Auto News 5

Luxury brands face a Catch-22: they thrive on exclusivity but want to sell as many cars as possible. This challenge is especially acute at Lincoln, which has neither cachet nor lots of sales. The brand perceives its best and only option to be an all-out attack on high-volume segments with more exclusive-looking products. We saw the first fruit of this effort last year with the new and dramatically styled MKZ mid-size sedan. Phase two is a small crossover, a vehicle segment that, by Lincoln's estimation, accounts for some 25 percent of luxury sales. The MKC concept you see here is Lincoln's attempt to feast on this large slice of the luxury-sales pie.