We've got the smoke and mirrors set," jokes Mark Fields, Ford's president for the Americas, "we wouldn't want the wind to ruin it all." Behind him, black cloth is flapping in the breeze, threatening to reveal an as-yet-unannounced vehicle before Fields is quite ready. The executive has gathered journalists in the expansive car park of an Italian-style villa overlooking the Pacific Ocean off Pebble Beach to preview Lincoln models that will debut in early 2010.

It's been a long time since Ford management has bestowed Lincoln with much substance. For years, the company distracted itself with tony luxury brands Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Land Rover, letting Lincoln marketing and product development languish. The American luxury brand's prestige dwindled until it was distinguishable for little more than its Town Car, a nameplate first introduced in the 1920s that in recent years has been mostly popular with septuagenarians and workaday limo fleets. Now, in the midst of a dicey restructuring which forced the company to jettison its money-losing foreign brands, Ford is doubling down on Lincoln.

Fields and company have their work cut out for them. So far this year, Lincoln sales in the U.S. are off 27.9 percent from the same period in 2008. Each year Lincoln sells about 100,000 vehicles, a sliver of the market compared with Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, or even General Motors' Cadillac (the latter of which has sold between 150,000 and 200,000 vehicles annually, but recently has fallen on even harder times than Lincoln, dropping more than 46 percent in sales in the first seven months of 2009). To stem losses and reverse its fortunes, Ford has introduced glitzy new models and is repositioning the Lincoln brand in advertisements.

Executives maintain that plans to do just that first began to take shape in 2005, long before the U.S. auto industry imploded. Sharing new platforms with upcoming Ford products, the company would release a limited series of distinctive products in growing segments, including sporty sedans and car-based crossover SUVs. When Alan Mulally was appointed Ford's president and CEO in late 2006, he endorsed the strategy. "In 2005, we had no crossover, no sports sedan. Look at where we came from," argues Fields.

Indeed, Lincoln has steadily been introducing new vehicles since Mulally greenlighted a revival. Since then, the company has introduced two new sedans, the MKZ and MKS, as well as the MKX SUV—all of which have earned high marks from consumer ratings agency J.D. Power and enthusiast magazines like Automobile and Car and Driver. This year, the company is also introducing a large crossover called the MKT, which has generated buzz for it's evocative double-wing chrome grille and elegant cabin. "They've nailed the product end of things now," says Wes Brown, a partner at Los Angeles-based marketing firm Iceology. "They can begin putting the brand back on people's radars."

Preliminary evidence shows that, despite the weak economy, the strategy is paying off. The company is starting to attract hipper, younger affluent customers. Whereas the average Town Car buyer is 71 years old, those purchasing newer models like the MKZ and MKX are 55 years old on average. That means new Lincoln buyers are roughly in line with those of Japanese outfits such as Lexus. What's more, Lincoln now has Ford's highest rate of so-called conquest customers, or buyers who have switched from competing brands. About 50 percent of Lincoln buyers previously owned cars from the likes of Toyota and Honda.

Executives and analysts agree that Lincoln is benefiting in large part from the departures of Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Land Rover. These, they say, have freed up resources and lifted a ceiling over Lincoln that previously muddied its position within the company as a true luxury marque. "We now have the same number of people working on fewer brands," says Mike Crowley, Ford's marketing manager for cars and crossovers. "We're in a much better position to transform our perception."