Detroit luxury has had a rough road the last fifteen years. Brands like Cadillac, Buick, and Lincoln began losing buyers to foreign brands like Mercedes, BMW, Audi, and Lexus – brands that came with youthful styling and techie innovations marketed towards younger affluent audiences.
Fortunately for Cadillac and most recently Buick, General Motors caught onto the idea of youthful luxury. Nowhere is that more evident than Cadillac’s CTS. Gone is the old-man boat/Caddy that filled the local bingo hall parking lot; replaced by a sedan that can match a BMW 3-seres step for step and win the heart of a 30-something businessman.
Ford has been spending a lot of money on design and development for blue-oval branded vehicles lately, and now it seems it’s Lincoln’s turn. Jim Farley, executive VP of Global Marketing for Lincoln says “We are reinventing Lincoln by focusing on the largest and fastest-growing segments of the luxury market, while offering clients something different.”
Lincoln has certainly embodied something different inside the new MKC concept: a new hope for greater Lincoln. Although labeled as a concept, Farley said at the Detroit Auto Show, “When you see the MKC, do not think concept.”
So what makes the MKC so different that Lincoln feels it can help redefine their brand? For starters, it bears the updated company face and design language with craftsman-like detailing. One bit the designers seem proud of is the rear liftgate with its side-view cutline, or opening gap. Unlike many SUVs of today, the rear liftgate is as wide as the vehicle itself, with an uninterrupted taillight assembly spanning across the entire backend.
The interior has such features like natural open-pore wood infused with a metallic flake for a “glistening effect.” It will likely employ an electric push-button gear selector and other wizardry that pulls the CUV into the global fight.
Not much is known about powertrain options, but we’d expect an EcoBoost from its Ford cousins. Price also remains a mystery at this time, but pure speculation on our part guesstimates the starting price might begin around $37,000.
With so much still in the dark about the MKC, there’s a lot more left to speculate on. But something we’re certain of is that if Lincoln follows GM’s playbook on rebranding an older nameplate, they’ll do just fine. Hot rod Lincoln, anyone?
