American luxury. Built in China. Two statements, seemingly disconnected, that when put together describe the 2024 Lincoln Nautilus. But if we’re being honest, it’s probably more accurate to say that this newest Lincoln shows Americans the Chinese take on luxury.
Take a quick look at Chinese car brands like Zeekr or Xpeng and you’ll see luxury vehicles that are defined by technology. Beyond the requisite electrified powertrains, these rides go all-in on features like animated exterior lighting, AI-powered driving assistants, and—most importantly—acres and acres of interior screens.
It should come as no surprise, then, that this latest Nautilus—and its massive 48-inch panoramic digital display—debuted in China long before it hit the US. What is surprising, perhaps, is the American response to the Nautilus. Which is to say, the kids (by which I mean well-moneyed millennials) love it so much, it was not only declared one of “America’s Hottest Brands” by AdAge, it’s currently Lincoln’s best-selling vehicle.
More importantly: this latest Lincoln Nautilus Black Label SUV is my presscar for the week. So let’s dive into things and see how Lincoln does digital luxury.
An Elegantly Simple Exterior
If there’s one thing modern-day Lincoln is not, it’s daring. It’s a brand focused more on serenity than flash, where innovations are included only if they directly benefit the driver. Sure, an eye-searing color or edgy sheet metal may get all eyes on you—but does all that attention actually make your drive better?
So the Nautilus, while attractive, flies under the radar. And that’s exactly why I like this SUV’s design. It’s a clean and simple two-box shape, with front and rear lighting that adds just enough character to give it a bit of a modern edge, but not so radical as to suggest this ride will look severely out of fashion within the next five-to-ten years. Those optional 22-inch wheels are hard to ignore, and while I personally would love something with a bit more subtlety, these massive rollers don’t degrade the Lincoln’s ride quality. More on that in a bit.
There’s A Lot Going On Inside
Color, for me, can make or break a design. And if I’m being honest, I’m not exactly in love with my tester’s Redwood interior theme. It mixes a reddish-brown leather with black surfaces, large digital displays and bright metal salt-shaker speaker grilles. For me, it’s a bit of a visual overload. But if I can look past the color choices (or simply look at the more muted options available), I can see that the surface design and material choices themselves are genuinely quite nice.
A lot of care has been put into ensuring all major touch points feel, uh, nice to touch. (I’m particularly fond of the deep-pile carpet of the floor mats.) The cabin itself feels spacious thanks to the large greenhouse, and the front seats offer 24 ways of adjustment and can massage you on demand. This SUV even has driver-selectable interior scents.
All-In On Tech
The true centerpiece of the Nautilus is that integrated 48-inch panoramic digital display. It’s comprised of five primary sections that can be customized according to your own preference. Screen customization is limited to show select vehicle functions, but each screen is clear and easy to read, meaning you won’t be squinting at a million icons while trying to determine your speed.
Most vehicle functions are controlled via the smaller 11.1-inch touchscreen display. The UI itself is mostly okay, but I, like every other aging auto writer, just want some actual physical buttons. Not for the gearshift, though—that needs a physical stalk. Fumbling around for the right transmission setting just makes every day driving maneuvers like 3-point turns or parallel parking that much harder.
This Lincoln technically includes a bunch of cloud-based digital services designed to connect you to the usual suite of tech services, including those from Google and Amazon. So if you buy or lease a Nautilus, you can sign in to this subscription-based service and transform your SUV into your rolling digital assistant. Or, you can just plug in the smartphone you already own and get most of the same features—for free—via the integrated Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality.
Drives Like An Old-School Lincoln
The Lincoln Nautilus is not, nor will it ever be, a sports car. And it clearly has no aspirations of trying to be one. Instead, it goes all-in on delivering a classic luxury motoring experience, which is to say it’s engineered to isolate the driver from the driving itself.
While technically a hybrid, things are so silent inside the cabin, it’s easy to think that this is a full EV, if not at least a plug-in hybrid. The gas side of the powertrain equation is a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline four, with electric assist coming from a 100 kW electric motor, and together they output 310 total system horsepower. The one transmission choice is a CVT, but thanks to that electric assist, this Lincoln delivers adequate acceleration off the line.
But what this Lincoln really delivers is comfort. Sure, it goes, turns and stops when you want, how you want it, but it does so in a manner that’s so serene, you’re not at all mad that there’s not much in the way of driving feedback. It’s a lounge chair with wheels—just like the American luxury cars of yore. Only now, you get a touchscreen as well.
Final Thoughts
I genuinely like the Lincoln Nautilus, but I can’t help but feel that by going so heavy on tech, it may end up devaluing its status as a luxury vehicle We’re currently conditioned to view tech as disposable, and disposable equals cheap. Will this all-digital display feel fresh in ten years? Five? Or even as soon as the lease term ends? Who knows?
But as of today, this global take on luxury is certainly worth checking out. The Lincoln Nautilus is one of those cars that’s simply easy to live with. It’s right-sized on the outside, offers plenty of room on the inside, goes big on comfort, and impresses with its quietly confident style.
Justin Kaehler has been covering all things automotive for 20 years, and has been an active part of the car scene for much longer than that. Though he’s grown to love all cars, he’s still particularly fond of the ’80s and ’90s Japanese metal he grew up on. And for those of you who grew up playing The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift game for the PS2 and PSP, yes, he’s also that JDM Justin.