Lincoln begins pre-sales of locally built Zephyr sedan

Lincoln has started preselling the locally produced Zephyr in China with a starting price of 255,000 yuan ($39,906). 

The sedan, built at Ford Motor Co.’s joint venture with Changan Automobile Co., debuted at the Guangzhou auto show last week. 

The vehicle, targeting young Chinese households, is 4,982 mm long, 1,865 mm wide and 1,485 mm tall, with a wheelbase of 2,930 mm. 

It is powered by a 2.0-liter turbo-charged direct-injection gasoline engine and can accelerate to 100 kilometers within 6.8 seconds, according to Lincoln’s China unit. 

Lincoln said it also plans a hybrid variant of the Zephyr, without specifying the timeframe.

The Zephyr is Lincoln’s fourth model produced at Changan Ford, following the Nautilus, Aviator and Corsair crossovers.

The Nautilus and Aviator are only available with gasoline engines, while the Corsair is available in both gasoline and plug-in hybrid versions. 

In the first ten months, Lincoln’s China sales spiked 62 percent to top 75,000, with 95 percent of volume generated by the locally built Nautilus, Aviator and Corsair, Lincoln said.