The Changes Happening in the Livery Industry

With Ford/Lincoln discontinuance of its Town Car in 2011 the livery industry has been scratching its head trying to figure out what its legitimate successor should be. The town car was big, cushy, and with regular maintenance extremely dependable. Since there were few style changes, you could show up in a 2005 Town Car and park it next to a 2010 and no one could tell the difference.

These days are gone and the livery operators I speak to are trying a variety of different sedans with hopes of finding something their customers will like and request. Top choices, the MKT from Lincoln, the XTS from Cadillac, Chrysler’s 300 touring car, Mercedes 350e. Of course many have gone to SUVs such as the Escalade, Navigator, Expedition, Yukon-Denali, but these may be subject of a separate post. I want to discuss the sedans on this post.

Let’s start with the MKT. The MK means Mark Touring. It is Lincoln’s full size, all-wheel drive, crossover vehicle, which it has provided as the replacement vehicle for the Town Car. Lincoln indicates that it does not expect a style change until around 2020, so get used to it. The MKT, with the livery package has Lincoln’s 150,000 mile or 4 year warrantee. It is the only sedan style which Lincoln will warrantee for stretches up to 120”.

It is very unlike the Town Car (even though Lincoln is now calling it a Town Car). The drive train is completely different. The MKT is powered by a 3.7 Liter Cyclone V6 matched to a 6 speed (6F) transmission, which is rated at 17/25 city/highway miles per gallon.

Many of the livery operators I know were initially taken back by the styling of the MKT. Its bulbous shape and lack of rear wheel drive took some getting used to. The shape is wearing in, and since in many market use of a livery vehicle is limited by the age of the vehicle (5 years to 7 years in several markets) as well as age based purchase restrictions (2 model year old in many counties), you will be seeing more of these on the market.

The next candidate is Cadillac’s XTS. The XTS name might mean (Cadillac is not saying) Extended Touring Sedan. It also matches a 3.6 liter V6 with a 6 speed transmissions and it is rated at 17/26 miles per gallon.

Good styling has meant stellar sales of the XTS when compared with the MKT. Ford reported a little over 6 thousand MKT units sold in 2013 to Cadillac’s 32,555 XTS sold!!! Cadillac has always been a prettier car and still is, but it has not had a stellar reliability record. Several large fleet owner, I know, have put these into service (Carey International put 150 XTS on the line), and the reports I hear is that these vehicles spend more time in the shop then on the road.

Cadillac like Lincoln offers a livery package which extends the warrantee to 150,000 miles or three years, which in light of the reliability issues is a good thing for the livery operator. Besides reliability there are space issues with the XTS, which I will discuss latter in this post.

The Chrysler 300, with its Bentley styling and rear wheel drive is certainly a contender, especially since it retails at $10,000 less than the MKT/XTS. The 300 owes much of its style and components to Chrysler partnership with Mercedes Benz for many years in the last decade.

The 300 has sales figures that tower over the XTS and the MKT with over 57,000 300s sold in 2013.

The 300 is available with a number of motors, the most popular current configuration for livery use is the V6 with an 8 speed tranny. Many operators suggest that this combination is smooth as silk. The hemi-V8 is not the first choice for stretching, the motor is too powerful and it tends to screw up the drive shafts used in stretching these coaches. If you buy a stretch with the hemi, baby it, pushing the pedal to the metal is a sure way to have issues with this coach.

Unlike the Lincoln or the Cadillac, Chrysler does not participate with the livery industry in warranting its vehicles for livery use and there are no certified Chrysler stretches. That means a certified builder or an uncertified builder, it does not matter. You should instead look at the components used in the stretch. The stretch needs oversized rotors to enable braking and stronger struts, this is around a $3000.00 package, that is well worth the money on a new vehicle. Look at Pinnacle’s build, it looks nice and appears to be built right.

The Mercedes 350e is a 4 door sedan with a 3.5 liter V6 match to a 7 speed tranny. Mercedes has had a lot of style changes here and 2013s have a major face lift compared to older models. The 2014 MSRP is $51,000, but I think they can be had for around $48,000, making them slightly more expensive than the MKT or the XTS. Mercedes have many options that can substantially add to the coaches cost.

Mercedes E350 has estimated 21/30 miles per gallon which is the best of the class for sedans I am discussing. The E350 is rear wheel drive across the entire class but there is also a 4matic version which is Mercedes all-wheel drive. Most owners I have spoken are satisfied with these coaches, and Mercedes sales of these units are very good. I don’t know enough about stretches on this chassis, in the past, Mercedes stretches over 120” have been problematic, the rear ends were not suitable for a stretch.

Summary and Comparison:

Here are some of the important features that pertain to these Sedans:

The MKT has the largest capacity, which makes sense since it is a crossover vehicle; it weights the most, almost a thousand pounds more, and has more room than any of the competitive models.

Hope that helps, I will discuss the SUV and the stretches in upcoming posts.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 
•