Lincoln, Ford's luxury brand, wheels out its first small SUV for the Detroit motor show
Ford’s US luxury brand Lincoln has unveiled this SUV concept, called MKC, at the Detroit motor show; it previews the forthcoming US-market production MKC, due later this year.
The car is based on the Ford Escape/Kuga, but gets a new, sleeker body and a new interior. It has a longer wheelbase and is wider and lower than the Escape/Kuga twins. Although some of the concept car detailing will be lost on the production vehicle, the finished MKC will be virtually identical to the show car.
Inside the MKC seats four, and gets its own dashboard that shares nothing with the Fords. It features an unusual push button gear selector to the left of the touch screen with buttons for P, R, N and D in the style of large commercial passenger vehicles. The wood trim is made from reconstructed timber with metal flakes incorporated into the material.
Lincoln, which was America’s biggest selling luxury car brand at the end of the 90s, needs new and younger buyers with more money. Cars such as the MKC and the forthcoming MKS and MKX, will have to attract customers who will have always considered Lincoln as too old and conservative.
Ford also hopes Lincoln will become successful in China, where it will be launched in 2014, in the same way Buick has for General Motors.