Welcome to the Six-figure Club, Lincoln!

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Traditionally, Lincolns served as the poster car for traditional, well-to-do Americans, just not ridiculously wealthy ones. Think successful club owner, business executive, law office partner, Vegas hashish importer, or rare antiques dealer. Regardless of model, the brand’s vehicles never ventured into the rarified pricing air occupied by European exotics — not even the Continental Mk. II, which stickered for the equivalent of $90k back in 1956.

That changes for 2019, as the Lincoln with the biggest margins — the full-size Navigator — joins its Cadillac rival in topping the six-figure mark.

Don’t worry, there’ll still be a plain-Jane base model offered for $74,500, according to order guides seen by CarsDirect. That price, which includes a destination charge, represents a $650 increase over 2018, though climbing the trim ladder to Select and Reserve grows much pricier for the coming model year.

At $78,850 after destination, the 2019 Navigator Select adds another $1,000 to its sticker. You’ll more than triple that pricing boost to move into a Reserve, which sees its entry price hit $86,500 for 2019; some $3,500 greater than in 2018. It’s a lot less jarring when you consider that extra $3,500 includes a now-standard technology package — formerly a $2,640 option — which adds a host of driver assist features.

Automakers love to boast of standard safety, but aren’t in the habit of handing it over for free.

It’s in the highest strata of Navigatordom where Lincoln breaches the $100,000 barrier. We’re talking about the Black Label L model. The long-wheelbase version of Lincoln’s top trim level joins the standard-length model in piling on the price, bringing its after-destination sticker to $100,890, or just $700 below that of a Cadillac Escalade ESV Platinum. Previously, the Black Label L went for $98,700.

Carrying an entry price of $97,690, the Black Label line doesn’t enter 2019 completely unchanged. Lincoln’s 30-way power seats become standard kit on these ultra-lux models, suggesting to would-be customers that profits are only part of the intention here. Of course, Lincoln will siphon almost a grand of extra gravy from each vehicle once the 2019 Black Labels go on sale.

Given the brand’s recent sales woes, Lincoln could be forgiven for seeing nothing but dollar signs in its largest model. Over the first seven months of 2018, Lincoln sales in the U.S. fell 10.8 percent, with July’s year-over-year tally falling 11 percent. In comparison, Navigator sales rose 62.7 percent in July and 79.9 percent on a year-to-date basis.

[Image: Lincoln Motor Company]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Michael500 Michael500 on Aug 21, 2018

    I like the bold look of this thing, but it's also a big fat looking slug of a truck too. Only an idiot or a Kardasian would pay this much. You can get a Range Rover for the same money- no one will look at you funny getting that valet parked at the club like this chrome festooned F150 with a shell. Lincoln has lost it's way, they should just kill the brand since they can't manage it. The sales numbers from the last decade agree with my opinion.

  • STS_Endeavour STS_Endeavour on Aug 21, 2018

    Lincoln did really well with this Navigator. Stunning interior. I kinda wish they carried over the gull wings from the concept. At least as an option.

  • Kjhkjlhkjhkljh kljhjkhjklhkjh A prelude is a bad idea. There is already Acura with all the weird sport trims. This will not make back it's R&D money.
  • Analoggrotto I don't see a red car here, how blazing stupid are you people?
  • Redapple2 Love the wheels
  • Redapple2 Good luck to them. They used to make great cars. 510. 240Z, Sentra SE-R. Maxima. Frontier.
  • Joe65688619 Under Ghosn they went through the same short-term bottom-line thinking that GM did in the 80s/90s, and they have not recovered say, to their heyday in the 50s and 60s in terms of market share and innovation. Poor design decisions (a CVT in their front-wheel drive "4-Door Sports Car", model overlap in a poorly performing segment (they never needed the Altima AND the Maxima...what they needed was one vehicle with different drivetrain, including hybrid, to compete with the Accord/Camry, and decontenting their vehicles: My 2012 QX56 (I know, not a Nissan, but the same holds for the Armada) had power rear windows in the cargo area that could vent, a glass hatch on the back door that could be opened separate from the whole liftgate (in such a tall vehicle, kinda essential if you have it in a garage and want to load the trunk without having to open the garage door to make room for the lift gate), a nice driver's side folding armrest, and a few other quality-of-life details absent from my 2018 QX80. In a competitive market this attention to detai is can be the differentiator that sell cars. Now they are caught in the middle of the market, competing more with Hyundai and Kia and selling discounted vehicles near the same price points, but losing money on them. They invested also invested a lot in niche platforms. The Leaf was one of the first full EVs, but never really evolved. They misjudged the market - luxury EVs are selling, small budget models not so much. Variable compression engines offering little in terms of real-world power or tech, let a lot of complexity that is leading to higher failure rates. Aside from the Z and GT-R (low volume models), not much forced induction (whether your a fan or not, look at what Honda did with the CR-V and Acura RDX - same chassis, slap a turbo on it, make it nicer inside, and now you can sell it as a semi-premium brand with higher markup). That said, I do believe they retain the technical and engineering capability to do far better. About time management realized they need to make smarter investments and understand their markets better.
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