1994 Lincoln Town Car Executive Sedan 4-door 4.6l on 2040-cars

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Jim Hackett says metal tariffs costing Ford $1 billion in profits

Ford CEO Jim Hackett divulged in an interview with Bloomberg that the Trump administration's tariffs on metals imported from the European Union, Canada and Mexico have affected the automaker's balance sheet, adding that trade disputes need a quick resolution. "From Ford's perspective, the metals tariffs took about $1 billion in profit from us," Hackett told the outlet. "The irony is we source most of that in the U.S. today anyways. We're in a good place right now, but if it goes on longer there will be more damage." Hackett did not specify what period the $1 billion covered, but a Ford spokesman said the CEO was referring to internal forecasts at Ford for higher tariff-related costs in 2018 and 2019. President Trump in March announced his intention to enact 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and 10 percent on imported aluminum from the three trade zones as a way to protect the U.S. steel industry. The move sent U.S. automakers' stock prices plunging at a time when they were coming off weak monthly sales reports. Separately, President Trump has targeted China with two rounds of tariffs targeting a combined $260 billion worth of imports. China has responded by enacting 25-percent tariffs on U.S. goods including vehicle imports. In the interview, Hackett said that has hurt demand for Lincoln, which has found a growing market for its luxury vehicles in China, and made the price of the Lincoln MKC less attractive to Chinese buyers. The MKC is built at the company's Louisville, Ky. assembly plant. "We've had to move people in that factory to other operations because of that trade problem," he said. It's not clear what those moves entail or how many workers were involved. Autoblog sought comment from a Ford spokeswoman and will update this story if we hear back. Ford last month announced it was scrapping plans to import the Focus Active small crossover to the U.S. from China because of the new 25-percent tariffs on Chinese imports. Material from Reuters was used in this report Related Video:

Lincoln previews new Navigator with illuminated grille, new interior

While it's not the best-selling Lincoln, the Navigator stands proud as the company's flagship and one of its most important models in terms of image. The current-generation SUV made its debut for 2018, and it will soon receive what sounds like a round of far-reaching updates. Full details about the new-look Navigator aren't available yet, but a short preview video published by Lincoln gives us several hints. We already know that the front end gets a redesigned grille that's seemingly wider, and the teaser confirms that the central slat and the Lincoln emblem will be illuminated. Earlier spy shots suggest that the big SUV's overall proportions won't significantly change, however. Another detail revealed by the video is that the updated Navigator receives a redesigned interior. In the current model, the ignition button is located on the right side of the steering column (near where you'd expect to find the ignition barrel in an older car) and the buttons used to shift the transmission into gear are below the air vents on the center stack. In the updated SUV, the ignition button and the piano key-like shift buttons are on the center console. The steering wheel gets a cleaner-looking design, and it looks like the dashboard is new as well. There's no word on what's under the hood. For 2024, the Navigator comes with a 3.5-liter V6 that's twin-turbocharged to 440 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque. It spins the four wheels via a 10-speed automatic transmission. Rear-wheel-drive is no longer offered. An unverified report claims a hybrid system will join the portfolio; the 10-speed automatic was developed with electrification in mind, after all. Lincoln will unveil the Navigator on August 15, and the model should land on dealer lots for the 2025 model year. The Ford Expedition that the Navigator is closely related to is expected to receive a major round of visual and tech updates for the 2025 model year as well.

Mustang parts under the new Lincoln Aviator mean good things for Ford

NEW YORK — As we mentioned last night, underneath the new Lincoln Aviator "concept" there appears to be an independent rear suspension lifted right from the Ford Mustang parts bin. And while it's pretty cool on its face that Mustang rear-drive platform bits are being reused in the broader Ford universe, what this means for the next Explorer could be really cool. A quick caveat: The Aviator here in New York is very close to the production version, but it's not technically a production car. It looks hand-built, with temporary exhaust and some show-car touches. The suspension underneath looks exactly like a Mustang's, but the actual production Aviator will almost certainly use beefier components with the same basic design and geometry, since the Aviator will be much heavier than the smaller Mustang. That being said, we're fairly confident that even at this early stage, the Mustang-derived suspension seen in New York is a preview of what'll be under the production Aviator. Furthermore, Ford won't say it, but based on what we're seeing on Aviator, it's a safe bet that Ford will utilize the Aviator platform for the next Explorer. That would enable the economies of scale necessary to produce a brand new rear-drive-based SUV platform in the first place. It also means that the Explorer should be available without AWD — and given the stable of powerful EcoBoost engines, and the competent 10-speed automatic in the parts bin, a rear-drive Explorer has a shot at being a decent driver. Aviator wouldn't go rear-drive-based if driving dynamics weren't important; Explorer should inherit these priorities. More evidence: The Explorer spy shots we saw back in February sure share the Aviator's general proportions. Even back then, before Aviator was revealed, we were hypothesizing that an EcoBoost 3.5-liter-powered version could boast as much as 400 horsepower, if the Expedition's tune were adopted. Suddenly, the Explorer seems very interesting. So, an EcoBoost, rear-drive Explorer sure sounds like something Ford Performance would be interested in, right? We knew an Explorer ST is coming, but with 365-400 horsepower potential and a chassis designed with dynamics in mind, it doesn't seem like as much of a stretch as the Edge ST. And a performance-oriented AWD system is a possibility, too. That's an area where Ford has been gathering experience at a rapid pace. What do we not expect from a new Explorer? A V8.