Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn announced it will grow Lincoln production in the U.S. beginning in 2030. As part of the plan, Lincoln will phase out importing vehicles from China for the U.S. market.
In 2025, more than 34,700 Lincoln Nautilus SUVs were built by the Changan Ford joint venture in Hangzhou, China, and imported for sale in the U.S.
“Lincoln is a quintessentially American brand, and Ford is America’s automaker,” says Jim Farley, president and CEO of Ford. “This wasn’t necessarily the easiest path. In fact, it’s a path most of our competitors aren’t choosing to take. But Ford builds in America because we believe in America, and we’re betting on that belief again.”
Lincoln currently assembles the Navigator at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville and the Aviator at the automaker’s Chicago Assembly Plant, both of which continue to be exported to markets including Canada, Mexico, and the Middle East.
The movement of production from China builds on Lincoln’s existing U.S. manufacturing base and Ford’s commitment to American manufacturing. The company says it expects the increased production of Lincoln vehicles to generate thousands of direct and indirect U.S. jobs.
In 2025, Ford says it was the top automaker in U.S. vehicle assembly, U.S. vehicle exports, and hourly autoworker employment in America. The company assembled more than 2 million vehicles in the U.S. last year, more than any other auto manufacturer. Ford employs approximately 56,300 hourly manufacturing workers in the U.S., more than any other automaker.
In Related News, Ford has unveiled a new AI assistant phone app to help Ford and Lincoln owners understand vehicle features such as BlueCruise hands-free highway driving, check if they can fit furniture in a particular cargo space, or troubleshoot quick fixes.
Earlier in 2026, Ford announced plans to bring customers an integrated AI experience starting first in the owner app and then expanding to the vehicle. Now, the new Ford and Lincoln AI assistant is beginning to roll out directly to the Ford and Lincoln apps customers already know and use.
The new service is designed to bring immediate, personalized intelligence directly to 8 million customers across all eligible Ford and Lincoln nameplates.
Customers will know when the AI assistant is available to them when they see a blue oval and spark icon at the top right corner of their vehicle app.
