On Nov. 24, 1999, Motor Trend magazine announced that its prestigious Car of the Year award for 2000 was going to the all-new Lincoln LS—the first in a line of spirited new Lincolns that is redefining American luxury.
“The LS is a car that wholly changes the image of what an American luxury sedan can be,” said Motor Trend’s editors.
The award represents what they believe to be the most significant all-new or substantially changed car each year. It’s the industry’s best-known, most coveted award because of the magazine’s exhaustive testing and comparison of all new cars. Criteria include acceleration, handling and braking, as well as design, engineering, quality, interior comfort and special features, safety, fun factor, livability and overall value.
Motor Trend’s choice of the LS from a field of 30 international competitors was especially significant because the 2000 award marked the first time since 1975 that Motor Trend combined both import and domestic vehicles in a single competition.
Among other accolades, the Lincoln LS also was named the "Best Luxury Car" in Motor Week’s 2000 and 2001 Driver’s Choice Awards, one of
www.edmunds.com’s "Top Five Cars for a Long Commute to Work" and one of "America’s Best" by the readers of AutoWeek magazine.
Designed by German-born Helmut Schrader, the LS was engineered to balance modern American luxury with world-class driving dynamics. In LS, Lincoln introduced its “driving DNA”—the consistent steering, handling, braking and NVH meant to appeal to a new generation of affluent young Lincoln customers.
Among LS customers, 70 percent are new to Lincoln. Such “conquest” sales include 60 percent of Navigator customers and a projected 80 percent of the new Aviator’s buyers.
New Lincoln customers also tend to be younger. The average age of an LS buyer is 51 and 50 for Navigator, while the projected age for the average Aviator customer is 45.
With the all-new Aviator and the second-generation Navigator in Lincoln’s 2003 lineup, the LS won’t rest on its laurels. The freshened 2003 LS offers more than 500 parts that are new or redesigned for more performance, refinement, comfort and convenience. Among them: variable valve timing, electronic throttle control, speed-sensitive rack-and-pinion steering and THXTM premium sound system.
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