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Lincoln Aviator Production Will End At Chicago By 2028

As Ford Authority reported earlier this week, one component of Ford’s new tentative contract agreement with the United Auto Workers (UAW) – which ended the union’s six-week-long strike against the automaker – is a major, $8 billion dollar investment in current and future products. However, this roadmap is far more interesting that that, providing us with some clues as to what the future holds for certain Blue Oval models – including the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair, which could be replaced by an EV in the near future. Additionally, this road map states that Lincoln Aviator production is slated to end at the Chicago Assembly plant by 2028, too.

Ford United Auto Workers UAW New Contract Product Investments

According to the document, production of the Ford Explorer and Police Interceptor Utility will continue at the Chicago plant following a planned $400 million dollar investment in that facility, but it also states that Lincoln Aviator production will continue “through its product lifecycle,” which raises a number of questions and possibilities.

A report that surfaced back in January suggested that the next-generation Lincoln Aviator may be sold exclusively as an EV, so it’s possible that the crossover won’t be built at the Chicago plant at all once the ICE model has run its course. This is because the all-electric versions of the Aviator and Explorer are set to be built at the Oakville Assembly plant in Canada starting in 2025. It’s also possible that Ford may decide to move production of the ICE Aviator somewhere else, as is the case with the redesigned 2024 Lincoln Nautilus – a model that used to be produced at Oakville, but will now be built at the Changan Ford Hangzhou Assembly plant in China.

In the meantime, the Lincoln Aviator is set to receive a mid-cycle refresh for the 2025 model year, one that will usher in exterior styling updates similar to the new Nautilus, along with a revamped interior and new tech. As for the future of the plug-in hybrid Aviator Grand Touring, that remains unclear, as the electrified crossover was discontinued for the 2024 model year.

We’ll have more on the future of the Aviator soon, so subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Lincoln Aviator news, Lincoln news, and continuous Ford news coverage.

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.

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Comments

  1. I wished Ford would reconsider making any products, especially any with the Lincoln name plate in china. that is just downright disgusting. feeding money into a enemy country known for poor quality products is an extremely bad idea. think of it…., an American luxury iconic brand named after one of America’s most revered presidents having its cars assembled in communist china… As I said, its just plain disgusting. Shame on Ford if they do this. If labor is too high due to greediness of UAW, then make in Argentina or some other non enemy country if you have to. but not china. With the product itself, please no more larger and larger “whiz bang” dashboard screens. Drivers eyes need to be on the road, not reading some massive electronic screen. its like texting and driving on steroids and thus dangerous. My sister has fairly recent Lincoln and the Ipad-like screen is such that adjusting radio is sufficiently complicated, nobody bothers with it. Radio hasn’t been used in the car since new for this reason. I know its not flashy and trendy, but traditional, simple knobs and gauges are better. Less gadgets and more quality and luxury for Lincolns.

    Reply
    1. The Chinese buy more Lincolns than Americans do. And they get Lincolns we don’t such as Zephyr. The decision to move production there wasn’t due to labor costs, it’s because there’s no place to build it in North America with Edge discontinued and Oakville being converted to build EVs. The new Nautilus is based on a modified version of the global C2 platform that no other model sold here uses, and Nautilus is too low volume to have a factory to itself. The China only Edge L and Zephyr use the same platform, so that’s why it’s joining it’s platform mates in the same factory. It was either a Nautilus built in China or no Nautilus at all.

      As for China having bad quality manufacturing, that’s not always true. You probably typed your post on your Chinese made iPhone. How has it been holding up?

      Reply
  2. Interesting comment regarding the use of the radio as I own a 2017 Lincoln MKT and I don’t recall ever using the radio due to poor reception, somewhat difficult to tune stations and way too many commericals ( obviously not Fords fault). Other options to outsource production are South Africa, Thailand along with Argentina.

    Reply
  3. See,s Lincoln has consistently poor quality, last in each sales segment .
    All have the same bland styling too. Just kill off Lincoln and the rest of the products and make F150 ICE and a few thousand F150 EVs. Ford is becoming a small OEM. No cars, getting rid of two row SUVs . Probably never buying another Ford product as they will all be too large for me . Why do they think Everyone wants an EV or a large SUV . Pure stupidity
    Sell out to Tesla for 40 a share and let’s be done with it. Then we will have a much better leadership team with vision.

    Reply
  4. How long is Lincolin going to keep this dead horse Lincolin brand?

    Reply
  5. I wonder what sort of “new product” they’re considering for the Flat Rock plant. Maybe they’ll come out with another actual car? Maybe a sedan? One can always hope.

    Reply

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