What's New: The 2025 Lincoln Navigator Is a Respite on Wheels
2025 Lincoln Navigator. Photo: Ford Motor Company
The 2025 Lincoln Navigator is Here
We’ve known the Lincoln Navigator for decades — the first Lincoln Navigator was introduced back in 1997. We always enjoyed the splurge of riding around in a large Lincoln that owns the road, but Navigator captured our hearts in the fourth generation when we adopted it for six months as our pandemic emergency getaway vehicle. It was our necessary third space to accommodate our three-generation family.
As that era fades in the rearview mirror, five years later we see a lot of what we appreciate from that model in the fifth generation Navigator, which was unveiled in late summer in Carmel, California during the hustle bustle of Monterey Car Week. We haven’t driven it just yet, but we walked away with strong impressions after lingering in the vehicle interior. What we admire is how Lincoln leaned into the characteristics that offer respite from the outside world. The details are intentional, meticulous, and what makes the Navigator a standout in the full-size luxury SUV segment, suited for families that prioritize space and a splurge.
Serena Williams in Carmel, California, Aug. 15, 2024
To introduce its halo vehicle, Lincoln brand ambassador and our favorite heavy hitter, Serena Williams appeared on stage. She’s a long time Navigator owner who loves to drive from home to the beach with her family. “It was a great ride, and it became even a better ride with kids,” she said. It’s her eldest daughter’s favorite ride. “There’s an entertainment center and it’s such a comfortable ride. It’s just so relaxing and feels like a home away from home.”
The chill theme is encapsulated in new tech features, branded as the Lincoln Digital Experience that shows up as an immersive 48-inch panoramic screen that is wide, but unobtrusive. The rejuvenating experience prioritizes mindfulness and has well-thought details ranging from waterfalls, to a starry Aurora Borealis sky theme to natural elements. It has five or ten minutes play options. Ten minutes is our preferred choice to zen out. The seat readjusts, the lights change, the screen illuminates and prompts the user to relax and breathe and maybe shut the eyes (not while driving.) This experience was first introduced in the Nautilus earlier in the year, but its even more well suited to the expansive Navigator cabin. Scenting options and massaging seats make the interior a full 360 sensory experience to get back in touch in the middle of a hectic day.
“It was a great ride, and it became even a better ride with kids.”
Tech capabilities are shared by Google Assistant and a connection to the Google Play Store, where gaming and videos apps can be downloaded and played in Pano mode broadcast across the 48-inch screen. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard. Building on its sanctuary offering is a one-year subscription to the Calm meditative app.
More details that stood out included a rear lift gate that opens automatically on approach — handy for grocery-full hands. The tonier packages offer a 28-speaker Revel Ultima 3D Audio System that broadcasts the rejuvenation experience or whatever your streaming in the car. We spent time relaxing in the new Black Label Enlighten themed interior that gives fall vibes, and is made up of beige and grey seating, birch wood accents, and coffee-colored carpets, and is one of two new Lincoln top level Black Label themes.
Lincoln chose a modern Carmel Valley property and commissioned interior designer Corey Damen Jenkins to reimagine it as a reflection of the new Navigator. Jenkins called out some of the vehicle’s signature design motifs. He gave thorough tours of his work in the home and the furniture and artwork he selected. “I went to Detroit a few months ago and that’s the first time I saw the Lincoln Navigator,” he said. “They sent me samples of the wood, fabrics on the seat, 48-inch wraparound screen, and all the schematics. We used that to really interpret the home. The goal was to celebrate four different packages of the vehicle in the different finishes — copper, metal, and quilted seats. That’s what governed our palette.” Every detail was accounted for under Jenkins’ purview.
As much as we enjoyed a little relaxation time relaxing in Carmel, we look forward to driving and riding in the Navigator when it hits the open roads in the coming months, to see how this full size SUV translates to a sanctuary on wheels.