By Paul Rachwal
Monday, Mar 17th, 2008 @ 10:44 am

The Lincoln MKT crossover concept looks to be one step closer to production, with a production prototype shown to a consumer panel over the weekend. At the same time, the Lincoln Mark LT luxury pick-up truck is discontinued at the end of the current model year. Both announcements reflect Ford ’s efforts to make Lincoln a serious player in the luxury market in the US and abroad, getting back to its roots and focusing on its in-house luxury brand, especially since the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover .

We had a hunch as to the LT’s demise, with the newly unveiled 2009 Ford F-150 Platinum as a big hint. It was unlikely Ford would position two such similar products in the same market, and the company confirmed this strategy, according to Automotive News.

The MKT made its debut in concept form at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January, where it sported just two rows of seats. The production version is based on the Ford Flex underpinnings and will have three rows of seats, which it needs to be competitive, according to Jim Hall, an industry analyst.

“It’s a very important vehicle for getting Ford back into that luxury segment and making Lincoln credible again,” said analyst Erich Merkle of IRN Inc.

Another analyst expects the MKT to be introduced in May of next year. With the upcoming MKS sedan that has no equivalent in the Ford stable, Lincoln is on a roll, coming off a more than 9 percent sales increase in 2007.

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