Lincoln has revealed that the upcoming 2017 Lincoln Continental flagship sedan->ke142 will be built in Detroit, Michigan. According to John Fleming, Lincoln's->ke48 global manufacturing chief, the Continental->ke1176 will be made at Ford's Flat Rock assembly plant. The facility currently employs 3,100 workers building the Mustang->ke428 muscle car->ke507 and the Fusion->ke4176 midsize->ke1695 sedan.
Set to arrive for the 2017 model year, the new Continental flagship revives Lincoln's most recognizable nameplate. The brand stopped building the Continental in 2002. The final model was based on the Ford Taurus->ke2299 and used a front-wheel-drive architecture and a 4.6-liter V-8 engine. The name was first introduced in 1939 and gained momentum in the 1950s and 1960s as one of the most luxurious cars->ke505 built in the U.S.
Lincoln aims to regain its long-lost luster with the new Continental, which will compete against the newly launched 2016 Cadillac CT6, as well as German executives such as the 2016 BMW 7 Series and 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Also, the large sedan is aimed at growing Lincoln's presence in China,->ke2090 where Lincoln has enjoyed a lot of success recently.
Though Lincoln has yet to release info as to what the 2017 Continental will look like, I expect the production version to mirror the concept car Lincoln showcased in 2015. Power will most likely come from an EcoBoost V-6 engine with at least 350 horsepower and a focus on fuel economy.
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Why It Matters?
This is great news for U.S. auto workers as talks on a new labor contracts with the United Auto Workers Union kick off this week, but, more importantly, it's wonderful news for both Lincoln and the U.S. auto industry. Largely because Lincoln no longer builds all of its models in the U.S., and other models are assembled outside of Detroit.
The MKZ->ke456 is being built in Mexico, which is a rather weird fact given its Ford-badged->ke31 twin, the Fusion, is produced at Flat Rock, while the MKX->ke461 and MKT->ke3002 are manufactured in Ontario, Canada. The MKC->ke4599 and the Navigator->ke465 are both assembled in Louisville, Kentucky, while the MKS,->ke463 to be replaced by the Continental, comes from Chicago.
The Continental will mark Lincoln's return to Michigan after production of the Navigator was discontinued in Wayne in 2009.
2017 Lincoln Continental
Find our more about the 2017 Lincoln Continental in our speculative review here.