The Lincoln Corsair died - now it’s coming back from China

Another American vehicle will now be sourced from China

Ford built the last American Lincoln Corsair in December 2025, despite it being one of their best-selling vehicles. Now it looks like they already regret it. Multiple outlets have spotted a refreshed Corsair testing, and the reporting all points to the Corsair coming back to the US market, except this time it will be imported from China.

The original logic made sense at the time, but looks worse in hindsight. Lincoln dropped the Corsair and Ford dropped its twin, the Escape, to free up production room for EVs. However, EV sales have sagged after the tax credit was dropped, and Lincoln suddenly had a large, entry-level hole in their lineup.

So Lincoln is doing the same thing it already did with the bigger Nautilus, which has been built in China and imported here since early 2024, when the new generation was released. That gamble paid off, since the Chinese-built Nautilus helped Lincoln post its strongest retail sales in nearly two decades. The Corsair is still produced in China, so it makes sense for them to import it instead of standing up the production line in the US again. That said, it stings a bit that another American car is being outsourced to China.

The refresh itself looks mild, so don’t expect a fully new generation. Spy shots show a tweaked front end that mimics the new Nautilus. Inside, expect a large display that also (surprise, surprise) takes cues from the Nautilus. Under the hood, the reporting points to a hybrid-only setup using a turbocharged 2.0-liter four. That is the same basic system offered in the Nautilus, where it makes 310 horsepower, though Lincoln may dial it back for the smaller car. The outgoing US Corsair ran either a 250-horsepower gas engine or a 266-horsepower plug-in hybrid.

The current Corsair starts around $40k, and the updated model should be priced similarly, assuming they can absorb the cost of importing it. They pulled it off with the Nautilus, so they can probably work it out here too.

Plenty of Lincoln shoppers have already made peace with a China-sourced Nautilus, and plenty of others have loudly refused to. Importing the Corsair doubles down on that strategy, and may make business sense, but isn’t a great look for an American luxury brand. None of this is official yet, to be clear. Everything so far comes from spy photographers and online reporting, not a Lincoln press release. An announcement is expected in the coming months.