Lincoln is a luxury brand — almost to the point of obsession. They offer an exclusive Black Label shopping experience. Their vehicles feature sumptuous leather, symphony orchestra-curated door chimes, yacht club motifs and airily named drive modes — anything to distinguish themselves from their more plebeian corporate siblings at Ford.
The perennial problem for Lincoln — even if demographics for recent launches like the Aviator have been more favorable — is that the brand’s median buyer is old. Lincoln did ditch the Continental sedan (to the chagrin of car services). But the brand is not especially trendy. They’ve ignored the burgeoning off-road, adventure, active-lifestyle movement thus far. But according to Lincon’s global director John Jraiche, that could be about to change. Lincoln is looking at car camping or — because it is a Lincoln — glamping.
“You know the term glamping? We are seeing insights and examples of people using their luxury products off-road like pulling up to a campsite to ‘glamp,” Jraiche told Ford Authority. “We’re monitoring that to see if that’s something that we need to solve.”
Okay, so Lincoln ignoring the car camping (0r glamping) phenomenon may be a bit harsh. The brand did present us with Matthew McConaughey idling the Aviator’s gas engine and cranking up the heat to the max to provide a temperate climate in the open trunk while ice fishing.
We haven’t yet received more rugged, adventure-themed Navigator and Aviator styling trims from Lincoln. Though that feels like something Lincoln could roll out with minimal effort. And as antithetical as it may sound, even a dedicated off-roader might make sense if executed well. Off-roading is a luxury activity. And loaded up F-150 Raptors and Broncos are de facto glamping vehicles — even if their owners would never use that terminology.
