By Nauman Farooq

Unlike Toyota, Ford is experiencing a bit of a windfall recently. Not only was Ford the only American automaker to not require any government bailout money last year, their sales have been getting better and better. In Canada, Ford saw a bigger sales increase than any other manufacturer, which is great news for people who work for Ford in any capacity.

2011 Lincoln MKX

With their new found sales and financial success, they now have the money to not only develop new models, but also improve their current line-up.

Hence the Ford Mustang has received some notable tweaks for the 2011 model year, and so has the Edge.

Sister vehicle to the Ford Edge, the Lincoln MKX has also gone through a mid-life make-over, and it is looking very impressive indeed.

First of all is the revised sheet-metal. Gone is the square-ish nose and the very horizontal tail tights in favor of a much more sleek and stylish design. With the new twin-grille nose, the MKX finally looks like a member of the current Lincoln family.

The interior also got quite a revision and it has gone very high-tech. Gone are most of the buttons, replaced now by a new touch-screen system named “MyLincoln Touch”.

While this new system has a funny name, its functionality is quite simple. All the major controls of the vehicle like audio, trip computer, climate control and navigation are all handled by this one screen. This removes some of the clutter from the dashboard.

Unfortunately, the steering wheel looks even more cluttered with buttons now, which might annoy a few customers.

One feature that used to annoy MKX customers has now been addressed though, and that is the engine. Gone is the weak 3.5-liter, V6 and in place is a much more potent 3.7-liter V6. This new engine (which is also available in the new Mustang V6) produces 305 hp and 280 lb/ft of torque. Mated to a six-speed automatic gearbox (which now also features manual-shift capability), it can drive either just the front wheels or all-wheels depending on the trim.

Despite the bigger and more powerful engine, Ford says there won’t be any increase in fuel-consumption (urban cycle = 12-liters/100km), thankfully.

The 2011 MKX will hit showrooms this fall, so you can bet that Lincoln dealers are currently offering huge discounts on the soon to be outdated stock of 2010 models.