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2022 Lincoln Navigator revealed with tech updates, hands-free driving, new Black Label themes

Last week, Lincoln Motor Company teased its updated, enhanced and even more upscale Navigator SUV for the 2022 model year. Today, Ford’s luxury brand has unveiled this mid-cycle refresh with improved technology — including the Lincoln ActiveGlide hands-free driving system and over-the-air software updates — plus two new available themes for the line-topping Black Label trim level. Starting with tech, Lincoln launches the first iteration of its ActiveGlide advanced driver assistance tech, which, like FordÂ’s new BlueCruise technology, allows for hands-free highway driving if the right conditions are met. It leverages adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability, lane centering and traffic sign recognition to allow for hands-free driving on over 130,000 miles of divided highways across North America. Similar to GMÂ’s Super Cruise system, ActiveGlide monitors the driverÂ’s head and eye positions with a driver-facing camera to unsure their attention remains on the road ahead of them, ready to take over driving functions if need be. The 2022 Navigator also employs Lincoln Enhance, which is the branded name for its over-the-air software update capability. This allows Lincoln to make improvements, install new features and even provide some preventative maintenance without it needing to be brought in for service. Lincoln promises this allows the “Navigator to get even better over time.” This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Lincoln says it has streamlined its Amazon Alexa experience to respond to more natural language. You can use Alexa in the car the way you normally would with the digital assistant, or you can connect the Lincoln Way app for Alexa to control certain car features — locks, remote start, checking on vehicle status — from your Alexa-enabled home or mobile device. The 2022 Navigator also benefits from AmazonÂ’s Fire TV service for the rear-seat entertainment. It even includes 16 GB of built-in storage so you can watch your favorite Prime Video content on the road without connectivity. ThereÂ’s an updated Sync 4 infotainment system with a larger 13.2-inch center screen, improved voice recognition and navigation, and a Constellation design theme that carries over to the digital instrument cluster and the refreshed head-up display. In the second row, occupants now have a digital control module for rear climate and audio settings.

Ford recalls over 953,000 vehicles to replace Takata airbag inflators

DETROIT — Ford is recalling more than 953,000 vehicles worldwide to replace Takata passenger airbag inflators that can explode and hurl shrapnel. The move includes over 782,000 vehicles in the U.S. and is part of the largest series of recalls in U.S. history. Included are the 2010 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX, the 2010 and 2011 Ford Ranger, the 2010 to 2012 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ, the 2010 and 2011 Mercury Milan, and the 2010 to 2014 Ford Mustang. Some of the recalls may be limited to specific geographic areas of the U.S. Takata used the chemical ammonium nitrate to create an explosion to inflate airbags. But it can deteriorate over time due to heat and humidity and explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister designed to contain the explosion. At least 23 people have been killed worldwide and hundreds injured by the inflators. Ford says it doesn't know of any injuries in vehicles included in this recall. Dealers will replace the inflators. Ford will notify owners about the recall starting on Feb. 18, and the company has replacement parts available for dealers to order, said spokeswoman Monique Brentley. In previous Takata recalls, parts availability had been an issue. Owners can go to this Ford website and key in their vehicle identification number to see if their cars and SUVs are being recalled. The same information will be available soon at the NHTSA recall website. More than three years after the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration took over management of recalls involving Takata inflators, one third of the recalled inflators still have not been replaced, according to an annual report from the government and a court-appointed monitor. The report says 16.7 million faulty inflators out of 50 million under recall have yet to be replaced. And 10 million more inflators are scheduled to be recalled this month, including the Ford vehicles. Safety advocates said the completion rate should be far higher given the danger associated with the inflators. The recalls forced Takata of Japan to seek bankruptcy protection and sell most of its assets to pay for the fixes. The inflators grow more dangerous as they get older because ammonium nitrate deteriorates due to high humidity and cycles from hot temperatures to cold. The most dangerous inflators are in areas of the South along the Gulf of Mexico that have high humidity. Related Video:

Ford and Lincoln design honcho leaves to head Nissan North America design

Last Friday, David Woodhouse suddenly resigned from his dual positions as Ford's director of global strategic design and director of Lincoln design. In a post not long after leaving, he praised the efforts of his former team over the past six years he headed design at Lincoln. Among other products, that crew gave us the redesigned Navigator, the Continental concept and production sedan, and the Aviator concept and production crossover. Car Design News reports Woodhouse traded Michigan for California, taking the role of VP at Nissan Design America in San Diego. He officially assumes the position July 1, and will also serve on the Japanese automaker's Global Nissan Design Management Committee. Woodhouse has spent more than 25 years in the design department, starting with BMW and work on the Mini and Range Rover brands, followed by a brief stint with Cadillac of Europe. For the past 20 years he's been with Ford, coming on board with the Ford's former luxury arm known as the Premier Automotive Group — Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin, Volvo and Lincoln. He became Lincoln's design director in 2013, introducing the world to the design language labeled "quiet flight." He described the language's details as "anti-wedge body gestures, S-curves wherever possible, and an emphasis on horizontal lines at every opportunity to create leaner, longer, wider emphasis on the exteriors, and create equilibrium, balance, and calmness on the interiors." A much shorter way to describe it is: revitalized Lincolns. The U.S. luxury maker's new and overhauled products have been praised for their lines by critics and by paying customers. The brand's done so well it's hard to remember when the MKC concept was a revelation, and that goes on Woodhouse's resume, too. That's some special juju to take to Nissan, where Woodhouse will lead both Nissan and Infiniti design focused on the North American region. Nissan has a solid if uninspiring lineup that sells well here, while Infiniti, as the luxury brand, is the bigger issue. Infiniti sedans glide on the contrails of a design language more than 10 years old. The money-making crossovers and SUVs haven't made a splash in about the same time, since the long-ago FX45. Nissan's plan to update 70 percent of its lineup over the next few years and Infiniti's transition to an all-electric brand makes right now the perfect time to break into riveting designs for the street. Woodhouse replaces Taro Ueda, who moves into a global role with Nissan.