The Ford Mustang Mach-E generated plenty of headlines and debate when it first made its appearance not too long ago. Questions still swirl over whether it’s indeed a proper recipient of the Mustang moniker? Despite that, the Mach-E has proven to be a surprisingly capable offering and has served as a prominent example of Ford’s EV push. But amid all of these moves, there’s one key part of the Dearborn automaker that has been absent from the pure EV festivities, Lincoln. That’s changing, though, with Ford’s luxurious counterpart revealing that it intends to make some moves of its own in 2022 with the Constellation.
Constellation Looks To The Stars, Promises Potent Green Performance
Lincoln might be keeping key details of its plans to itself, but the brand chose to compromise and give the world a glimpse at its first-ever pure EV vehicle. Dubbed the Constellation, It’s unknown what kind of vehicle the EV will be, with Lincoln not saying whether it will be an SUV or a smaller CUV. Our lone glimpse is limited to the front fascia, and it appears to draw some inspiration from the recently unveiled Lincoln Zephyr EV sedan concept.
While the sedan itself might eventually head to production in some select markets, we highly doubt that we will see it here in the U.S. Ford has doubled down on its push towards offering a pure lineup of truck and utility models. Any potential Lincoln EV that we see here in the U.S. would most likely be targeted towards the utility segment. If so, look for the all-new modular platform underpinning it to be a big part of its goal-oriented mission. Lincoln says that the platform is not related to the Mach-E’s and that the model will be joined by three more, with all four being launched between now and 2030. That’s a very ambitious goal, but as they say, only time will tell whether Lincoln’s approach makes a big enough splash with consumers.
Over The Air Updates And More Highlight Traditional Lincoln Lineup
While Lincoln’s surprise EV announcement will undoubtedly be the talk of the town, the luxury brand didn’t forget about its non-electrified offerings and has revealed that those offerings will be in for some welcome updates that will help improve the ownership experience. Lincoln Nautilus owners will benefit from the first wave of Over The Air updates (OTA), which will bring upgrades and improvements to the navigation system, Apple CarPlay, and even the digital owners manual. Amazon’s Alexa assistant technology will also be standard in the fall, as will a hands-free driving assist.
The last round of updates doesn’t center so much on the cars themselves but instead focuses on the broader showroom experience. Lincoln revealed that it would be building more stand-alone stores with the brand departing from an era where Ford and Lincoln once shared a unified dealership building. The brand has already built several stand-alone stores in the past but look for this latest push to target holdouts that are still clinging to the old ways and locations that Lincoln has not reached yet.
Lincoln is also experimenting with a few new customer-oriented services, including a refueling and car dealing service but only in the Houston market for now. This follows the long-standing tradition of offering the luxury customer something extra in their vehicle ownership experience. It will be interesting to see when Lincoln will bring these two items to the rest of the country.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.