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2019 Lincoln Navigator gets slight price hikes, crosses six-figure mark

As of the end of June this year, all-new Lincoln Navigator sales are up by triple digits over last year. No wonder, as Lincoln's flagship has impressed us on both our initial drive and again recently on a 900-mile road trip. Even if numbers slump some between now and the end of the year, the full-sized luxury SUV should achieve sales not seen since 2007, when it sold 24,050 units. That would help explain why the Navigator's already had one price increase this year, in June, when MSRPs across the range went up $500 and the destination charge rose another $100. According to order guides, prices for the 2019 model year will go up even more. The entry-level Premiere trim gets bumped by another $650, while the Reserve trim climbs by $3,500. After the $1,295 destination fee, the 2019 Navigator Premiere starts $74,500, and the Select trim rises by $1,000 to $78,850. Neither of those trims add additional equipment to offset the additional cost. The Reserve price hike to $86,500 does capture the cost of the Technology Package, which will come standard. On the 2018 Navigator, that package, which bundles aids like adaptive cruise control and autonomous emergency braking, is a $2,640 option, so the net price jump for the trim is $860. The Black Label price drifts upward by $2,190 to $97,690, but the 2019 models will throw in 30-way power seats as standard. Those thrones being a $1,250 option on 2018 models, the net increase is then $940. The long-wheelbase L models will all go up by the same amount as their non-L counterparts, which puts the Navigator over the $100K mark for the first time; the 2019 Black Label L will need $100,890 to put in a suitable driveway. That's just $700 less than the list price of the 2019 Cadillac Escalade ESV Premium, but Cadillac incentives mean the Lincoln would actually cost thousands more. Lease prices have gone skyward, too. Cars Direct found that in the middle of this year, the average monthly cost for a 36-month lease in California was $1,023, a $131 increase compared to lease prices in February. Two months later, the average monthly cost in California has gone up another eight dollars, to $1,031. That's only $14 less per month than the lease for an Escalade Luxury, even though the Cadillac has a list price $9,500 higher. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Surprise! More Ford and Lincoln cars found with marijuana

Ford is starting to have a serious problem on its hands. Today, ABC 7 in Detroit reported that another batch of Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ cars were found packed with 227 pounds of marijuana. This is a little over a week after Fords in Ohio were found stuffed with marijuana and only about two months after Fords in Minnesota were found full of weed. All of the cars traveled on train from Mexico to their destination. All in, several thousand pounds and several million dollars worth of marijuana has been discovered. According to the report, Immigration and Customs Enforcement found the cars at the Ford Rail Distribution Facility in Woodhaven, Michigan, just south of Ford's world headquarters in Dearborn. ICE became involved after a Ford employee reported the cars to Woodhaven police. It's unclear when and where the cars were packed with marijuana. With the cars in Minnesota, it's believed that the weed was added after leaving the factory but before being loaded on the train. Spare tires were removed and the space was used to smuggle the marijuana. Related Video:

Lincoln is changing the way it sells cars (for the better)

Tucked inside an outdoor shopping complex in Scottsdale, Arizona, among various trendy stores is something one would’ve thought hilariously out of place not so long ago: a Lincoln dealer. But this isnÂ’t any old dealership, Lincoln or otherwise. This would be the Sanderson Lincoln Boutique, the first of its kind for FordÂ’s luxury brand. Walk through the big glass doors and youÂ’re greeted by a 2022 Navigator on your right, a 2022 Aviator Grand Touring straight ahead, and to your left, an expansive coffee bar. Vintage promotional images from LincolnÂ’s midcentury glory years line the walls, which is a treat to anyone fond of that automotive era. There are smaller seating areas elsewhere, including one enclosed in glass presumably for more privately discussing a sale, but the overall vibe is reminiscent of an airline lounge. There are also no sales people: Those on hand are salaried product specialists who get paid the same whether you buy a car or not. Oh, and baristas, there to whip up some caffeine free of charge whether you buy a car or not. That seems like a recipe for being popular with teenagers, but I digress. Lincoln is planning for other such boutique stores, but the decision to create this one was all on an individual dealer, Sanderson Lincoln, with the full support of Lincoln. And according to Lincoln President Joy Falotico, such boutique stores and their car-buying model could complement radical changes already happening elsewhere in the car-buying realm. In short, the ongoing supply shortage is set to change everything. Customers are not only getting used to waiting for cars, but also ordering them and therefore getting exactly what they want. ThatÂ’s where boutique stores come in. At the same time, Lincoln and its dealers see the value in not keeping huge inventories of cars that will end up discounted or incentivized. Yes, that means being able to keep prices higher, which is a giant part of this, but it also means theyÂ’ll be delivering cars customers actually want. “We donÂ’t intend to go back to the old model of (overabundant) dealer inventory,” Falotico definitively said. She elaborated that moving to a model where customers increasingly order their cars could increase the build possibilities and opportunities for customization.