1971 Lincoln Mark Iii on 2040-cars

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Lincoln Chauffeur service will drive you around and do your shopping

Lincoln is launching a unique service in Miami this year called Lincoln Chauffeur, and it does exactly what you'd expect. Any Lincoln owner can request someone via an app to come to their house and drive him or her wherever they'd like. That driver will then drive the car back. Lincoln pointed out this will allow other household members to use the car, and even helps avoid having to pay for parking when going to the airport. A representative said that a driver could be sent to a bar or restaurant to pick up a car left in favor of a cab after drinking. In addition to driving you to a location, the driver can also go and fill up your Lincoln with fuel and run other errands. Need some groceries? Your Lincoln driver can do that. And the Lincoln drivers are employed and vetted by Lincoln. If you find a driver you like, you can also request that person and Lincoln will try to accommodate your request. The service is currently in the pilot stage and only available in Miami. The next city that will get access to the service is San Diego. However, the plan is to continue expanding. It's also available for all Lincoln owners, new and old, not just members of Lincoln Black Label. Buyers of any new Lincoln will be given the equivalent of eight hours free in the service. This is a significant perk, since Lincoln said the estimated cost is $30 per hour of use at the current pilot pricing. Related Video:

Ford defends plan to shareholders: ‘We're simply reinventing the American car’

Ford's top executives took heat from shareholders over their plan to do away with sedans as we know them in Ford's North American lineup, as the company held its annual meeting Thursday. Critics said the plan to shelve the Fiesta, Focus and Taurus, reduce the Focus to one crossover model, and concentrate on high-margin trucks and SUVs was a shortsighted abandonment of entire market segments of affordable vehicles. "This doesn't mean we intend to lose those customers," Ford CEO Jim Hackett said. "We want to give them what they're telling us they really want. We're simply reinventing the American car." Ford has said SUVs/crossovers and pickups will constitute 90 percent of its North American lineup by 2020. And though only the Mustang and new Focus Active will remain, it plans to add new vehicles going forward that offer better fuel economy and utility, including EVs and hybrids. Hackett characterized the shift not as an abandonment of traditional cars but as a transformation of them. "We don't want anyone to think we're leaving anything," Hackett said. "We're just moving to a modern version. This is an exciting new generation of vehicles coming from Ford." It was Hackett's first annual meeting as CEO, and for the second year it was conducted online rather than in person. The change to Ford's lineup is part of Hackett's overall plan to cut $25.2 billion in costs by the year 2022. Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. blamed the negative reaction to the lineup plan on media coverage. "I wish the coverage had been a little different," he said. "If you got beyond the headline, you'll see we're adding to our product lineup and by 2020 we'll have the freshest showroom in the industry. The headlines look like Ford's retreating. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth." While Ford was clear about its plans for the Blue Oval, it has been less clear about the Lincoln brand. Hackett on Thursday said only that the Lincoln Continental, re-introduced just two years ago, would continue "through its life cycle" — but it has been such a slow seller that rumor has Ford killing the Continental again after that, and Hackett made no mention of a new generation. Presumably the MKZ sedan will go away when its twin the Ford Fusion does, but although Ford has outlined end dates for other models, the Fusion's departure is open-ended. The stock price has been a frustration for investors for years and has fallen 12 percent since the first of the year.

2025 Lincoln Navigator revealed with dramatic look, massive screen in Monterey

Say a big hello to the 2025 Lincoln Navigator, now more grand-looking and chock full of tech than ever before. This marks the fifth generation of Lincoln’s three-row luxury SUV, and while its bones are largely carryover, its appearance and interior experience are totally fresh. As for those hard points, the Navigator is still rolling with a body-on-frame construction, independent rear suspension and the 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 paired with the 10-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive standard. Said engine produces 440 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque, the same output as the 2024 model. Both the standard length and the L model return, with the latter pictured in white just below. While this Navigator may end up driving much the same as the current one, it sure does look largely new from the outside. A fresh grille design gives it a mighty loud and proud aesthetic from the front and is complemented by a big light bar for even more visual presence. Like other new Lincolns, this one features the “Lincoln Embrace” for approach that plays an animation via the lights to welcome your return to the car. The full-width taillights do the same with new light-up “3D” badging. Chrome is thrown out the window in favor of satin aluminum trim accents (a Jet Black Appearance package will apply glossy black trim instead), and just like the refreshed Escalade, 24-inch wheels are newly added to the party – 22-inch wheels are the new standard. One particularly new big-deal feature youÂ’ll notice on the exterior is the “Lincoln Split Gate” that is essentially a split tailgate the likes of which you find on BMWs and Range Rovers. Similar to others, the tailgate is split so three-quarters of the gate opens up, while the remainder folds down. It allows for easier loading and unloading, but can also be used as a seat (600-pound capacity) when parked. Lincoln even offers a “Cargo Tailgate Manager” option that can function as a seatback for the tailgate, a table for tailgating events or to split the cargo area into a multi-level storage shape. Things really start to look totally new when you hop into the front seats and take in the new 48-inch panoramic display that spans the whole width of the dash. YouÂ’ll recognize the Lincoln Digital Experience setup from the 2024 Nautilus where it debuted, and it operates in a similar manner here.