The Lincoln brand made a big bet on SUVs when it discontinued sedans in the U.S. in 2020. While Lincoln sales are far from being the highest-volume luxury brand, the American brand sells many premium SUVs that offer a nice blend of luxury, practicality, and reasonable ownership costs.

So far in 2023, its biggest and smallest SUVs are trending in opposite directions.

Lincoln sales in 2023 are mixed

According to data on GoodCarBadCar, Lincoln has sold 7,184 Navigator SUVs and 6,894 units of the Corsair so far in 2023. That puts their sales volume close to each other, but those numbers were very different compared to the same time frame last year.

The same data shows that Navigator sales are up 69 percent and Corsair sales are down 41 percent. Corsair sales are down mainly because production was temporarily paused earlier this year. A software issue with the SUV’s digital gauge cluster triggered the production pause at the Louisville Assembly plant. Luckily, it’s since been resolved.

According to Ford Authority, Ford built zero Corsair models in February 2023, and only 159 units were built in March. However, production has since ramped up to normal volumes, with 3,917 SUVs built in May.

This is good news for luxury SUV shoppers since the Corsair received a mid-cycle refresh for 2023. On top of an exterior and interior aesthetic refresh, it got a new SYNC 4 infotainment system with a 13.2-inch screen and the availability of the BlueCruise hands-free driving system. BlueCruise allows you to take your hands off the wheel on over 130,000 miles of “Blue Zones” on North American highways.

What about the Lincoln Navigator?

Conversely, production issues are also a reason why the sales of the Navigator are up in 2023. Ford was plagued with microchip shortages in 2022 that slowed down production (and subsequently sales) of the Navigator that year.

Although nothing is quite back to what we’d call “normal,” production for the Navigator is in a better spot now than it was a year ago. Many luxury SUV shoppers who couldn’t get their hands on a Navigator last year are finally getting their SUV this year, and the sales numbers reflect it.

The Lincoln Navigator got a mid-cycle refresh in 2022, which helped to increase the demand. That update was similar to the one the Corsair received for 2023. The Navigator got refreshed styling, updated infotainment tech, more themes for the Black Label models, and BlueCruise. This update made the Navigator more competitive with the Cadillac Escalade.

The future of Lincoln sales

As Ford continues to work out production issues, we should see sales numbers for these SUVs stabilize. These extreme swings in sales numbers will likely die down as Lincoln SUVs settle into their popularity rankings. Compact SUVs like the Corsair are generally more high-volume sellers than full-size SUVs. However, the Lincoln Navigator has a special place in the SUV world as the original full-size luxury SUV of its kind.