2015 Lincoln MKC (file photo)
Ford Motor Co. will spend up to $5 billion over the next five years in an attempt to keep reviving Lincoln.
Reuters said Ford CEO Mark Fields has earmarked at least $1 billion annually for Lincoln over the next five years, compared with $2 billion spent on the division since 2012, according to an unnamed source.
The expenditures will pay for a new MKX crossover next year; a new MKS sedan in 2016; a new Navigator with an aluminum body in 2017; a refresh for the recently introduced MKC crossover in 2018; and replacements for the MKZ sedan and MKT crossover in 2019, both of which may get new platforms.
Lincoln badly trails the leading luxury brands in the U.S., including cross-town rival Cadillac.
Nonetheless, Ford wants Lincoln to triple its sales to 300,000 vehicles by 2020 and apparently is willing to invest in at least one distinct vehicle platform that won’t be shared with mainstream Ford models.
That may be a premium two-wheel and all-wheel drive platform that will underpin the next generation of Lincolns beginning in 2019, Reuters said.
The brand’s most recent success has been the new MKC compact crossover, which offers styling and driving dynamics that are distinct from the Ford Escape on which the MKC is based.
Through September, Lincoln’s sales were up 13.2 percent, according to Automotive News.