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SUMMARY:

• The new 2010 Lincoln MKZ luxury midsize sedan received a Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
• Ford Motor Company holds more IIHS Top Safety Pick ratings than any other automaker and more U.S. government 5-star-rated vehicles than any brand
• The new MKZ offers more standard luxury features – including a first-in-class Blind Spot Information System (BLIS™) with Cross Traffic Alert (CTA) – than the Lexus ES350 and Cadillac CTS

BACKGROUND:

The new 2010 Lincoln MKZ luxury midsize sedan – arriving in dealerships now – is giving Lincoln showrooms another boost after earning a Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The new MKZ offers more standard luxury features than its Lexus and Cadillac competitors and further solidifies Ford Motor Company’s industry-leading number of Top Safety Picks.

DETAILS:

The structure of the Lincoln MKZ helps it withstand intrusion in many accidents, including the most common frontal and side impacts.

The tailor-welded B-pillars between the front and rear doorframes are stronger at the top of the vehicle – from below the beltline upward – than at the bottom. This helps channel energy below the level of the occupants. At the torso level and above, the structure helps prevent intrusion into the passenger compartment.

Front and side-protection elements on the Lincoln MKZ include:

• The first use on a Ford vehicle of dual-phase, high-strength steel rails on the front end;
• Two energy absorbing foam blocks between the inner door panels and interior trim, aligned with the occupants’ chest and hip;
• Side-intrusion beams inside the door, anchored at the hinge and latch areas;
• Tailor-welded steel in the B-pillar structure with extra thickness – nearly a quarter inch of solid steel – above the beltline; and
• Front-seat side air bags for front occupants and side-curtain air bags for head protection in both rows.

Segment-exclusive features
The new Lincoln MKZ also offers segment-exclusive features, including:

• First-in-class Blind Spot Information System (BLIS™) with Cross Traffic Alert (CTA), which makes navigating traffic and parking lots safer and easier.
• AdvanceTrac® electronic stability control system, which comes standard on all Lincoln vehicles, can predict the vehicle’s intentions using a sensor to detect and measure over-steer and yaw by monitoring the vehicle’s speed, throttle position and steering wheel angle. When the system senses wheel slip, engine torque is reduced and braking is applied where needed to help keep the car tracking safely on its intended path.
• Optional SYNC® with 911 AssistTM. When a phone is properly paired, turned on and connected to SYNC, the system is ready to assist in placing a call directly to a local 911 emergency operator in the event of an air bag-deploying accident. The key advantage of SYNC 911 Assist is speed, as calls are placed directly to local 911 operators.
• SOS Post Crash Alert System, which activates the horn, emergency flashers, automatically unlocks doors and turns on the interior/puddle lamps when an air bag is deployed. The system activates the emergency flashers when a spinout is detected.

Additional standard safety features on the Lincoln MKZ include:

• Ford’s Personal Safety System®. This suite of safety features includes safety belt pretensioners, load-limiting retractors, dual-stage front air bags, driver-seat-position sensing and crash-severity sensing.
• Ford’s BeltMinder™ system. If the driver or front passenger remains unbuckled, the system chimes and flashes a warning lamp for six seconds every 30 seconds for five minutes or until the driver buckles up, whichever comes first.
• LATCH. The Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren system provides convenient mounting points for compatible child seats.

Top Safety Pick Requirements
To earn a Top Safety Pick rating, a vehicle must receive a rating of “good” in offset frontal impact, side impact and rear impact evaluations and offer electronic stability control.

QUOTES:

“Earning a Top Safety Pick rating is great news because the Insurance Institute’s tests are some of the most demanding conducted outside of our own laboratories, and customers increasingly rely on them when choosing a new vehicle.”

– Susan Cischke,
Ford Group Vice President of Ford Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering

“The new MKZ continues to build on Ford’s leading safety heritage and proves that a high level of safety can come in a midsize package.”

– Steve Kozak,
Chief Engineer, Ford Safety Systems

“In addition to its top safety rating, the new MKZ is packed with technology, Lincoln’s signature high-end features, class-leading interior quietness, and is unsurpassed in its segment for highway fuel economy.”

– Greg Scott,
Ford Marketing Manager for Fusion, Milan and MKZ

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About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 205,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company's automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford's products, please visit www.ford.com.