When you think “fashion” and “long-haul trucks,” you might think of. . .a flat-billed trucker’s hat. Not necessarily haute couture.

Asok George designs trucks. Big rigs. He is the chief exterior designer at Volvo Trucks. Listen: “Once we’ve chose a concept, we work with our colleagues from different parts of the company and with different competencies to make sure the product is designed in the best possible way. If it’s a truck, engineered to drive, and if it’s something else, then maybe it’s engineered to wear.”

Asok George

This is the Red Dot Award-winning Volvo FH. It is engineered to drive.

This is the Driver Performance Watch, designed by Patrik Palovaara, senior designer at the Volvo Truck design studio in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is engineered to wear.

Said Palovaara: “The design of the watch should make a clear statement. The Driver Performance watch is a watch that communicates pride. You’re proud of your truck and you’re proud of your watch, it’s the subject of conversation.”

The watch has FH design cues, like fonts from the truck’s gauges. It is also described as being “designed to give the watch a stance reminiscent of the new Volvo FH,” which seems to presume awfully big wrists.

Patrik Palovaara

Palovaara went on to say of the design of the watch as well as other features of the “Volvo Trucks Designer Gear-Travis,” with the Travis being a tribute to Travis Lofgren, a long-haul trucker, “The brief was to create a collection linked to the launch of our new FH. The challenge for us was to capture the feeling of the truck, not just copy the design, but find our own ways of interpreting it.”

So you get a bunch of folks together who spend a lot of time talking about the auto industry, and before too very long, the subject of Lincoln comes up. The subject of whether Lincoln will survive. While the Ford Motor Company is doing exceedingly well in the U.S. market, there is that issue of “One Ford,” which could give those who were partisans of Mercury pause. And there is also the understanding that while Cadillac was able to rise from irrelevance, it is a journey that has taken that brand more than a decade, and in the world of instant everything, the idea that anyone would give any brand a decade to make it is almost inconceivable. Then there is the additional challenge that nowadays, there are more players in the near- and full-blown luxury category, players that may not have even been considered relevant in that space not all that long ago (e.g., Hyundai).

So there is Lincoln.

While I don’t pretend to know what is going to become of it, I do know this: If it puts out more cars as good as the 2013 MKZ—forget about those lightly lipsticked MKZs that preceded it—then it should do very well moving ahead.

The 2013 MKZ is an incredible first effort in the redefinition of what they’re now calling “The Lincoln Motor Company” (which is a somewhat bizarre moniker, hearkening back to the early 20^th century, especially given that the Lincoln folks are trying to position the brand as tech- and fashion-forward. Heck: Even Mad Men seems to be from a time long, long ago, and it is set only half a century back).

The MKZ is a solid midsize sedan that has a visual look of sophistication both inside and out, and it had all of the technical amenities that one would want, from the SYNC-based infotainment system to nice leather, from adaptive suspension to an electronic parking brake, and that’s before kicking in the options, including active park assist and 19-in. alloy wheels.

All in, the car was stickered at $45,550, which is certainly not entry-level, but arguably value for the money.

No, Not Audi

One of the things that some Lincoln people have told me is that when they look at their competition, the closest they perceive for what they are trying to do in reestablishing the brand is Audi, which is a company that is rightfully hailed (note that I am saying this, not them) for its design and technology. Then, the Lincoln people say, there are the other German companies, BMW and Mercedes, which are within their Venn diagram, but not so close. Of course. *

But I’d submit that there is another brand that they’re actually emulating, both in their approach to service and, yes, in the MKZ.

Note that when Alan Mulally came to Ford from Boeing, he was a driver of the Lexus LS430, and he was effusive in praising that car. Note also that Jim Farley, Ford executive vice president of Global Marketing, Sales and Service and Lincoln (that “and Lincoln” is sort of a bizarre touch), once ran Lexus.

The MKZ is not like an Audi. Not a BMW. Not a Mercedes. No, not even a Cadillac. It is like a Lexus.

At this point, there is a certain apoplexy breaking out among some people at Lincoln HQ, as they sputter things like, “The Lexus is a soulless appliance. We have hawks and dead presidents and things like that in our TV ads!”

Let’s just put something in context: in 2012, Lincoln sold 41,578 cars; Lexus sold 56,158 ES models, according to Autodata.

Until Lincoln sells 56,158 of any model it ought to be happy with that characterization.

*If you go across town, to that brand that isn’t named by the folks in Dearborn, and say to someone there, “So, what about Lincoln?” you’re likely to get a response along the lines of “Absolutely incredible.” And then they’ll go on to praise Daniel Day-Lewis.

About Quality

One of the concerns that some people (especially dealers, as this impacts them right in the purse and pocketbook) have had regarding the MKZ is that the cars haven’t been as readily available as they’d hoped, especially right after the Super Bowl, when the aforementioned ads were run. It seems that there was some concern with the quality of build in the plant in Hermosillo, Mexico. So rather than making any missteps by putting out something they weren’t confident in, numerous MKZs were held in quarantine so that they could be checked for quality.

Again, that seems very Lexus-like, more so than other luxury marques. And to put a metric to that, consider that in the 2012 J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study (IQS), Lexus was ranked #1, with 73 reported problems per 100 (PP100) vehicles. The industry average was 102 PP100.

Lincoln was at 107 PP100.

Suddenly, a comparison with Lexus begins to look a whole lot better, doesn’t it?

(And in case you’re wondering, Mercedes was 96, BMW 97, and Audi 105. Cadillac? 80 PP100. Lincoln should perhaps work to emulate that brand, too.)

Differentiated.

The Ford Fusion is an impressively attractive vehicle. The MKZ is based on the same platform. Some people have said that the Fusion is so good that there is really no need to buy an MKZ. Then there are the Lincoln folks who counter that there is so much more that the MKZ brings that the comparison isn’t at all germane.

There is something much simpler about this. The Fusion looks great. The MKZ looks sensational. It is fresh, contemporary, seductive, appealing, and add your own superlative adjectives to the lists. Inside it is comfortable, and while the pushbutton transmission selector might seem a little gimmicky (it’s almost as though when looking for some differentiation between Lincoln and the Aforementioned, someone thought that the plastic pushbutton Chiclets would do it, and while it is true that’s different, it doesn’t mean better) and while I am not entirely taken with the touch controls for the HVAC and audio systems (NHTSA recently came out with its voluntary distraction guidelines that focus on communications, entertainment and navigation—they ought to spend a little time looking at this touch interfaces, too), the fit, finish, materials, and overall execution is better than well done. It doesn’t have the gravitas of, say, an Audi. But it surely reminds me of a Lexus.

Although there is one thing that I do quibble about. The stalks for the turn signals, light selector, and wiper controls. They are straight out of the Ford parts bin. Yes, parts sharing is common and not necessarily a bad thing. But when you have a car that carries the importance of the MKZ, spending a little extra to have a differentiator that the driver not only sees but touches every time she drives the vehicle is essential.

Selected specs

Engine: 2.0-liter, EcoBoost I4

Material: Aluminum block and head

Horsepower: 240 @ 5,500 rpm

Torque: 270 lb-ft @ 3,000 rpm

Transmission: Six-speed electronic with paddle shift

Wheelbase: 112.2 in.

Length: 194.1 in.

Width (w/o mirrors): 73.4 in.

Height: 58.2 in.

Curb weight: 3,874 lb.

Total EPA volume: 111.9 cubic feet

EPA: 22/31/25 city/highway/combined mpg

The use of LEDs as daytime running lights (DRLs) on cars began with the 2004 Audi A8 W12. One can only imagine that people in Ingolstadt kicking themselves around the boardroom, wondering why they didn’t patent that use for the lights, since subsequently LEDs have become the visual statement signifying “upscale.”

2005 Audi allroad quattro concept: an early implementation of LEDs for DRLs

If you want to be in the game, then you’d better bring on the LEDs.

The latest case-in-point: the forthcoming 2014 Cadillac CTS. Here its LEDs and DRLs galore.

This car has 16 LEDs on each headlamp, eight more on the fender, eight going down to the front bumper, and eight LED lights on the front bumper (these also work as turn signals, about which Brian Smith, CTS exterior design manager said, “The CTS is the first Cadillac to combine DRL and turn signal under the same lens.” Which undoubtedly indicates that there are more Cadillacs to come with this combo.).

And while on the subject of lights, the headlights are based on HID (high intensity discharge) lamps. A single HID element works for both high- and low-beams.

Deep Throat: Follow the money.

Bob Woodward: What do you mean? Where?

Deep Throat: Oh, I can't tell you that.

Bob Woodward: But you could tell me that.

Deep Throat: No, I have to do this my way. You tell me what you know, and I'll confirm. I'll keep you in the right direction if I can, but that's all. Just. . . follow the money.

All the President’s Men, screenplay by William Goldman

OK. The Woodward and Bernstein reference may be a bit exaggerated, but Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s David Welch, who covers mergers & acquisitions, Autoextremist Peter DeLorenzo, Autoline’s John McElroy, and your autofieldblogger talk money, politics, managerial intrigue, and a good deal of automotive technology in this episode of “Autoline After Hours.”

Tesla Model S

One of the subjects that they look into with some vigor and possible depth is Tesla, the little electric car company that apparently can: What’s the future for that company? And an obvious foil, of course, is Fisker, which evidentially can’t and has had executives in front of Congress talking about it.

There’s that and much, much more, which you can see here. . .

Some people question how “low” Mercedes can go in terms of the vehicles offered to the U.S. market.

That is, there is a general notion of what “a Mercedes” is so far as most people are concerned, and it is something that is in the “luxury” category, and “luxury” generally signifies something that is a solid sedan or a seriously sporty coupe.

smart forjeremy

Although smart falls under the Daimler umbrella, there is still a significant arms-length between Mercedes products and those that are offered by the quirky producer of diminutive vehicles that appear to belong as much at an amusement park as on highways—maybe more for the former than the latter.

Mercedes CLA

There is the forthcoming CLA, which starts at $29,900, which strike some as low would like to image a Mercedes retailing for in order to maintain its luxury image. After all, the 2014 Kia Cadenza has a starting price of $35,100. The point here is not that the Kia is priced too high (we haven’t driven it yet, but will next month, but given the size and content, it seems not out of line), but that Mercedes might be going too low.

However, this is simply a culturally based perception, because in other parts of the world, such as its home base in Germany, one is as likely to see a Mercedes taxi and one would see a Crown Victoria in New York. And there are smaller variants of Mercedes cars too, such as the A Class and the B Class.

Mercedes A Class

What’s more, there is this, the 2013 Kids’ Bike, designed for children between three and six. It is priced at €299.90. Who would have imagined a new, bona fide Mercedes vehicle for about $400?

Yes, a real Mercedes