According to rumors from reliable sources, the Lincoln Aviator SUV, which has been on the
market for nine months and has sold poorly, will be dropped as early as 2005. Reportedly,
sales have been slow because it has been viewed as a clone of the Ford Explorer.
Aviator
may be replaced in the Lincoln lineup by a new sport wagon based on the Mazda6 platform,
beginning in August 2006 as a 2007 model.
Production of the Aviator is scheduled to stop at
the end of the 2005 model year. The new sport wagon is designed to compete against models
such as the Lexus RX 330 and Infiniti FX45.
