Photo: Lincoln
Aside from the all-new MKC compact crossover and the 2-year-old MKZ sedan, the average age of vehicles in the Lincoln lineup sits at almost eight years. That all is expected to change, however, as Ford’s luxury division readies a sweeping update of its lineup over the next two years, according to Automotive News.
Hinted at by the MKX Concept revealed earlier this year, Lincoln’s next big launch will be the 2016 Lincoln MKX. With the 2015 model set to go on sale this fall, it sounds like the second generation of this mid-size luxury crossover won’t hit dealer until the second half of next year. Details are still slim about this model, but the report indicates that it could get an all-new 3.0-liter EcoBoost V-6 and chances are that the overall design language will be very similar to the concept vehicle.
About the same time as the MKX (possibly a couple months before), Lincoln will be introducing an updated version of the mid-size MKZ sedan, which debuted for the 2013 model year. The 2016 Lincoln MKZ could bring a few new styling elements to the sedan, but the biggest changes could occur inside with the unpopular touch controls being replaced with actual buttons and knobs as previewed by the layout of the MKC center stack.
Following these two mid-size offerings, Lincoln will then focus its attention on the bigger models in its lineup starting with the 2017 Lincoln Navigator. This SUV will likely launch in the second half of 2016, and following in the footsteps of the Ford F-Series pickup trucks, the next-gen Navigator could very well feature an all-aluminum body construction.
Perhaps the more important launch for Lincoln is the next-gen full-size sedan, which may or may not retain the MKS name. Planned to debut in the middle of 2016, Lincoln’s new flagship sedan will ditch the Volvo-derived platform on which in currently rides and replace it with a stretched version of the same CD4 platform used for the Ford Fusion. Interestingly, the codename for this new sedan is “Continental,” so we can only hope that Lincoln is looking to ditch the MK_ names it currently uses in favor of some actual names with some history behind them.
Of course, this timeline doesn’t even take into account the possibility of a new Lincoln model that was recently rumored to be sharing the same platform as the 2015 Ford Mustang. It’s been quite a few years since Lincoln has mustered any excitement, but this surely seems to be changing over the next several years.
About the same time as the MKX (possibly a couple months before), Lincoln will be introducing an updated version of the mid-size MKZ sedan, which debuted for the 2013 model year. The 2016 Lincoln MKZ could bring a few new styling elements to the sedan, but the biggest changes could occur inside with the unpopular touch controls being replaced with actual buttons and knobs as previewed by the layout of the MKC center stack.
Following these two mid-size offerings, Lincoln will then focus its attention on the bigger models in its lineup starting with the 2017 Lincoln Navigator. This SUV will likely launch in the second half of 2016, and following in the footsteps of the Ford F-Series pickup trucks, the next-gen Navigator could very well feature an all-aluminum body construction.
Perhaps the more important launch for Lincoln is the next-gen full-size sedan, which may or may not retain the MKS name. Planned to debut in the middle of 2016, Lincoln’s new flagship sedan will ditch the Volvo-derived platform on which in currently rides and replace it with a stretched version of the same CD4 platform used for the Ford Fusion. Interestingly, the codename for this new sedan is “Continental,” so we can only hope that Lincoln is looking to ditch the MK_ names it currently uses in favor of some actual names with some history behind them.
Of course, this timeline doesn’t even take into account the possibility of a new Lincoln model that was recently rumored to be sharing the same platform as the 2015 Ford Mustang. It’s been quite a few years since Lincoln has mustered any excitement, but this surely seems to be changing over the next several years.
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