DETROIT MOTOR SHOW: Lincoln's smallest model ever

Struggling Ford luxury brand Lincoln has unveiled its first compact model – the MKC crossover – ahead of its world debut at this week’s Detroit motor show.

The sleek MKC concept is said to be an accurate indication of the production model that’s due to appear in the US later this year, before going on sale in 2014 in North America and China, where Ford hopes its formerly top-selling US luxury brand can emulate the success of GM’s Buick brand.

Based on Ford’s upcoming Kuga SUV, the MKC rides on a longer wheelbase and is lower and wider overall, as well as featuring all-new sheetmetal and a unique, more upmarket interior.

The four-seater concept’s specific dashboard features a novel push-button gear selector to the left of the central touch-screen, plus unique woodgrain trims incorporating metal flakes in the steering wheel, upper instrument panel and door panels.

Designed to appeal to a younger, richer demographic open to new ideas, similar “Lincoln Experiences” include programmable ride control, personalised lighting, “unique and diverse powertrains” and “a suite of customisable functions that are unique for each client as the vehicle instantly recognizes the operator and creates a personalized welcoming sequence”.

Key design cues for the MKC concept include frameless windows, a signature split-wing grille, white metallic tri-coat paint, 20-inch premium wheels with polished chrome rims and a full-length fixed panoramic roof.

Lincoln has promised to deliver four all-new models in North America’s fastest-growing vehicle segments in the next four years and says the MKC will be stand-out model in the nation’s booming compact luxury SUV sector, which grew faster than any other premium vehicle segment in 2012.

Reflecting the Australian experience, North America’s small luxury utility segment last year grew by nearly 60 per cent, and more than 200 per cent in the past four years.

“We are reinventing Lincoln by focusing on the largest and fastest-growing segments of the luxury market, while offering clients something different,” said Jim Farley, Lincoln Executive Vice-President of Global Marketing.

“The just-introduced MKZ re-establishes Lincoln in the largest luxury segment, and the MKC Concept highlights a key opportunity in the fastest-growing part of the luxury market.”

More news and coverage of the 2013 Detroit Motor Show

Full photo gallery of 2013 Detroit Motor Show at motoring.com.au

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