Lincoln Navigator Sails to Third Straight APEAL Award
Photo: Lincoln
For the third year in a row, the Lincoln Navigator has won the top award for large premium SUVs in the J.D. Power U.S. APEAL Study. J.D. Power’s annual Automotive Performance, Execution, and Layout Study measures vehicle owners’ emotional attachment and excitement, and the Navigator stands uncontested as the most appealing, exciting vehicle in its segment.
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“Being awarded for the third year in a row in the APEAL Study is an honor, and really represents how the Lincoln brand designs and engineers vehicles with the clients’ preferences at the forefront,” said Michael Sprague, North America director, The Lincoln Motor Company. “Our team is dedicated to creating an exceptional and effortless ownership experience, and this is a testament to our success.”
The 2020 Lincoln Navigator beat out the Cadillac Escalade and Mercedes-Benz GLS to take the top spot among large luxury SUVs.
Lincoln notes that the Navigator has been a key factor in pulling in new customers, saying that 60 percent of Navigator sales are conquests from other brands. The Navigator continues to be a force in its segment, commanding a 28.2 percent market share through May 2020 — up 1.97 percentage points year over year.
Lincoln brand rises to No. 2 overall
Photo: Lincoln
On the strength of the third APEAL win for the Navigator and the strong performance of other key vehicles, Lincoln climbed to second place in the APEAL Brand Index. The J.D. Power 2020 APEAL Study ranks vehicles and brands based on 37 different factors of attachment and excitement, including curb appeal, drivability, and infotainment. Those factors are used to create a 1,000-point scale. Lincoln finished second only to Porsche with a score of 876, which was significantly above the luxury segment average of 861.
Guiding Lincoln’s leap from sixth to second place were strong APEAL Study performances from the MKZ, Corsair, and Nautilus. The now-discontinued Lincoln MKZ finished third in the midsize premium car rankings, the all-new Lincoln Corsair finished second among compact premium SUVs, and the Nautilus ranked third for midsize premium SUVs.
Earlier this year, Lincoln also earned high marks in J.D. Power’s Vehicle Dependability Study, ranking fourth among all luxury makes.
More Awards for Lincoln: 2020 Lincoln Corsair earns an IIHS Top Safety Pick
Kyle S. Johnson lives in Cincinnati, a city known by many as “the Cincinnati of Southwest Ohio.” He enjoys professional wrestling, Halloween, and also other things. He has been writing for a while, and he plans to continue to write well into the future. See more articles by Kyle.