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Lincoln Likely to Affix Grand Touring Name to All Hybrids

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2020 Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring | Lincoln Grand Touring

Making the grand debut of the 2020 Lincoln Aviator in Los Angeles all the more grand was the reveal of the Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring, which grandly grants drivers grand gas mileage with the grandest plug-in hybrid technology Lincoln has to offer. It appears that the Grand Touring name isn’t just intended for the new Aviator — Lincoln seems intent to use it as its new nomenclature for PHEVs moving forward.

Robert Parker, Lincoln’s chief of marketing, told Automotive News after the Aviator bowed in L.A. that the name Grand Touring is the end result of hours of debate over what the luxury brand would call its hybrid products. Staunchly against the idea of fastening the letter “E” to existing vehicles or taking up more alphanumeric nomenclature after having just moved away from its “MK” naming system, Parker said that Grand Touring won out because it best encapsulated the character of the vehicle.


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“Quite simply, it came down to, ‘what does it do?’ And what it does is that it makes the vehicle more exciting to drive,” Parker said. “It’s the purest definition of Grand Touring.”

In adopting the Grand Touring name for its electrified vehicles, Lincoln will call attention to its performance rather than its efficiency. It’s Lincoln’s hope that the Grand Touring name will catch on in a manner similar to how parent company Ford made EcoBoost its first name in efficiency and performance.

“You can talk yourself into these letters and conventions, but when you go out into the consumer space, they’re very confused,” Parker said. “EcoBoost wasn’t new; direct-injection technology was around in the late ’80s, but nobody seemed to find the magic until EcoBoost.”

Lincoln has not specified performance figures for the Aviator Grand Touring, nor has it indicated which vehicles will be the next to get the Grand Touring treatment. Best bets would be the Navigator, which has been the brand’s hottest selling vehicle in 2018, as well as the recently launched Nautilus.


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News Source: Automotive News (subscription required)

Photos: Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring

2020 Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring