In its first calendar year of sales (i.e. Based directly on the Ford Expedition, introduced the year before, the Navigator gave the Lincoln-Mercury division its first full-size SUV (slotted above the Ford Explorer-based Mercury Mountaineer). The Lincoln Navigator was launched on Jfor the 1998 model year, with the first vehicle rolling off the assembly line on May 14, 1997. As full-size SUVs such as the Chevrolet Suburban and Ford Expedition are highly profitable vehicles, the Lincoln Navigator was positioned by Ford as a full-sized, luxury SUV. General Motors introduced the Oldsmobile Bravada in 1990 and Ford later introduced the Mercury Mountaineer in 1996, convincing several other manufacturers to introduce mid-size luxury SUVs. A smaller, unibody Grand Cherokee (ZJ) was induced during 1992 that offered new luxury equipment and class-exclusive features. The vehicle had gained a famous reputation for its high content, featuring the same content as a luxury sedan. In 1991, the Jeep Grand Wagoneer (SJ) ended its almost unchanged 28-year production run. Since 2009, production has also been sourced from the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, Kentucky.Īt the end of the 1980s, in the United States, sport-utility vehicles gradually began to transition from dedicated off-road vehicles towards dedicated family vehicles, similar to station wagons. Lincoln Navigator production was sourced from 1997 to 2009 at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan. It is the heaviest production Lincoln ever built, and is also the Lincoln with the greatest cargo capacity and the first non-limousine Lincoln to offer seating for more than six people.

Sold primarily in North America, the Navigator is the Lincoln counterpart of the Ford Expedition. The Lincoln Navigator is a full-size luxury SUV marketed and sold by the Lincoln brand of Ford Motor Company since the 1998 model year.

( Kentucky Truck Plant) (2009–present) įront engine, rear-wheel drive / four-wheel drive

Driving navigator