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Lincoln Aviator debuts as stylish 3-row crossover with a surprise

NEW YORK — At a studio in the Meatpacking District in Manhattan, after a walk through an "art gallery" full of inspiration for Lincoln's newest midsize, three-row Aviator crossover, we saw the company's future. That's not breathless hyperbole, either. Lincoln's huge Navigator is selling like gangbusters, but the aging MKT is a sad vestige of the company's last attempt to reinvent itself. The company needs an attractive, well-proportioned three-row with contemporary powertrains to complement the MKC and the larger Nautilus (nee MKX). For those wondering, the MKC is likely to get renamed at its next refresh, and the lousy MK__ naming convention will finally die. But while the names are refreshing, that's not the reason the Aviator is so important. For one, it'll almost certainly lend its underpinnings, which are rear-wheel-drive based, to the next Ford Explorer. The other is that it's an all-important three-row, a conventionally-shaped one rather than the awkward MKT's long, lumpy look. The Aviator — the vehicle we saw is a preview, not a production model, but is extremely close to production — has style and presence. There's more than a bit of Range Rover Velar in the look, but it's not a clone. And the interior is a wonderful interpretation of the larger Navigator's bold, distinctive and purely American look. View 20 Photos While many, many details are unspecified at this stage — including exact engine details, dimensions, and the like — there's enough there to draw some conclusions about the new Aviator. For one, it's got a version of the Navigator's elegant interior. Those Perfect Position seats, also seen in the Continental, covered with soft leather, are central to the Aviator's interior experience. When's the last time beautiful seats were such a selling point? Other than Volvo, no one's put enough attention on unique and particularly comfortable seats. It's a unique selling proposition and, also, a nice aesthetic detail. You could say the same for the dash design: It's low and sleek, with solid but not bulky elements and the sort of tastefulness normally reserved for Scandinavian industrial design. Back to the rear-drive platform and what little else we know of the powertrain. For one, it'll feature a twin-turbocharged EcoBoost engine with an available plug-in hybrid option. As far as we can tell, both versions will use the same engine, and there are no optional engines outside of this.

Trump did talk to Bill Ford, but the Kentucky plant was never moving to Mexico

President-elect Donald J. Trump has been butting heads with Ford for a while now. A lot of it seems to stem from misunderstanding or misrepresenting facts about how the automaker currently does business and its plans for the future. After a sit-down with executive chairman Bill Ford Jr., the misunderstandings continue, but Trump has apparently convinced the company to make some changes. During his campaign, Trump claimed that Ford was going to fire US workers and move manufacturing to Mexico. That wasn't the case – yes, Ford planned to transfer Focus and C-Max production from Wayne, Michigan, to Cuautitlan, Mexico, but no, that wouldn't mean anyone losing their job. The Wayne plant will continue to operate, and likely busier than before, as it will be the home of the new Bronco and Ranger. So Ford CEO Mark Fields responded with the facts, and then chairman Bill Ford Jr. sat down with Trump over the summer. Things apparently weren't resolved to Trump's satisfaction, so he and Bill Ford spoke on the phone yesterday as he claims in this tweet: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Let's pick that apart. First off, it's not a Lincoln plant, per se – the Louisville Assembly Plant currently builds the Ford Escape and Lincoln MKC, two small crossovers that share a platform. Ford was considering moving MKC production out of Kentucky to Mexico, but it would not have resulted in many lost jobs if any – the union had already agreed to moving the MKC in 2015 negotiations, and taking production of the slow-selling Lincoln out of the plant would open up capacity for more Fords. Be that as it may, Ford has decided not to move MKC production out of the plant, either for political reasons of placation or because it didn't make the greatest deal of business sense, maybe a combination of the two. That means Trump isn't really saving any American jobs in the short term. If anything, this move could keep Ford supply-constrained and result in reduced sales, which in turn brings the company less money and affects the bottom line and all employees. But that's speculation, so we won't tweet it. There is of course the possibility that Ford will be convinced, either by sheer will or by a more attractive trade situation, to invest in increased US production, which could bear fruit later on. We are told by Ford that the two men did in fact speak yesterday.

2016 Lincoln MKX spied in production form

We're getting our first quality look at the next-generation Lincoln MKX in production guise thanks to these fresh spy shots, and they suggest styling that hews very closely to the concept from earlier this year. Compared to the showcar, the headlights aren't quite as well integrated into the grille, but these LED units still attempt to nicely wrap the split-wing grille across the entire face of the vehicle. Beyond that, the two vehicles quite similar, though. The shape of the lower air dam is practically identical – just with some extra plastic for the production version. The hint of a character line running down the side also makes the resemblance easy to spot, despite this tester's polka-dot camouflage. At the rear, the taillights stretch across the hatch with integrated exhaust outlets below. Even the twin-spoke wheels are comparable to the concept. Also, look carefully at these spy shots, and you can notice Lincoln apparently testing two different trims. One has LED headlights with front and rear parking sensors (pictured above), and the other shows projector lights with the sensors only at the rear. The next-gen MKX will launch in 2015 and will be the first model in Lincoln's lineup to benefit from the deal with Harman to use its high-end Revel audio system. Check out the gallery to get a mildly camouflaged sneak preview of the company's future luxury crossover.