Ford Motor Co.'s luxury brand, Lincoln, is expected to get an all-new vehicle added to its lineup by the end of the decade, a model meant to compete with the Mercedes-Benz G-550 SUV, but for considerably less money.
According to two people familiar with Ford's product plans, the automaker will bring to Lincoln's lineup an SUV that will be based on the Ford Bronco's design. The new Lincoln will be priced just below the Lincoln Navigator, the large SUV that is the top of Lincoln's lineup and starts at $89,995, not including the destination fee.
"We have a program code and a timing for it," Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, said. By program code, that means Ford has designated a vehicle for production
with its suppliers. "We are expecting it, with production starting in late summer 2029, to be built next to the Bronco."
Ford currently builds the Bronco at its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne. A Lincoln dealer also said they, too, are aware of Ford's considerations to build a Lincoln based on the Bronco at Michigan Assembly. The dealer asked to not be named because they are not authorized to speak publicly about this topic.
"Dealers have been asking for a G-Wagon-style similar to what Mercedes-Benz has. They want something like that that would fit on a Bronco frame," the Lincoln dealer said. "It would be a very high-end vehicle that would probably fit in right under the Navigator. Could start at $70,000."
Mercedes-Benz offers a family of G-Wagons with the base model, the G 550 SUV starting at $153,900, not including the destination charge.
Just because Ford has plans for it, doesn't mean it will happen. Automakers have been known to change or cancel vehicle plans if market conditions or other factors in the future change.
Ford spokesman Dave Tovar told the Detroit Free Press the company does not comment on speculation about future products.
In the United States, Lincoln sells three vehicles: the midsize Nautilus and Aviator SUVs and the Navigator large SUV. It had also sold the compact SUV, Corsair, but discontinued it and the Ford Escape compact SUV in December. Those two vehicles had been built at Ford's Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky but Ford is retooling that plant to start making an all-electric midsize pickup called Fathom there early next year.
The Dearborn-based automaker announced on Aug. 12 that starting in 2030, it will increase the production of Lincoln vehicles in the United States, creating thousands of jobs in the process. It means Ford will stop importing the Nautilus — which it makes in China and sells in North America.
Ford also builds the compact SUV, Lincoln Corsair, in its China factory for sale in China. But Fiorani said it is unlikely that Ford would import that model to the United States in the future given the high tariffs put in place by President Donald Trump on imported vehicles to the States. It is more likely that Ford will bring production of the Corsair and the Nautilus to a factory in the United States.
Ford CEO Jim Farley told the Detroit Free Press on Aug. 13 that Lincoln vehicles will get new designs in the next four years and be built in the United States. Farley declined to specify which U.S. plants would get the extra Lincoln production or where the added jobs would land.
He also declined to specify any changes to Lincoln's lineup of vehicles other than to confirm that Lincoln will design all-new vehicles in the next few years, stating that Ford's improved initial quality ranking gives him confidence that Lincoln's quality will be top-notch from the U.S. plants.
"We now have the confidence that we can compete with Genesis or Lexus imported outside the U.S. We made a lot of progress," Farley told the Detroit Free Press. "Now, we're fully confident that we can make these Lincolns in the U.S. and be fully competitive with the global standard that we see for the luxury business."
Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer for USA TODAY Co. who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lincoln's future may include an SUV in the lineup to take on Mercedes
