Improved 2024 Lincoln Nautilus Sees Big Price Bump

Sean Tucker 04/19/2023 8:36am

There’s a new buzzword in both the marketing trade and debates over inflation in America today – “premiumization.” It reflects the idea that a company can justify raising prices by aiming its products at a market of consumers comfortable spending more money.

Premiumization has come to the world of cars.

Case in point: If you bought the top-level trim of the 2023 Lincoln Nautilus, selected its priciest paint option, and added the available options packages, you’d spend about $71,000 (including delivery fees). Do the same with the 2024 Nautilus, and you’d be paying more than $82,000.

Ford’s Fanciest Midsize SUV

The Lincoln Nautilus is a luxury version of a fairly common car. Ford’s Edge SUV is a comfortable midsize 2-row SUV known for its roomy cabin. For 2023, the Edge starts at $37,945.

The 2023 Nautilus takes the Edge platform and adds luxury features like a premium audio system and Lincoln’s Soft Touch synthetic leather upholstery. A base 2023 Lincoln Nautilus starts at $44,825. Its most exclusive trim level, the Black Label, uses Venetian leather upholstery, active noise canceling, and a unique interior design theme based on early aviation.

Pushed Upscale for 2024

For 2024, however, Lincoln has taken the Nautilus further upscale. The company this week unveiled an all-new Nautilus for the next model year. A revamped interior features an incredible 48 inches of screen stretching almost from door to door. The base trim has been renamed Premiere to highlight its more luxurious status. Starting at $50,415, it costs $5,590 more than the previous year’s base trim.

The Black Label designation is still available. But it now comes with even more exclusive features, like a programmable scent system and a Revel Ultima 3D audio system with an incredible 28 speakers. It costs $7,220 more than last year.

But buyers also now have the option of a Jet Appearance Package, adding $3,000 to the sticker, and a new hybrid system adding another $1,500. The result? A 2-row midsize SUV with a price tag over $82,000.

That pushes Lincoln into very exclusive territory. It may help some buyers start to see Ford’s luxury badge as an alternative to high-end European luxury manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz (the only other automaker we know of that offers scent programs).

But it will doubtless cause other shoppers to balk at paying those prices for a dressy Ford Edge. Welcome to premiumization.

An Extreme Example of a Trend

You can expect to see more of it. Federal Reserve bank moves to reduce inflation may be having the opposite effect on the new car market. As credit becomes harder to access, automakers will focus their efforts on attracting wealthier buyers. Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke explains, “This trend induces automakers to focus on profitable products for consumers who can afford to buy, which keeps less affluent consumers out of the new-vehicle market altogether.”

Cox Automotive is the parent company of Kelley Blue Book.