting, the brands makes no profit / has no revenue, and has no forward business case... yet that conspiracy theory seems to be based only on personal conjecture. I've never seen a stand-alone Lincoln dealer, so your further 'dire service scenario' conspiracy theory doesn't fly. Here's a circa $50K Tesla interior, and a same price range Lincoln sedan interior. Once Lincoln is also electrified and that variable is equal... who's going to chose the Tesla interior?

You're STILL mentally linking volume to profit / 'success'. Volume is LARGELY irrelevant... Lincoln is not "selling less cars", they're selling a consistent 'Lincoln volume' of vehicles.

In other words... Lincoln has economies of scale because Lincoln shares its platforms with Ford. *SIGH* yes...Lincoln would LOVE to sell more vehicles. Especially the sedans. Shyte has happened and that boat has sailed. HOWEVER...Lincoln SUV sales are hot. Lincoln SUVs are NOT looked down upon. Lincoln sales are not too shabby. Lincoln is not Porsche. In other words, Lincoln SUVs are not performance oriented as how Porsche SUVs are. Although Id like to know how much of a performance machine the little Porsche CUV really is... Lincoln as a quiet luxury vehicle offering is actually quite a success story in Lincoln's recent history.

In other words...you are placing Porsche on too much of a high pedestal... Porsche was a faltering company going slowly down the loo. The only model that sold WAS the 911. Anything and everything else was a failure. The Boxster also nearly failed in the market place. Porsche had to re-engineer its mission for it and definitely had to re-market it as the Boxster was following in the same footsteps as other Porsche sports car offerings NOT named the 911. The 914, 924, 944, 964, 928... All failures. All these failures were slowly sinking Porsche and its brand image. Its funny to see. The SUVs are the ones keeping the lights on at Porsche even to this day. It keeps the 911 alive for the folk that are crazy for the 911. But the 911 cannot survive WITHOUT the SUVs raking in the money. But the SUVs that Porsche sells dont help with the 911 sales...

Profit is not directly linked to volume. Look no further than Tesla's volume & lack of profit. Lincoln's 2021 sales thru May is 45K units, on pace to deliver 108K this calendar year. That's up from last year (105K). I'm sure every OEM would daydream about having 50% of the market, but profit is profit / a good business model. I don't ever worry about how many model/calendar year sales a brand logs, what's important is the company is healthy/profitable; that drives the future. Is Daimler pleased selling 2 million plus units, or would they "be happier" selling 5 million units and double the profit? These are meaningless questions.

Lincoln has been running in the low 100K - 112K since 2015; a consistent, low-volume brand.

Lincoln sales are way up in the last few years. Sure the sedans are gone, but the German sedans are hanging on by a thread (in the US) also... and Tesla (Go USA!) is outselling the Germans Combined in sedan sales in their respective markets.

What are you talking about??

Maybe you should look at this first. There was “only” a $25K price difference between them brand new so I don’t know where in the hell you got this “they were the same price” BS from. That literally kills your entire argument there. The Benz is even easier to dismiss since it is a low volume vehicle. Hell, the discontinued Chevrolet SS sedan used prices sell around original MSRP for the same reason. It was a low volume production car. F that G-Wagen. You are still missing the point. A three year old Ford is still selling at or near its original MSRP and the value is still going up (much like that 4 Runner you can’t source properly), hardly this big drop bull$h! you keep throwing around about Fords and Lincoln’s. Btw, the volume model is the SE.

Lets also add this info, Panasonic, Tesla dedicated battery builder just dumped all the shares they hold in Tesla. Yes they say it is for other investments, but reality is the price is very over valued and time to take the money and run as Tesla is going to have hard times as other auto companies start delivering their BEV. Tesla Battery Supplier Panasonic Cuts Entire Stake In Elon Musk Company (msn.com) Then lets also realize that Tesla is on a downward trend compared to Ford and GM. Tesla stock is getting left in Ford's and GM's dust (msn.com) Clearly, Tesla needs some better leadership.

Boy is it raining now…..

2018 Flex started at $31,195 per Kelly Blue Book. https://www.kbb.com/ford/flex/2018/ And what I would assume be the volume model SEL $33,905. And in 2019 prices rose slightly, per KBB again: So the price today of a Flex is not more than what someone paid for one in 2018 or 2019.

In an effort to get this back on track, I am just going to leave this little Tesla Y vs Ford Mustang Mach-E article right here. Go ahead and act like Tesla isn't sweating the competition and remember what's been said here (repeatedly) about their quality that clearly hasn't been fixed after more than a decade in existence for Tesla. People notice stuff like that, you know? https://www.yahoo.com/autos/comparison-test-2021-ford-mustang-110000731.html

Then your 4 Runner example does not fly because its high value was a direct result of what has happened to EVERY OTHER BRAND out there. That's what you are clearly not getting. You also assuming the term levels in question here without a direct link or comparison. Just pulling stuff out of thin air. Now please read the chart in the link below. Lincoln has been pulling higher 90 increases than Lexus and Mercedes. https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/price-trends/

THAT is sooooo 4 score and 7 years ago... Clue #2

@smk4565 And again, educate yourself. From an article about increased used car prices. Interesting the omission of certain brands here. There are 11 brands in CarGurus' data set that have seen used car prices go up more than 30 percent, year over year. The list is led by Ram (up 40.5 percent), followed by Aston Martin (38.1), Ford (38.7), GMC (37.9), Chevrolet (37.3), Dodge (36.4), VW (35.1), Lincoln (32.9), Toyota (30.5), and Hyundai and Kia (both 30.1).

In case you were wonderin' what that pic above is for and why I posted it. Take a peek inside and see who sits in there and that would be clue #1.

The exact same thing can be said about your pet brand. In fact, it’s an absolute fact.

Reminiscing about my childhood and the cars that I liked. I never posted this particular Pontiac anywhere. Never mentioned that I liked it, anywhere. First time. 1970 Catalina There was one in my neighborhood growing up. I think it was a 4 door. I do not think it had a vinyl top. It was the same green colour as this one with the same hub caps Loved the nose Loved the rear

Based on solid financial reviews, seems Tesla and the rest of the EV only companies are hurting. During the change over period, ICE will help finance BEV development and future growth. Ford and GM is both a recommended investment of $1,000 by Motley Fool for future growth that will be better than any of the EV startups. Tesla lost their biggest customer FCA that was buying Half a Billion a quarter in CO2 credits to offset the Ram, Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler lines. With the recent merge, they are now balanced by all the rest of the world tiny fuel efficient products. Hard for any company to replace $500,000,000 million a quarter loss like that and it was the bulk that gave Tesla a Profit. Next Quarter could be a red blood bath at Tesla as Sales are NOT going up as you have stated. Seems lots of people are interested in buying EV's but would rather have an established company with dealerships, service centers and a known history compared to Tesla. I do not see Tesla dying now, but as both Ford and GM roll out so many EV options over the next couple of years, this is going to hurt Tesla and we have all the other established auto makers also rolling out EVs. End result is Tesla is going to have to really step up and compete otherwise alternative things happen. GM and Ford Are Leaving Electric Vehicle Stocks in the Dust | The Motley Fool

There’s no way to legislate a ban that’s going to be massively counter to the market’s actual demographic. A 2035 IC ban in passenger vehicles will not stand.

But we don't know if the Lincoln brand turns profit. 5 years ago Ford was thinking of cancelling the brand. What if they spend $1 billion on Lincoln EV's that don't sell? Ford can't grow the brand without spending money on it. And maybe Ford will spend the money and sales will go up and Lincoln will be a success, only time will tell. But everyone here says Alfa Romeo loses money, but their global volume is about the same as Lincoln's. So I don't see how Lincoln can be some profit machine while Alfa is a money loser, we will never know since they won't break out brand profits, but my guess is they are in similar situations. And I am sure Mercedes or BMW or Audi would love to sell 5 million (if they had capacity to do so), every company wants growth and more revenue.

We are baking in Seattle, hottest temps I can ever remember and I am a native. Seattle is supposed to hit 113 on Monday.

But I am not talking something bought a year ago at the bottom and selling now in a hot market. I am talking about a car sold in 2018 that had 53k miles put on it, selling for over the 2021 MSRP. Used car market is hot, but 3 year old Lincolns and Fords aren't getting original MSRP like Toyotas can. If people can't find a new car, but want the next best thing, it seems that the market is looking at Toyota.

If Lincoln resale value was good, quality and interiors are so good and the products are “world class” as Lincoln claims, then why aren’t they selling? And they aren’t selling in the USA let alone getting beat 15-1 by any German brand in China and Lincoln not being a factor in Europe.

Lincoln was down last year (and pretty much every one was) and are down this year. 2020 2021 Q1 Also shrinking your product line is't a way to grow sales. So they kill sedans, kill the Nautilus when the Edge dies in a year or 2, and I supposed replace the a Lincoln version of Mach-E, which makes sense, that is a 1 for 1 swap. But those 2 Lincoln sedans didn't sell, I don't see how a more expensive Zephyr EV would sell. And in Q1 the BMW X3 and X5 alone are outselling the whole Lincoln brand, same for the Mercedes GLE and GLC, they outsell the whole brand. So the strategy of put all our focus on SUVs and we'll go head to head in certain segments isn't working, they are losing in those segments. And Ford SUVs aren't segment leaders either in most cases, so how long can you re-work those and put Lincoln badges on them before Lincoln is just Mercury and gets killed off because it isn't worth the hassle for 100k or less sales a year in USA, and 50,000 sales in China. But is that a profitable business model? Their global volume is like 150k units a year, when other luxury brands are over 2 million, Tesla is over 500,000 last year, expected to hit 600,000 this year. If 150k units a year is profitable then Ford will keep them around. But if 150k units is making Ford profit they are pleased with, wouldn't they rather have 300k sales and double the profit? or 600k sales and quadruple the profit?

I don't care about year over year, in spring 2020 the new and used car market were both dead. I care about the price of a used car today vs what that car cost new 2-3 years ago. The 2018 Escape has an average price of $21,694, but a 2021 Escape SE is $30k, it still depreciated $9k in 3 years. According to car gurus the 2018 4Runner is selling for $41,830, a brand new 2021 4Runner SR5 Premium with a moonroof has an MSRP of $41,580. Zero depreciation over 3 years, that is what is crazy. And my point is the Lincoln brand does not have this sort of desirability, in that their new vehicles have low sales numbers, and their used ones have poor resale value, because they aren't sought after on the used market either. I'd say only Infiniti has a worse image than Lincoln as far as luxury brands go, and Alfa Romeo is so small in volume, hard to gauge there, overall their image isn't good, but they have some hardcore followers.

If we are going to play the compare resale value game, here is the Navigator: And the Lexus LX: And the G-wagen: A 2016 Navigator is worth $30k less than a 2016 Lexus, and they cost about the same new. The Lincoln seems to do okay in the first few years then really drops off in value, which I think goes to a lot of people not wanting an older Ford/Lincoln product, vs being very willing to pay for an older Toyota product because people know a Toyota/Lexus will last a long time. And a 4 year old G-wagen is pretty close to what they cost new, and not sure why '20 and '21 G-wagen's are over $200k, but hot demand I guess.