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Lincoln considering giving cars real names again

Enthusiastic reaction to the Continental concept might be the death knell for Lincoln's alphabet soup of monikers. "Without divulging the future, we're very excited about the Continental name and the attention it's gotten," Ford President of the Americas Joe Hinrichs said to Automotive News. Hinrichs admitted that the current MK names could confuse those not familiar with the models. Hinrichs suggested that one way Lincoln might differentiate itself was to "leverage its heritage." While this is certainly nothing explicit, the talk could be an indication of an upcoming overhaul for the brand's naming scheme. The Continental is set to hit the market next year as a replacement for the MKS as the company makes a major push into China. Lincoln bosses reportedly gave the designers the model name as inspiration for what to create. The brand's health has slowly been improving since former Ford CEO Alan Mulally was ready to completely kill the brand. Last year, a new boss was appointed to the helm, and there were reports of a modular platform under development. Let us know in Comments what Lincoln names you want to see revived. The Town Car is likely the best-known model from the brand after the Continental, and Zephyr has fairly recent history as the brief moniker for the MKZ. Related Video:

Lincoln Corsair reportedly getting a PHEV among three engine options

What's a Lincoln Corsair, again? That would be the forthcoming replacement for the current Lincoln MKC compact crossover, and we know little about it besides its name change and the fact it'll be related to the also-redesigned Ford Escape. However, The Truth About Cars says it saw paperwork Ford filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration detailing Corsair powertrain options. These VIN decoder documents reportedly indicate three available engines, including, most notably, a plug-in hybrid. TTAC, which didn't post the documents, indicates the hybrid's heart will be a 2.5-liter Duratec four-cylinder – such an engine currently power base models of the Ford Escape and Fusion. All-electric driving range is unknown, but the Fusion Energi can go 25 miles, and crossover competitors do anywhere from 22 to 26 miles on EV power. What we do know is that all PHEV Corsairs will come with AWD. This would be the first time we've seen mention of a Lincoln Corsair plug-in hybrid, but the idea isn't far fetched. The new Lincoln Aviator will offer a plug-in hybrid version, and we know there's a traditional hybrid version of the related Ford Escape crossover on the way. Spy shots of that vehicle from earlier this month didn't show the plug-in port where Ford likes to put it, on the left front fender. We expect a different powertrain in that model and we also wouldn't be surprised if there's an Escape PHEV as well. The other two powertrains will reportedly be the MKC's 2.0-liter Ecoboost four-cylinder as the base, with the 2.3-liter EcoBoost continuing to be an optional upgrade. TTAC also says the VIN document indicates that trim configurations have changed to simply offering standard and Signature trims (from the MKC's standard, Select, Reserve, and Black Label levels). This is hard to believe given that every other Lincoln offers a Black Label and is usually the model featured in promotions and official photography. There's still a lot to be learned about the Lincoln Corsair, including whether these VIN documents are accurate. We expect to know more later in the year. Given that the Lincoln Aviator was shown before its Ford Explorer sibling, we wouldn't be surprised if the Corsair made its official introduction first. Related Video:

NHTSA closes rollaway investigation into 1.56M Ford SUVs

It's taken four years of study, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has finally closed the books on its investigation into rollaway accusations surrounding 1.56-million Ford SUV models.
The probe, which centered on the 2002-2005 Ford Explorer, 2002-2005 Mercury Mountaineer and 2003-2005 Lincoln Aviator, ends without the federal agency calling for a recall. According to The Detroit News, the investigation was closed due to a "low number of complaints" - NHTSA documented 180 such complaints that resulted in 14 crashes and six minor injuries, but the number of incidents have been slowing. The suspected defect rate for the trucks' automatic transmissions was found to be 4.4 per 100,000 units, and the brake-shift interlock mechanism failure rate was judged to be even lower at 3.4 per 100k.