Lincoln's new Navigator concept shows how confident the car maker is about its comeback
The Navigator was first introduced in 1997. With the Cadillac Escalade, it defines the large-and-in-charge SUV market.
These are SUVs executed on an epic scale. Sales were relatively strong until the early 2000s, when gas prices began to creep up and the tide of consumer sentiment turned against big, gas-guzzling trucks.
The financial crisis put Lincoln into a tailspin and raised doubts at Ford about whether the brand should live.
But live it did, and now it's on a solid run. In 2015, Lincoln captivated the New York Auto Show with its Continental concept (the production version was one of the stars of the 2016 Detroit Auto Show).
This year in New York, Lincoln gave journalists a sneak preview of the direction the Navigator will be moving in. Some of the concept's more exotic features - massive gullwing doors and retractable concertina steps adorned with nautical teak - will probably not make it to the production vehicle.
Sleek and suave
But the overall suave and sleek redesign, which follows a refresh of the old SUV from 2015, marks an interesting new phase in Lincoln's revival. The brand is zigging when much of the rest of the competition is zagging, aiming to deliver what Lincoln president Kumar Galhotra calls "quiet luxury." Mercedes, Lexus, BMW, and Cadillac have all taken an aggressive tack in the design of their SUVs.
But Lincoln is going for something different: easygoing, self-confident sophistication with a dash of hard jazz.
It had to bring Navigator into that evolving brand story - and do in a big way.
"It's a vehicle we have to have," Galhotra told Business Insider. "The original Navigator fundamentally changed the paradigm for luxury customers. It's an ionic nameplate."
Galhotra was clearly delighted that he could preside over his second high-drama concept presentation in as many years. And for the moment, Lincoln's quiet luxury is a bit more brash.
Born from yachts
The Navigator concept was inspired by yachts and the world of luxury boating, according to designer David Woodhouse, who provided us with a walkaround of the quite large vehicle once the huge white sheet was pulled off at an exhibition space in Manhattan's West Chelsea art gallery neighborhood.