The days of Lincoln’s head office being located in Irvine with Mazda and the Premier Automotive Group (PAG) may have been short-lived a little while back but that hasn’t stopped the Ford luxury brand choosing California – luxury car and import brand territory – to launch its new MKS full-size luxury sedan.
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Ford said the new model, making its debut at the Los Angeles motor show on Wednesday, aims to attract new buyers with its “timeless design, fuel-efficient powertrain and an unparalleled suite of features and technologies”.
These include include ‘Sync’ voice-activated, hands-free in-car communications; ‘easy fuel’ capless fuel filling (also going into new Fords in Europe where it will prevent petrol being put in diesel cars); THX-certified audio; Sirius Travel Link; voice-activated navigation; and a next-generation keyless entry keypad.
The car will be offered with a 3.7-litre V6 and all-wheel drive.
The MKS will be the first vehicle to have Ford’s new petrol turbo direct injection engine technology – said to provide the power and torque of a V8 engine with the fuel efficiency of a V6 – less than a year after launch.
Prices will start around $US38,000. Ford expects many owners to be first-time luxury buyers, with a significant number expected to migrate from imports – up to 60% conquest sales.
“We’re playing to win with the Lincoln MKS, especially in California, where more luxury vehicles are sold than anywhere else, said Mike Richards, Lincoln’s general marketing manager. “We’re also making an extra effort to reach out to African American and Hispanic buyers… in part, through new marketing relationships with artists Common and Juanes” who will be involved with advertising and promotion of the car and its technology.
The MKS will be built in Ford’s Chicago assembly plant and is due in US showrooms next summer.
