A spat being played out in the media has broken out between Bentley and Ford, with Bentley’s designer accusing Lincoln’s of copying a Bentley design for its latest concept.
Lincoln said earlier this week that the Lincoln Continental Concept signals the “future of quiet luxury and the all-new full-size sedan coming next year”.
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However, images released of the concept brought a fierce reaction from Bentley’s chief designer Luc Donckerwolke. “Do you want us to send the product tooling,” he wrote on the Facebook page of Lincoln styling chief David Woodhouse.
“I would have called it Flying Spur concept and kept the four round lights,” Donckerwolke added.
Bloomberg reported that Stephen Odell, Ford’s global marketing head, dismissed Donckerwolke’s criticism. “There’s no way that we’ve copied anybody’s design,” Odell reportedly said. “Our Continental has its own character, its own architecture and its own aspects as a car.”
The Lincoln concept makes a statement about Ford’s plans to energise the Lincoln premium brand. “Luxury at its best is about simplifying and quietly exceeding expectations, rather than being the loudest statement on the road,” said Mark Fields, Ford CEO. “The Continental Concept showcases the promise of quiet luxury from Lincoln going forward. It also is a strong indication of what’s to come next year as we introduce our new Lincoln Continental full-size luxury sedan.”
Maybe the design of that car will get a hefty tweak…
 Bentley’s Flying Spur |
 Lincoln’s Continental Concept |
