After several recalls on its best-selling Ford Escape and Fusion models, Ford is taking it slowly and thoroughly with the launch of the Lincoln MKZ. In an unprecedented step, Ford is reportedly shipping MKZs, that are in-built Hermosillo, Mexico, to Flat Rock, Michigan, for quality validation, per a Bloomberg report. Flat Rock is certainly one of two plants making the Fusion for the North American market, the opposite being Hermosillo. Flat Rock also builds the Ford Mustang sports car.

Ford wouldn’t touch upon the precise number, or percentage of units which are being shipped from Hermosillo to Flat Rock as portion of the stepped-up quality validation process. The recent 2013 Lincoln MKZ has received the foremost amount of interest of any new model within the brand’s history, judging by pre-orders for the model. Dealers haven’t been capable of fulfill customer orders due to longer quality-control process.

Having a well-liked model is important for Lincoln, which saw its lowest sales month in additional than 30 years, selling only 4,191 models in January 2013. The MKZ, and the production version of the MKC compact SUV concept shown finally month’s Detroit show are a key portion of Lincoln’s turnaround plan.

Lincoln’s 2012 sales total was 82,150, in comparison with BMW, which led U.S. luxury car sales with 281,460 units sold.

Source: Bloomberg