Lincoln Looks to Shake Geriatric Profile With Curvy Corsair SUV
Lincoln Looks to Shake Geriatric Profile With Curvy Corsair SUV
(Bloomberg) -- Lincoln, renowned as the ride of retirees, is again trying to attract younger buyers, this time by keeping the price low and the tech high on its curvy new Corsair sport utility vehicle.
Ford Motor Co.’s long-lagging luxury brand is trying to build off its hit Navigator SUV with a winner at the entry level, where buyers first step up to premium models. It’s a tall order because German and Japanese offerings like the Audi Q5 and Acura RDX outsell Lincoln’s MKC -- the compact SUV that Corsair is replacing -- by 3-to-1. With Wednesday’s introduction at the New York International Auto Show, Corsair will try to whittle down the average age of Lincoln buyers from 63, about a decade above the industry norm.
Affordability is key when wooing younger consumers, so Ford is dropping the small SUV’s pricey “Black Label” edition and deferring its plug-in hybrid. Instead, it will offer two gasoline-engine options when Corsair goes on sale this summer, adding the electrified version at a later date. That should help keep the starting price close to the MKC’s $33,995, even with tech flourishes that appeal to younger buyers, including an 8-inch touchscreen rising from the dash and the ability to unlock and start the vehicle from a smartphone.
“They’re hitting at a good time with an overall package that has appealing style and content, so we expect at least a short-term bump in sales before competitive pressure intensifies,” said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting for researcher LMC Automotive. “This has become the vehicle size and price point of choice among mainstream premium buyers because it’s still in the affordable spectrum. If you want to step up, this is a natural place to do that.”
Small SUVs are the fastest-growing slice of the luxury market, with U.S. sales more than tripling in the last six years. Lincoln’s MKC, which debuted in 2014, has always been a bit player, ranking seventh last year. Fresh styling and features -- plus the new name that means a pirate ship -- will boost deliveries 14 percent by 2020, to almost 30,000 vehicles, LMC predicts. That still makes it a “niche player,” Schuster said.
Importantly, small SUVs are also hot in China, which Lincoln expects will become its largest market in a few years. Corsair will be the first Lincoln model built in China when production starts there late this year, said Joy Falotico, head of the brand.
“It’s truly a global vehicle that’ll be built in Louisville here in the U.S. and in China,” Falotico said at the Corsair’s introduction in New York.
Corsair is the fourth new or redesigned SUV Lincoln has fielded in the last two years and completes its lineup from small to tall. The brand’s shift to focus on the big rigs is showing promise: Lincoln SUV sales soared 23 percent in the first quarter, while demand for sedans including the revived Continental collapsed.
Corsair’s undulating curves were inspired by ballerinas, said David Woodhouse, the brand’s chief designer. “The smallest Lincoln SUV is the most expressive and, significantly, the most youthful, deliberately so in order to draw new and younger clients,” he said. “The aim is to create a sense of seduction, not attack.”
Initially, buyers will have a choice of two turbocharged 4-cylinder gas engines, a 250-horsepower 2.0 liter and a 280-horsepower 2.3 liter. The SUV is built on the same new all-wheel-drive mechanical foundation that underpins the redesigned Ford Escape coming this fall.
Should a Lincoln buyer want a plug-in hybrid SUV sooner, the brand will begin offering one on its three-row Aviator this summer. Lincoln also will be getting a fully electric battery-powered model in the next few years and intends to take on Tesla Inc. and all the other electric vehicles surging into the luxury space, Falotico said.
For now, Lincoln is taking its time to let the market develop.
“It remains to be seen what the EV adoption rate will be,” Falotico said. “That’s why we’re not rushing it and staying with hybrids.”
--With assistance from Melinda Grenier.
To contact the reporter on this story: Keith Naughton in Southfield, Michigan at knaughton3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Trudell at ctrudell1@bloomberg.net, Kevin Miller, Melinda Grenier
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