Before we get ahead of ourselves, the concept auto won’t go into production and the gullwing will not be included in the production model, Autoblog reported.
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While the gullwing doors will not be part of the production version, Galhotra said most of the design elements will survive.
Gullwing doors are a dramatic way to show off a spacious interior, but don’t get too excited.
That interior, with three rows of wide, squared-off captain’s chairs that complement the Storm Blue exterior paint, is a vast departure from today’s Navigator. Instead, audio and climate controls are located on floating consoles between the first two rows of seats. Cool details include the teak trim and the gear selector buttons that look like piano keys. They made the dashboard less cluttered with only essential information such as vehicle speed on the display. It features a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 engine delivering more than 400 horsepower and smart new technologies to make this SUV even more sure-footed on different road surfaces and in changing weather conditions.
That could help Lincoln improve the fuel economy of the Navigator. We’re not sure if all of the highlights of this concept will carry across to the production version, but we certainly hope so.
Lincoln says it is reinventing the brand through quiet luxury, with the focus on warm, human, personalized experiences.
“Our design language is very different than Cadillac’s, inside and out”, said Lincoln’s president, Kumar Galhotra.
As Woodhouse described Lincoln’s approach: “It feels like our competitors are in the business of scaring people”. “Some of them are going after very aggressive styling but we don’t stand for aggressive…Lincoln has a very clear heritage of elegance”.
Catching up to the Escalade would be a tough task for Lincoln.
Navigator deliveries rose 11.0% last month to 957 units and were up 14.7% previous year to 11,964, while Lincoln sales in those periods climbed 30.4% and 7.1%, respectively.
The Navigator Concept also previews Ford’s (Lincoln is a division of Ford) emerging semi-autonomous tech, featuring lane-keeping assist, pedestrian detection, pre-collision assist, automatic braking and a 360 degree camera-all of which are likely to appear on the production model. “Everyone wants a big SUV across the planet, not just in the U.S”.
Brian Leon Open the Navigator’s gull wing doors and you’ll see a cabin larger than some Manhattan apartments. Its customers are an average of 54 years old, the youngest of its six nameplates.
We’ve heard the whole Lincoln brand renaissance story before, but with the forthcoming Continental and the Navigator concept that Lincoln unveiled at the New York International Auto Show, the idea seems to be sticking this time.
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Galhotra and Lincoln executives say they expect sales of full-size luxury SUVs to remain steady in the coming years.
