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Lincoln MKX Concept lands in China, dreams of America

Lincoln MKX Concept lands in China, dreams of America

As important as China has become in the global auto industry, it's pull has been entirely that of a consumer rather than a builder. Chinese buyers now purchase more new vehicles a year than Americans, but there's not yet been a move by any major automaker to sell Americans mass-market vehicles made in China.

Yet China's pull has already started affecting what we buy here, since automakers want to sell the same design in as many countries as possible. And the latest application of that trend comes in this, the concept Lincoln MKX.

Ford is launching the Lincoln brand from scratch in China this week as an alternative to established luxury players. Since the volumes will be small for a few years even under a sucessful plan, Ford will have to import Lincolns from North America, hoping to compete even with the high Chinese tariffs on foriegn-built models. That means any new models like the MKX concept will have to carry some innate appeal, and Lincoln said it held several focus groups in China to ensure the design it chose would resonate.

Compared to the current model, the MKX gains far more unique styling and a complex update of the Lincoln split grille/headlamp treatment. Per Lincoln, its Chinese cultural survey found that a luxury SUV should look like it could actually go off-road — a sentiment that would seem self-evident enough to not require flights to Shanghai. Ford released no details on the concept's power source, but "turbo four-cylinder" is a good default guess for almost any new concept or production vehicle this year.

Lincoln's sales have risen this year, but the luxury arm's returns on Ford's latest revival have been mixed at best; last week, Ford revealed it has parted ways with Lincoln's heralded chief designer, rarely a good sign for a struggling brand. Strong sales in China spared Buick from the axe during General Motors bankruptucy, and strangely enough Lincoln's best hope for the future likely rides on China saving yet another piece of Detroit history.