2015 Lincoln MKC

[Wretched]

The Lincoln MKZ is a Ford Fusion in a totally new suit. The Lincoln MKC (the C is for Crossover!) is a Ford Escape with an incredibly well tailored body and a brand new 275 horsepower 2.3 liter EcoBoost engine. But will it drive like a car that can attract a premium price?

Meant as a competitor to wee little crossovers like the Audi Q5, Mercedes GLK, and others, the MKC is the second vehicle in the plan to save Lincoln. Small luxury crossovers are a hot segment, so good on Lincoln for making sure they have something to offer. And it has to be said, the MKC is a very attractive little crossover.

I think the MKZ was kind of hard to swallow because the Fusion is such a gorgeous car in its own right that it's hard to improve its design. The Escape, while not ugly, is a bit more average than the Fusion. The MKC's application of Lincoln's split wing grille and the especially the rear end treatment, it's a tight little number.

Looks good to me.

Inside we have a very MKZ-esque interior, which means a big screen for MyLincolnFordTouch, push button gearshift, slightly more premium materials, and some carryover bits. They don't have a floating center console like the MKZ does and hopefully some of the plastics are a bit softer this time.P

Under the hood, Lincoln will debut the new EcoBoost 2.3 liter four cylinder, which was 275 horsepower and 300 pound feet of torque. Standard power comes from the 2.0 EcoBoost that makes 240 horsepower and is already in the Escape.

The MKZ is also attractive, so it'll be interesting to see how the MKC drives. The issue I had with the MKZ was that it drove basically the same as the Fusion, which is to say it was nice, but it didn't feel like an expensive luxury product. Jim Farley, the champion of Lincoln's comback plan, says that the MKC will "change the way people think about Lincoln."

Hopefully it does, because that sounds a hell of a lot like what people said when the MKZ came out.
http://jalopnik.com/2015-lincoln-mkc...-it-1463564197

Front isn't what I would call attractive but the rest of the package is reasonably nice.