2009 Lincoln MKT Preview

It’s not enough to flex your muscles. Though it will share its underpinnings with Ford’s new Flex crossover vehicle, the “people mover” the Lincoln division is rolling out at this year’s Detroit Auto Show will have a decidedly different appearance from its down-market sibling.

 

With its curvaceous exterior and lavish, “Lear Jet” cabin, the 2009 MKT concept gives more than a subtle hint of what’s to come from Ford as it moves to rebuild its struggling Lincoln luxury brand.

 

The marque hopes to stand out at the crowded show, not only with a striking design but with a surprisingly eco-friendly package –powered by a 415-horsepower V-6 – that shows performance, fuel economy and recyclability are not mutually exclusive.

 

Think of the MKT as “the Lear Jet of the road,” suggests Ford’s North American design director, Peter Horbury. Like other recent Lincoln designs, such as the MKS sedan and MKR concept, the prototype utility vehicle borrows classic design cues without crossing into the world of retro.

 

“It’s not retro in any way,” insists Horbury. “We’ve just used the past to help us move into the future.”

 

The face of the MKT is its split-wing grille, first seen on the MKS, but here framed by a set of LED headlamps. The most distinctive element from a plan, or side, view, is the beveled edge, essentially the shoulder of the people mover, which harkens back to Lincolns of the 1950s.

 

The roof of the MKT is virtually all glass, which flows into a thick rear pillar and an unusual bustle back, with a power liftgate, that creates a striking visual signature – and plenty of cargo space behind the people-mover’s four bucket seats. The rounded, wraparound rear conceals a bumper that can more than meet current crash standards. MKT rides on 21-inch, 14-spoke wheels.

 

Inside, the utility vehicle provides massive amounts of room, especially in the rear. The individual buckets can recline and have foldaway footrests, and are intended to provide not only limousine-style room, but a comfortable working environment.

 

The instrument panel was influenced by Swarovski crystal, notes Horbury, and is backlit by a cluster of tiny LED lamps. The flying center console sweeps down from the top of the instrument panel and flows through to the back seat. One of the more technically nifty tricks is a rear-projection system that displays sharply on the upper glass face of the center stack.

 

 

From top to bottom, inside and out, Ford used recyclable and eco-friendly materials and hardware. The seats and doors, for example, are lined with chromium-free leather and recycled wood. The plush, silk-like carpeting is made from banana leaves and bark.

 

The lightweight body panels, meanwhile, are made from a plastic polymer sourced from recycled soda pop bottles. Trimming weight directly influences fuel economy.

 

Traditionally, automotive engineers have had to face a trade-off when it comes to performance, emissions and fuel-economy, but Ford officials insist the MKT can deliver all three through the use of the company’s new EcoBoost system.

 

Also making its debut in Detroit , this year, this engine technology is, for the mechanically minded, a gasoline turbocharged direct injection system, or GTDI. Rather than mixed in with air, gasoline is injected directly into each cylinder’s combustion chamber, resulting in a cleaner, more efficient burn. Turbocharging further improves performance. The MKS sedan will go to market with a since-turbo, 3.5-liter V-6 producing 340 horsepower, more than a match for the V-8s used by many of Lincoln ’s competitors.

 

For the MKT show car, Lincoln uses a twin-turbo version of the 3.5-liter V-6, and here, fueled by E85, a mix of ethanol and gasoline, it makes a whopping 415 hp and 400 pound-feet of torque, similar to what you might expect of a 6.0-liter V-8, but in the EcoBoost package using significantly less fuel.

 

“All of this is generally feasible,” says Horbury. Translation: the materials and technology are available, but don’t expect the plastic panels any time soon. The banana leaf carpet? Maybe, if it can meet cost and durability targets.

 

The twin-turbo EcoBoost, hints Ford Motor Co. marketing chief Jim Farley, is all but certain to show up at Lincoln dealerships, most likely by the 2010 model year.

 

And while company officials start to whistle and stare at their shows when asked, it seems a fairly dead-on certainty that a production version of the MKT will make it onto the road by 2010, as well.

 

“These days,” says Mark Fields, Ford’s President of the Americas , “it’s all about how to get things into production as quickly as possible.”

 

The design will be toned down a wee bit – though not much, a senior design executive whispered – and “the interior is just showtime,” according to Horbury, but look for a package that is more rounded and Lincolnesque than the decidedly hard-edged Ford Flex people-mover.

 

If our sources are right, the MKT would join a fast expanding list of new Lincoln products. “A step at a time,” says Fields, acknowledging that the division has a lot of catching up to do in a segment where product proliferation has become the norm. But it takes time to get things right – not just at the plant, but also on the dealer side, where salespeople went years without seeing much that was new.

 

For Lincoln , the good news is that customers are responding well to what they’re seeing. Though Ford, as a whole, was hit hard by last year’s slumping market, Lincoln sales rose 9 percent. And if you don’t count fleet numbers, retail sales jumped 15 percent, spurred on by the newest members of the line-up, the MKZ sedan and MKX crossover.

 

With the MKS and, soon after, an MKT, Lincoln hopes to keep the renaissance going.

2008 Detroit Auto Show Coverage by TCC Team (1/6/2008)
Ford F-150, Hyundai Genesis and Corvette ZR1.

Ford EcoBoost: V-8 Power from Six? by TCC Team (1/6/2008)
Explorer concept’s new engine offers greener future.

2009 Ford Flex Preview by TCC Team (4/4/2007)
New crossover sports fridge, footrests.