Lincoln Motor Company brass aren’t afraid to tout the brand’s concerted push to redefine the idea of what an upscale American vehicle should be — in the process, hopefully ridding itself of a longstanding stigma born of lackluster past offerings. The latest entry in Lincoln’s renewed lineup is the 2020 Corsair, bound for dealers late this year.
A replacement for the compact MKC, the Corsair lists the Mercedes-Benz GLC, BMW X3, Audi Q3, and especially the new Cadillac XT4 as its main rivals. As Lincoln has now bestowed pricing upon the Corsair, we’re able to contrast those two domestic challengers.
Starting at $36,940 after destination, the base Corsair Standard starts $1,650 higher than the entry-level (2019) XT4 Luxury. (If you’ll recall, this is a reversal of the pricing relationship between the larger Lincoln Aviator and Cadillac XT6.)
Adding all-wheel drive is a $3,600 option, bringing the Corsair’s after-destination total to $40,540. In contrast, the XT4’s AWD entry trim stickers for $37,790.
For these prices, Lincoln buyers get a turbocharged 2.0-liter making 250 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque, while Caddy buyers can expect similar displacement with 13 fewer ponies and 17 fewer lb-ft.
Lincoln buyers get the standard power liftgate and leather seating the base XT4 lacks; Corsair Standard AWD models come with the Standard 1 Equipment Collection, which adds voice-activated touchscreen navigation, ambient lighting, and other goodies, thus explaining the steeper price tag for all-weather traction. Caddy buyers can expect leather and a power liftgate on the XT4 Premium Luxury, which stickers for $42,290, though they can’t go any higher in terms of output. The same 2.0L carries all XT4 trims, including the Sport variant, priced the same as the Premium Luxury.
Moving up to the Corsair Reserve starts the cash register at $43,625 after destination, and that’s with front-drive and the 2.0L mill underhood. Premium seating surfaces, 14-speaker audio, and larger 19-inch wheels are among the niceties included in the Reserve lifestyle; adding AWD pushes the after-destination price to $45,825.
If more power is what you want, Lincoln will provide. However, adding the 2.3-liter turbo four (285 hp, 310 lb-ft) demands the selection of AWD, bringing the Corsair’s price to a lofty $50,365. Included in that sum is the Reserve 1 Equipment Collection, which includes, among other things, an expanded suite of Lincoln Co-Pilot 360 driver aids. Adding the Reserve II package fuels even more inflation, with the Corsair topping out at $56,115.
For that price, some $13,325 more than an XT4 AWD Premium Luxury, Lincoln buyers receive adaptive suspension and 24-way Perfect Position seats, in addition to the power bump.
Though it starts at a slightly higher price point than the Cadillac, Lincoln’s Corsair packs in extra goodies and offers a slight edge in power. When pitched against the base Mercedes-Benz GLC 300, which carries a pre-destination price of $40,700, the newly upscale baby Lincoln could offer German intenders food for thought… assuming they can get over their biases.
[Images: Lincoln]
By the time either this or the XT4 is larded up, they’ll easily pass the 45k mark before taxes. Figure you’ll get a 10% discount off MSRP, and these are still north of 40k for what really is a sedan replacement with a noisy 4 cyl motor.
Too much for too little. Same can be said for the other offerings, which is why they lease ’em instead. They’re too expensive to buy new. I wonder how much they’ll be to maintain out of warranty.
Forty-five? Hell, I saw an XT4 with a $52,000 sticker. Yes, I know, that’s about par for the course for this class of vehicle, but it’s particularly silly for the XT4, which looks cheap inside and out. At the Corsair looks good, and more importantly, it looks luxurious, particularly inside. The XT4’s interior looks like something Volvo dreamed up on an off day.
Having said that, though, these two vehicles are based on mass-market family haulers, so they shouldn’t be overly expensive to maintain out of warranty.
Which “mass market family hauler” do you think the XT4 is based on??
From what I understand, the XT4 is based on the same platform as the Malibu, and the engine is shared with about 165 other GM products.
The XT4 built on a modified version of the E2 platform that underpins the Malibu and Regal.
Good to see Ford/Lincoln manages to squeeze a whole 285 hp out of the same 2.3l 310 hp truck-tune mill they stuff in the antiquated-upon-arrival Ranger.
It is a good-looking vehicle in photos, this Corsair, and since the world is awash with samey two-box blobs on stilts to the point where I no longer care about identifying eaCH CUV at a glance, it may well sell well, without being a complete waste of time. Ford’s panel fits are often the worst I see wandering about – they’ll have to do a stellar job on the Corsair for once for that sort of asking price.
“Good to see Ford/Lincoln manages to squeeze a whole 285 hp out of the same 2.3l 310 hp truck-tune mill they stuff in the antiquated-upon-arrival Ranger.”
The core customer for this doesn’t care. Doesn’t even know how many cyl or how much power it makes.
Corsair
Aviator
Much nicer to say, much more pride to state ownership of than, ugh: XT4, XT5. What does XT stand for? Experimental Transexual???
Looks from the front: No contest. Lincoln beats the angry Cadillac. Angry that all the people, who are not buying Cadillacs. (We’re Americans, not Chinese, after all.)
AWD $3600? sounds like $3000 profit to me. Try $1900 like Lexus.
Agreed, nice to see an actual name instead of alphanumeric gobbledigook. Styling is a bit Rover Evoque-ish, but that’s not a bad thing.
Experimental Transexual???
That’s what everyone is thinking these days. I was thinking Extra Tits.
Half the men on Grindr are looking for girlfriends.
The battle of the shiny turds.
At least the Lincoln looks halfway decent and has a name.
Did they open-up the sheetmetal behind that gorky rear quarter window– or will the inside trim be the same as the MKC?
This is the CUV equivalent of the 2011 Chrysler 200– great refresh. Not new enough.
Add to all of that the Lincoln just looks so much more premium then the Cadillac, but if that’s still too much money for these crossovers both are based on vehicles of a lessor God, so you can just get the Escape or Equinox and save about $10K, but still get 90% of the same vehicle
Ehh hey dumb dumb… the XT4 has no relation to the Equinox. No more than it does to the Escalade or Corvette or Cruze anyways
If I’m reading this correctly the XT4 is related to the Malibu, quite likely the worst vehicle in GMs current lineup.
So they polished the turd and charged $25k more for it.
Yeah, my bad, the E2XX Platform is a Malibu. So get the Malibu and really save money
Or get a Regal TourX. Best-looking car GM is selling right now, to my eye.
What is so bad about the current Malibu exactly? The 2016-2019 rentals I have driven have all been pretty solid driving pleasant enough cars even with the CVT. The one thing that I will say is that the 1.5T could use another 15-20 HP but it is smooth and quiet and adequate enough for 95% of the people who buy them. If your comparing it to the Accord well I would agree that the Malibu is less competitive in that regard.
Current Malibu with the 1.5T is slower than dog$&@? and reminds me of the iron duke, unless your coming out of a Yugo it’s acceleration is completely unacceptable. All of that made worse by the horrible transmission programming that holds gears when floored. Couple all of that with MPG in the low 20s (I averaged 23MPG over a 1 month rental – this is about the same MPG as my heavier 6.2L SS sedan with NO cylinder deactivation)
Loud interior and undefeatable (and extremely noticeable) stop start that reminded me of a 1970s jalopy cutting out on me.
Worst car in modern American history imo.
As someone that always has a smile on their face, loves life, and is almost always in high spirits; the Malibu made me sympathize with people that have suicidal thoughts.
It’s a classy looking vehicle.
You think too much, period ;-)
What do you think? There’s a number after it so it has to quantify something- Extra Tits:4, Extra Tits:5, etc.
The comments are messed up, my comment was in response to your transsexual comment
Not sure premium and 4 cylinder turbo go together but apparently this is the new world we live in. Its nice looking and checks all the boxes: iPad stuck to the dash, floating center console, stitched leather dash, piano black and silver everywhere. Has the required massive grille, blacked out D pillar and full width light bar as well. Do I see a twist knob gear selector? If so another win for following trends. However they didn’t get the memo that 20″ rollers are required now. Also too much lovely blue tint in that grey-ish color, so that needs to be toned down and more neutral to compete with Audi-grey.
They have 20” wheels as an option too! They look fantastic!
As offered here before, the name of the game, especially among the big three, is maximizing ATP and GM/vehicle. Volume doesn’t matter.
$60+k for a fancy Escape.
They must be smoking the good stuff at Lincoln. Thats the only way a trim level on a Ford Escape could cost that much. It should have topped at $50k MAX.
It will be much more when the black label trims are offered in 2021!
Guangzhou-Guadalajara Motors Crapillac XT5, XT4, XT6, CT5, CT4, CT6 rolling dumpster fires.
While this Lincoln Escape looks better than any Guangzhou-Guadalajara Motors Crapillac product, it a grossly overpriced Ford Titanium Escape, in reality, and is premium in terms of veneer only.
Waiting patiently for a BEV Corsair to come out in 2022!