Lincoln tries to build a new luxury SUV on the Ford Bronco’s bones
For years, people quietly floated the idea of a smaller Lincoln Navigator, one with sharper edges and less yacht club polish. Lincoln, long associated with soft road barges and Florida retirees, now looked like it wanted a different crowd. Fresh chatter pointed to a strategic pivot, Ford’s luxury arm set its sights on the Mercedes Benz G Class and the Land Rover Defender, using the Ford Bronco’s rugged body on frame platform as the starting point. Consider it an attempt to inject a proper dose of American testosterone into the brand’s definition of luxury.
The foundation would be Ford’s T6 platform, already doing duty under the Ranger and Bronco. While many rivals chose monocoque construction in the name of refinement, Lincoln reportedly stuck with the classic ladder frame. That single decision dictates the whole character of the vehicle. It must cope with mud and rocks as confidently as it does the asphalt outside an opera house.
Where a base Bronco makes do with a four cylinder, Lincoln would likely reach for the 3.0 litre V6 EcoBoost, good for more than 400 horsepower. The idea is simple, keep the muscle, lose the bruiser manners. Unlike the Bronco’s more uncompromising stance, Lincoln should fit adaptive air suspension to smooth out the tremor that comes with frame based architecture. Expect active noise cancellation too, along with thick laminated glass to insulate passengers from the outside world, because luxury still means silence, even if the tyres sit on all terrain rubber.
Bronco’s Goes Over Any type of Terrain modes would surely return, but with a more tasteful name and, quite possibly, a software leash. The sort that stops the car from burying itself to the axles in a bog, at least not without a few stern warnings and a menu screen that asks if you are absolutely sure.
The luxury SUV market currently splits into two camps, sterile urban crossovers and the genuine adventurers. The G Class proved something important, wealthy buyers love the promise of military heritage and real capability, even if it never goes beyond a wet grass verge at a country hotel. Ford CEO Jim Farley understood the problem. Lincoln’s current line up, Aviator and Nautilus, looked good and drove well enough, but neither carried much personality.
This is where the sums start to smile. Development costs stayed relatively low because the Bronco already existed. Margins, on the other hand, could head into the stratosphere, because a Lincoln badge and serious leather make it easy to add at least $30,000 (about €27,600) to the sticker. It is a neat way to milk a segment where rationality checked out years ago and left emotion in charge.
Of course, the Bronco’s width already turns city parking into a small performance. Lincoln would probably widen the stance further with more elaborate bodywork and richer panels. That might make the urban circus even funnier, but then buyers in this corner of the market rarely ask for small, sensible or subtle. They ask for presence, then pay extra for the privilege.
