The 2020 Lincoln Aviator Gets A 450+HP Plug-In Hybrid And Points To Ford's Future

The Lincoln Aviator of 2020 Gets a Rechargeable 450 HP Hybrid and Paves the Way for Ford's Future

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The transformation of the Lincoln brand continues this week at the Los Angeles Auto Show with the rebirth of a nameplate once abandoned on a brand new platform. Last spring at the New York Auto Show, the entire world got a glimpse of the Lincoln Aviator 2020 as a "concept", although it's really a prototype just changed. More and more frequently, Lincoln is expanding its range of models with another crossover utility vehicle, the Aviator being between the flagship browser and the newly refreshed and renowned Nautilus.

The Aviator est intéressant à bien des égards au-delà de la renaissance du nom d'une version de luxe éphémère du Ford Explorer. L’Aviator est le premier nouveau modèle qui tire parti de la nouvelle stratégie d’architecture flexible de Ford. Avant le Salon de New York, Ford avait présenté cette nouvelle approche lors d’un briefing de fond dans son studio de design Dearborn. Dans le but de réduire les coûts de développement et de fabrication, il a décidé de transférer tous ses futurs véhicules sur l'une des cinq plates-formes flexibles suivantes:

Unibody à moteur transversal prenant en charge la traction avant ou la traction intégrale
Unibody à moteur longitudinal supportant l’arrière ou la transmission intégrale
Plateforme de véhicule électrique dédiée
Fourgonnettes et véhicules utilitaires
Camionnettes et VUS Body-on-Frame

Cette approche est très similaire à celle adoptée par le groupe Volkswagen avec ses boîtes à outils modulaires et les trois premières plates-formes Ford correspondent approximativement aux architectures VW MQB, MLB et MEB.



The Aviator is the first model to be presented on the Longitudinal Monohull platform which will also be used by the next Ford Explorer and probably by other nameplates not yet identified.

From the design point of view, there is no real surprise with the Aviator and, frankly, there is nothing wrong with that. Lincoln's new design language has been well received since its debut on the Continental and the new MXZ. It's clearly a brother of the Navigator, but it's more than a three-quarter version of the battleship. Where the navigator has a more square-jawed presence that makes him look more like the patriarch of the family, the aviator has a little more sculpture and curvature.

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The wheel arches and flanks of the Aviator are a little more fleshy with additional contours, which gives it a younger and sportier attitude. Where the horizontal lines of the Navigator appear to be almost parallel from front to back, the lines of the Aviator have a slight taper to the rear. This is exactly what David Woodhouse, Lincoln's design manager, describes as the "quiet flight" theme behind many of the decisions made to create the Aviator.