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When Ford’s global marketing, sales, and service chief and Lincoln head Jim Farley told us at the Geneva show that he might like to see a Vignale edition of the Ford Fusion in the U.S., a few of us (and you) began scratching our collective heads. (Ford presented the Mondeo Vignale concept shown here at last fall’s Frankfurt show; the Mondeo and Fusion are essentially twins.) Is there really room for the Vignale alongside the Lincoln MKZ, considering the Vignale’s exquisite interior and its promise of free car washes for life?
Who among us, shopping for a near-luxury car, wouldn’t just take the loge-level Ford? In our humble opinion, the Lincoln badge on the MKZ couldn’t sway us out of an equally handsome Ford sedan, especially one offering free car washes, and especially since the Ford would ostensibly be cheaper than the Lincoln.
But there’s this to consider: Farley also told us that Lincoln would be “looking to the East” for its next wave of design and interior inspiration (read: elegant and understated), and the Vignale is no paragon of restraint. In fact, it appears to look to the Middle East for its inspiration. So the two could conceivably coexist, particularly as the Ford could have the ancillary effect of lofting the Lincoln’s starting price.
