Lincoln is going all-in on utilities. By year end, its lineup will consist of only crossovers and SUVs.
The next step will be to expand the luxury brand’s electrified offerings, a process begun recently with the Aviator and Corsair Grand Touring plug-in hybrids. The hulking Navigator is due for a hybrid variant when it’s redesigned later this decade. After canceling plans to produce a Lincoln-badged battery-electric vehicle with startup Rivian, Lincoln execs vowed to still add a full EV to the lineup. That will come in 2023 in the form of a midsize crossover.
MKZ: Lincoln this year confirmed plans to discontinue the MKZ by the end of the year. The Mexico plant where it’s been produced alongside the Ford Fusion will be retooled to make new pickups and utilities.
Continental: Lincoln brought back the Continental in 2016 as a flagship for a rebounding brand. But sales never took off, and officials have confirmed they will discontinue the vehicle in the U.S. by the end of the year, although it will live on in China.
Corsair: The crossover formerly known as the MKC is the luxury brand’s bestseller. Through the first half of 2020, sales were down 5.2 percent to 11,133. A plug-in hybrid model, called the Corsair Grand Touring, will go on sale this year. From a performance perspective, the plug-in nestles between the standard 2.0-liter engine and available 2.3-liter. The GT has an all-electric range of more than 25 miles and a Lincoln-first electric all-wheel-drive system. The Corsair is expected to be freshened in 2022, with a redesign in 2024.
Nautilus: The Nautilus, like its counterpart Ford Edge, is not long for this world. Lincoln plans to discontinue sales in the U.S. after the current life cycle runs out in 2023. And, like the Edge, the Nautilus will be replaced in the lineup with an electric midsize crossover.
Electric midsize crossover: Lincoln’s upcoming crossover is expected to be built in Cuautitlan, Mexico, alongside a similar model for the Ford brand. It will be Lincoln’s first battery-electric model, after an EV slated to be co-developed with Rivian was canceled. It is expected in 2023.
Aviator: Lincoln’s overall sales in the first half of 2020 were down 8 percent, but the numbers would be much worse without the Aviator. The brand’s newest vehicle earned 10 percent retail market share in the large premium crossover segment through the first half of the year, according to Lincoln. Although it’s been on sale for less than a year, the Aviator is fewer than 1,500 units away from being the brand’s top seller in the U.S. The Aviator is scheduled to be freshened in 2023.
Navigator: Sales have cooled after a hot start following its 2018 redesign, but the Navigator remains vitally important to Lincoln’s lineup, especially with a redesigned Cadillac Escalade looming. Expect Lincoln to counterpunch with a freshening in 2021 followed by a redesign in 2023 that includes a hybrid model. It will essentially follow the same cadence as the Ford Expedition.