- the lincoln zephyr name is back on a concept sedan called the zephyr reflection preview, which debuted at the shanghai auto show today.
- style points to notice include the fastback-style rear end and the wall-to-wall interior screens.
- this zephyr could be a continental replacement, or it could be an mkz-size smaller sedan, but either way it's very unlikely to come to the united states.
lincoln is bringing back the historic zephyr name for a new concept car specifically for the china market. while the luxury brand recently canceled its mkz and continental models in the u.s. and now only sells suvs here, customers in china are far more interested in the four-door-sedan body style.
this concept appears to be an indicator of what a new lincoln luxury sedan for china could look like. we doubt it means much for the u.s., but it's interesting to envision an alternate trajectory for lincoln. we don't know many details about the zephyr concept, so it's hard to know if it's sized like a replacement for the continental or if it's a smaller entry similar to the now defunct fusion-based mkz. its styling is reminiscent of what we've seen on the aviator and corsair suvs and has a fastback-like greenhouse in the rear. inside, it has wall-to-wall screens, as is the current trend.
lincoln also has given no indication of the zephyr concept car's underpinnings or powertrain. we'd guess that the eventual production car will use some sort of plug-in-hybrid or electric drivetrain. we discovered a few years ago that lincoln still held the trademark for the zephyr name in the u.s. and speculated that a new rear-wheel-drive sedan model bearing that name could eventually arrive to replace the mkz. at this point that seems like an unlikely scenario given that ford has dropped all passenger-car models and is focusing only on trucks and suvs going forward. so we doubt that we'll ever see anything like this zephyr for the u.s. market.