2008 Lincoln Town Car Black On Black Executive L Series W Carey Livery Package on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Lincoln, GMC clean up in AutoPacific Vehicle Satisfaction Awards

In recent years, there have been a lot of dire pronouncements made about Lincoln's future, or a lack thereof. But Ford's premium marque is like the Rocky Balboa of the auto business; every time the company seems ready to go, it comes back for more. Apparently, that dogged persistence is paying off, because the industry analysts at AutoPacific have put a big check in their win column with their newly released 2014 model year vehicle satisfaction survey. And despite recent enmity for its seemingly never-ending recall saga, it appears General Motors knows how to satisfy new owners, too.
In fact, not only was Lincoln named as the premium brand with the highest new owner satisfaction, even scored three models on the list of passenger cars with the most gratified buyers - the MKS, MKZ and MKZ Hybrid.
GM's stable of brands was also among the top companies in this year's survey. GMC was named the top popular brand by AutoPacific, with its Sierra pickup and Acadia crossover singled out for awards in their segments. Chevrolet also did incredibly well, with more cars on the list than any other brand. The Corvette, Camaro, Sonic and Impala all made the cut in their respective categories.

2015 Lincoln MKC

Back in 2012, Lincoln claimed its comeback bid was finally underway with the new-for-2013 MKZ. But don't you believe them - the renaissance won't actually begin in earnest until the shapely compact crossover seen here reaches showrooms in big numbers. That's because while the four-door MKZ was indeed a proper step toward rebirth, the 2015 MKC is the first wholly conceived vehicle under Lincoln as a standalone brand, a move first announced back in 2012.
That's an important distinction, because Lincoln's newfound emancipation from Ford's design and development processes has given the struggling marque both the corporate wherewithal and the will to develop a more fully formed product. The four-wheeled result seen here is a surprisingly cohesive luxury CUV, one with significantly more aesthetic and dynamic separation from its Ford Escape sibling than the MKZ and its Fusion counterpart. Said another way, after flogging Lincoln's latest for hundreds of miles over canyon roads outside of Santa Barbara, we've come to understand that this is far from a re-grilled Dearborn special with luxury tinsel - it's a bona fide standalone product that readily displays the sort of clear differentiation seen in platform cousins like the Audi Q5 and the Volkswagen Tiguan. It's the real deal.

Lincoln debuts MKC ads starring Matthew McConaughey

Lincoln is making the decisive commitment that it wants to improve its brand perception going forward. It can't be cheap to hire A-list talent like Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey and director Nicolas Winding Refn, best known for Drive, for its new ad campaign for the 2015 MKC crossover, but the company is showing that it's serious about the new vehicle and its future. The first three of these five commercials are just hitting YouTube, and they begin airing on television on September 6.
The Live in Your Moment campaign is all about Lincoln trying to sell not just the MKC to customers but also explain the brand's philosophy. It's one of the oldest luxury automakers around, but hasn't exactly had a glorious history, especially recently. Based on these first ads, we can see that there's a definite focus on philosophizing rather than focusing on the crossover. At times, McConaughey seems just a mustache and a mangled beer can away from reprising his role from True Detective.
The first ad (above) is simply titled Intro and sets the mood and concept for the whole campaign. Bull has McConaughey talking to a longhorn in the middle of a road, and I Just Like It has him explaining his affinity for the brand. Lincoln's full release is available below, and you can view the other ads by flipping through the playlist in the video player above.