Ford's product strategy for its premium Lincoln brand - one that prioritizes "quiet luxury" over attempting to beat the Germans at the performance game - is a sound one, but it wasn't enough to save the flagship Lincoln Continental sedan. The Continental has sold at a snail's pace in the US since the nameplate's reintroduction for 2017, and now, Automotive News reports that the full-size land yacht will be discontinued at the end of 2020.

The midsize Lincoln MKZ is following a similar timeline, with Ford announcing earlier this year that it would face the axe around mid-July.

Notice anything about this news? That's right; like its Blue Oval parent, Lincoln is pulling entirely out of the "traditional sedan" segment in the United States, chasing after the US's growing utility vehicle market.

"Lincoln is investing in growth segments and the brand will feature a full portfolio of SUVs, including a fully electric vehicle in the future," read part of a statement from Lincoln. "Lincoln will continue to keep its newest SUVs fresh and we will have more news to share later this year; however, as the full-size premium sedan segment continues to decline in the U.S., we plan to end production of the Lincoln Continental at the end of this year."

Speaking of "fully electric" Lincoln utility vehicles, Ford's premium brand had one in the works, which was to be built by EV startup Rivian using Rivian's "skateboard" architecture. Unfortunately, Lincoln pulled the plug on the new luxury EV earlier this year.

Alongside the regular Continental, Ford's Lincoln brand brought back the attention-grabbing coach-door model in 2019 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the 1939 Lincoln Continental, and it sold out immediately, despite a price tag well north of $100,000. Granted, Lincoln produced just 80 examples for that model year, followed by another 150 for 2020; had it been a higher-volume car, Lincoln might have had more trouble lining up buyers.