Mid-size sedans have been taking it on the chin as of late and there's no sector where more blood has been drawn than in the entry-level luxury ranks. The biggest threat has been hybrid crossovers, but now, the sedan, more specifically, the American luxury sedan, is doing it's best to stage a comeback.
Lincoln, set free from it's Mercury shackles, is taking Lexus to task, dishing up a new variation on a solid formula to push the trapezoidal Prius-in-a-tux HS250h back into the ocean – in the form of the MKZ Hybrid. The model itself is new for 2011, even if much of the technology and engineering behind it is not.
Like the HS250h, the MKZ Hybrid shares much of its DNA with a blue jeans brother, in this case the Ford Fusion. If you've spent any time in the regular MKZ, then you'll feel right at home in this one. Even though the basic design of this car is now close to eight years old, it still cuts a unmistakable profile amid a sea of gilded-edge mobile porridge and the new corporate front fascia and tail tweak – introduced on all MKZs originally for the 2010 model year, make it look more mature and perhaps just a little menacing (a certain dark Lord from Middle Earth comes to mind for this scribe).
More:
2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid Review – First Drive on AutoGuide.com
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