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2018 Lincoln Navigator ad has more weird Matthew McConaughey

Now that new 2018 Lincoln Navigators are on their way to dealers, it's once again time for Matthew McConaughey to be weird behind the wheel in a new commercial. Things start out normally enough with the actor sitting in the SUV at a railroad crossing. But don't worry, it gets strange soon enough because for the rest of the commercial, McConaughey just drums on the Lincoln's steering wheel, a bit like in that disconcerting lunch scene in The Wolf of Wall Street. And the whole time, the actor doesn't say a word. He just drums along to the train and the crossing bells. Then he drives away. And that's it. It's just McConaughey drumming. The ad actually doesn't even show much of the Navigator, and obviously there isn't a word said about it. The most you might be able to learn about the Navigator from this commercial is that it's an SUV, it has an interior that has chrome and leather, and it has those "piano key" buttons for the shifter. We get that the first McConaughey commercials went viral and were frequently parodied for how bizarre they were, and the last Continental ad was also pretty off-the-wall. That was all good for getting attention from younger buyers, but we wonder if these ads are losing their punch and effectiveness. And if they have, then this ad doesn't do anything else to give buyers a sense of what the Navigator is. That's a shame, because the newest Navigator has a lot going for it. Instead, we get McConaughey drumming. Enjoy. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Celebrities Marketing/Advertising Lincoln SUV Luxury Videos lincoln navigator

Lincoln scales back free maintenance

Complimentary scheduled maintenance programs have been great tools for luxury automakers to draw in new customers, but some are starting to scale their programs back considerably. According to Automotive News, Lincoln is joining Jaguar and Volvo on the list of automakers reducing the length of time it will be providing free maintenance to its customers.
Lincoln's four-year/50,000-mile maintenance program first kicked off as an incentive in 2010 and became permanent later that year, but starting with the 2014 model year, this will be cut to just two years and 24,000 miles. This could make short-term leases even more appealing for some consumers, but according to Automotive News, some Lincoln dealers are unhappy with the scaling back. The move admittedly comes at an odd time for Lincoln, with parent Ford seemingly working hard to increase consideration among luxury buyers as it looks to reverse the marque's long decline.

2020 Lincoln Aviator 450-hp PHEV will get its own exterior visual cues

Lincoln will brand its powerful plug-in version of the new Aviator crossover as a GT hybrid package with a few distinguishing visual cues when it goes on sale next summer. The luxury PHEV crossover will do battle with competitors like the Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid, Volvo XC90 T8 and BMW's (incredibly long-winded) X5 xDrive45e iPerformance. The "GT" designation harkens to the golden era of grand touring and is meant to convey the combination of high performance and comfort over long distances. "It's really trying to get at how Lincoln is redefining luxury performance," said Brad Jager, the Aviator brand manager. The hybrid system will deliver 450 horsepower and a whopping 600 pound-feet of torque, which are increases of 50 hp and 200 lb-ft over the pure combustion version powered by a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6. Lincoln isn't releasing expected electric-only range or fuel economy, and it's keeping most of the details of the hybrid system under wraps for now. It has said you'll also be able to hold the charge to be deployed later, such as for short trips in town. Lincoln is, however, making a few subtle exterior changes to designate the GT hybrid setup, which will be offered in the higher-end GT and Black Label trim models (the entry-level Aviator and Reserve models will be available only in gasoline combustion versions). First are changes to the Lincoln star badge on the grille and Aviator badge on the side flanks, which fill in with a blue color borrowed from the original Lincoln V12 badge from the 1930s and '40s — a neat touch on a vehicle that is reviving a nameplate. The grille itself is also an inversion of the new Lincoln treatment appearing on models like the Navigator and Nautilus. So where the grilles on those models have cutouts, the GT hybrid grille has protruding shapes that dissipate the further away they are from the center badge. Lastly, the PHEV will come with 21-inch wheels instead of the 22-inchers that equip non-hybrid versions. Lincoln says it designed the rear-wheel-drive architecture with the Aviator in mind, allowing the battery to go underneath the passenger-side second-row seats and maximizing interior space. Engineers also fit an electric motor between the V6 engine and the 10-speed automatic transmission. Lincoln hasn't announced pricing on the Aviator, which goes on sale next summer, and the plug-in hybrid versions will obviously command a premium.