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" LOS ANGELES \u2014 Apparently even Mark Fields, Ford&amp;#039;s president of the Americas, is confused by the Lincoln&amp;#039;s new alphanumeric nameplates. As he began to introduce the all-new MKS, Fields stumbled and said &amp;quot;MKZ \u2026 err \u2026 S.&amp;quot; Good to know we&amp;#039;re not the only ones who mix up Lincoln&amp;#039;s models. But the highlight of the news conference was, of course, the car. The new MKS, based on the architecture of the Volvo S80 and Ford Taurus, will come with Ford&amp;#039;s 272-hp 3.7-liter V6. Next year, a direct-injected turbocharged V6 will become available and will &amp;quot;have the economy of a V6 and the power of a V8.&amp;quot;   The MKS looks good in person. It&amp;#039;s certainly not what we&amp;#039;d call a daring design, but at most angles, it appears well proportioned. We especially like the rear tail lights, which remind us of those on the Maserati Quatroporte; not a bad design to ape. Because it is a front-wheel-drive-based sedan, the MKS does suffer from a relatively long front overhang, which makes it look less sporty than, say, the current Cadillacs. And speaking of Lincoln&amp;#039;s archrival, Fields says the MKS will compete with mid-level luxury cars like the Cadillac STS and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Some fairly sporty and luxurious rear-drive cars dominate the class, so it will be interesting to see how this Lincoln is received.   We spent a few minutes elbowing other journalists out of the MKS&amp;#039;s interior and had a chance to sit in the back seat. It&amp;#039;s roomy, and appears fitted with good-quality fabrics and leather. For example, the leather on the seats is softer and more upscale than on other Lincoln products, and the doors and dash are covered in soft-touch materials. In the very limited time we had inside the car, it looks as if Lincoln spent some money where it counts. One cool feature on this Lincoln is the hidden keypad. If you own a Ford, you&amp;#039;re already familiar with the brand&amp;#039;s keyless entry system. Essentially, you type a number code into the pad to open the door instead of hitting a key fob. The new Lincoln doesn&amp;#039;t abandon this feature (beloved by Ford and Lincoln owners). Instead, it simply hides the door-mounted keypad for a cleaner design.  Fields says the MKS will start at $37,895 with normally expensive options as standard features such as heated and cooled seats. That&amp;#039;s a good price for this car. However, that deal is a little less sweet when you check all the options. A fully loaded MKS should go for $49,000. You can get a lot of Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz or BMW for that kind of money. \u2014Ben Stewart   RELATED STORIES \u2022 L.A. AUTO SHOW PREVIEW: 2008 Lincoln MKS   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a2288/4231441/>