Lincoln’s New Design Chief Christine Cheng Puts Creativity in the Driver’s Seat

This August, Christine Cheng, Lincoln’s new global design chief attended Monterey Car Week for the first time. As an honorary judge at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, America’s most prestigious annual car show, she arrived just after dawn on Sunday morning to walk the field in search of elegant examples of historic car design. The crowd surged for a glimpse of the polished and preened show cars, underscoring the enduring appeal of collector cars made in the earlier part of the 20^th century. Later, Cheng took time out to pose with a handsome Ascot Maroon 1937 Lincoln K LeBaron Coupe, a reminder of Lincoln’s rich history. The car belongs to fellow judge and Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Company, the executive charged with leading Lincoln into the future.

Christine Cheng’s New Vision for Lincoln

Like all automakers, the 102-year-old Lincoln brand navigates through a tricky time in the auto industry. Uncertainty around tariffs, regulations, and the pace of EV adoption make the future of cars difficult to predict. In many respects, designers must be able to sail above the fray and stay creative and imaginative as they live in the future, designing cars long before they are in showrooms. That’s where Cheng comes in to lead by example.

“What I’m focused on is how I can really influence the products that are going to be coming out in the future,” she said in an interview in Detroit, before Monterey Car Week. “I don’t want our designers to just make the car look beautiful. That’s the basic foundation to invoke emotion, but it has to go deeper than that. It has to create a lasting experience for the customers — car design in a holistic way. What are the lasting memories that they’re going to take way? Getting in and out of the vehicle when you’re sitting down, when you drive. How does the environment engage us?”

 Cheng started in her role this year, and while her work is rooted in what’s ahead, her ideas build off the direction that Lincoln has launched in its newest vehicles that center on the concept of a third space for respite. The meat of the current lineup emphasizes SUVs and includes the Nautilus, Aviator, and a new Navigator. Each of these vehicles draws from the integration of technology and aesthetics to create inviting environments — an area of design that will continue to develop.

Designing from a Place of Purpose

Cheng grew up surrounded by technologists in Cupertino, California. Her father worked for Samsung. She loved to draw from an early age and planned to study fine art in college. She attended the Academy of Art University for high school. “I took some fashion classes, but I could not sew for the life of me. I found out about car design through a professor who was a retired Kia designer. I did figure drawing and painting, and it really clicked that cars are an art. There is an artist behind the car. That day, I remember on my way home, I asked my mom to stop by the grocery store and I got all the car magazines. I put together a portfolio.”

Cheng was accepted to the ArtCenter College of Design and its world-renowned transportation design program. Prior to Lincoln, Cheng worked as a designer at crosstown rival Cadillac for nearly two decades. She joined Ford Motor Company in January 2023 to work on the F-Series pickup truck lineup. The call to lead design for Lincoln spoke to a deep personal connection. “I was talking about this with my sister the other day and we were both getting choked up. My father passed away in 2019. I was super close with my dad.”

Cheng’s father, her role model and champion, loved the Lincoln brand. “I was born in Korea, but we all emigrated when I was very young to California. My dad, when he first came to the U.S. in his twenties on a business trip, he first laid his eyes on big American cars. It left such an impression.” Her father coveted the Lincoln Town Car sedans he saw on the highways. “That’s the pinnacle of the American dream. Fast forward to his daughter leading the future of Lincoln design. My sister and I were reminiscing about what this role would have meant to him. The sophistication, but not being overt and crazy, but you know you’ve made it. It says success without screaming. That type of persona and aspiration that’s what we want to continue.”

Redefining Who Designs the Future at Lincoln

Drawing from the classic ethos in a modern way requires a team of visual thinkers on the design team who can translate their ideas in quick sketches. “There are so many AI tools now it’s important for the designer to be a powerful, empowered designer. The designer must know how to take what’s here and then quickly translate it.” Cheng emphasizes stringent attention to detail. “I get really into the execution and the detail of the fit and finish. I like to look at things from a big strategic view as well.” Sometimes she’ll step back and examine the entire lineup from 100 yards away to study perspective. “Cars are the most complex product there is,” she said. “For me, it’s just the complexity and then problem solving through it, and at the end, you have this beautiful product that people use in their daily lives.”

Leading a modern car design team is about balancing designers who work across exterior, interior, digital spaces, and who sync up the look, aesthetic and feel of every forward aspect of the car.  “I want to make sure that not only I’m staying inspired, but my team is staying inspired as well. I hold a monthly Lincoln Lounge where I help my team collect inspiration images. Once a month we go through it together, whether it’s this like an amazing hotel, architecture that we get to look at, or someone brought in (images from) a new fashion photographer. Getting that creativity just growing within the team is super important.”

Cheng is among a small group of women to lead design at an automotive brand. She has ideas about how to attract more women to pursue car design. “I think number one, not many people know about it,” she said. “A lot of times there are more men because a lot of them started out as gearheads and became car designers. It’s actually so creative, so artistic, and it is so much fun. I’ve been in the industry for 20 years now, and I still absolutely love it.”

“If you do simple with beautiful execution, it now becomes a masterpiece,”

—Christine Chen

Based in Michigan near the company’s Dearborn headquarters, Cheng draws from constant personal and work travel to broaden her perspective. “Design is the only place where everything comes together, where you can see it all in one product. We’re always asking why? What is the deeper meaning behind it? It’s hard to do simple. It requires discipline. If you do simple with beautiful execution, it now becomes a masterpiece.”