Ford wants to restore Lincoln to its former glory and is willing to spend big in order to turn its luxury brand into a worthy competitor for Cadillac and other premium automakers.
With the backing of executive chairman Bill Ford and the company’s board, Ford’s new CEO, Mark Fields, has committed to a multiyear, multibillion-dollar overhaul of Lincoln that includes a new premium vehicle platform which will underpin several future models.
According to four sources cited by Reuters, Ford could spend $5 billion or more over the next five years to revive Lincoln, revamp its products and reposition it as a true competitor to Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
Lincoln’s revival plan is based on a new family of vehicles that will be based on a highly flexible platform (internally known as D6) built to accommodate front-, rear- and all-wheel drive vehicles, according to industry sources familiar with the plans. Sources also said that versions of the platform will be used by both the Lincoln and Ford brands.
The flexible D6 platform will underpin a wide variety of sedans and crossovers starting in 2019, all designed to distinguish Lincoln from Ford-branded vehicles.
Before the roll-out of D6-based models, Lincoln will update most of its existing products: a redesigned MKX midsize crossover will arrive in spring 2015 and a replacement for the MKS large sedan will launch a year later. The latter will also offer a long-wheelbase version for China.
In autumn 2017 the Navigator will get an extensive overhaul, with the full-size SUV said to share a version of the new Ford F-150 chassis and to get aluminum body panels. Finally, a redesign of the compact MKC crossover is scheduled for autumn 2018.
The first models based on the D6 architecture will arrive in 2019 in the form of a midsize sedan that could replace the MKZ and a large seven-passenger crossover that could replace the MKT. Both models are expected to offer front- and all-wheel drive versions.
Note: 2015 Lincoln MKC pictured
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