( CNN ) -- After divesting from luxury brands purchased in Europe , the Ford Motor Co. is revamping its Lincoln car line to try to recapture the prestige -- and market share -- of the past . `` We had purchased Aston Martin and Jaguar and Landover and Volvo , and we had decreased our investment in Lincoln , '' Ford CEO Alan Mulally told CNN 's Richard Quest . `` With our One Ford Plan in 2006 , we decided to have a laser focus not only on the Ford brand but Lincoln . We continued to invest in the toughest times and the MKZ is our first proof point of a new line of luxury Lincoln vehicles . '' Ford announced Monday it is renaming its Lincoln division as the Lincoln Motor Co. Lincoln is not being spun off into an altogether separate carmaker , notes CNNMoney 's Peter Valdes-Dapena , but Ford wants to give it greater separation from the more mass market Ford `` blue oval '' brand . Lincoln have has its own product development team , designers and salespeople . The all-new MKZ is due to hit the market soon . `` As you know the Lincoln has been part of the Ford Motor Co. for nearly 90 years and its always been known for elegant styling and design , inside and out , and also very useful and exciting technology and innovation , '' Mulally told Quest . Ford was able to avoid the bailouts required to keep U.S. competitors General Motors and Chrysler afloat after an aggressive restructuring that began in 2006 , before the financial crisis struck . But the carmaker has been hit of late by the slowdown in the eurozone . The company announced in October the closure of two plants in England and one in Belgium in the next two years , which together employed 5,700 workers . `` We are moving very decisively on our better plan to serve the European customers both with a more complete family of best in class vehicles that we describe , but also taking the actions on the productivity and the utilization of our facilities , '' Mulally said . `` It 's going to take us a couple years to do that , we know how to do it , everybody watched us do it in the United States . '' Mulally , who has been among the U.S. CEOs who have met with President Obama on the looming U.S. fiscal cliff , says he 's optimistic the talks will avert crisis . `` The last few weeks has really centered on discussion about not only the fiscal cliff , which needs to deal with the revenue side but also the expense side , is what do we do to create the environment where businesses can grow , can be more competitive , to provide the economic expansion that we all want , '' he said . `` I might also add that we are very encouraged by the ongoing dialogue in Europe on the same subject , because clearly we 're in a recession in Europe and pulling together around a compelling vision to facilitate economic growth is what 's most important for all of us . ''
The Ford Motor Co. is revamping its passenger car division to try to recapture past prestige . Ford announced Monday it is renaming its Lincoln division as the Lincoln Motor Co. Building up Lincoln after divesting of investments in Aston Martin and other luxury brands . CEO Mulally optimistic that the fiscal cliff negotiations will be sucessful .