http://autospies.com/Ford-Plans-To-Axe-Mercury

[Audi Junkie]

http://autospies.com/news/RIP-After-70-Years-Ford-Plans-To-Axe-Mercury-54653/

Ford Motor Co.
is preparing to wind down the Mercury line, created in 1939 by Edsel Ford, after sales plunged 74 percent since 2000, said two people familiar with the plan.

The automaker’s top executives are preparing a proposal to kill Mercury to be presented to directors in July, said the people, who asked not to be indentified revealing internal discussions. Mercury, losing two of four models next year, will be starved of products and promotion, the people said.

 

[tonycarguy]

Mercury is my favorite domestic brand. The Mariner and Mountaineer are a couple of the best looking SUVs out there, regardless of price. I also find the Milan more attractive than the Fusion.

 

[edhackett]

Yea, so maybe they will make the Fords look better now they don't have to make them uglier than the Mercuries.

One of my friend's dad was a Ford Mechanic in the 40's and 50's. He said there was no reason for Mercury to exist back then. Ford and Linclon were all that were needed. Mercury has always been nothing but a Ford with different trim.

Ed

 

[Johnny]

This would be very sad, but I figured it had to happen sometime. Been a lot of Mercury vehicles in my extended family throughout the years and I have good memories of all of them.

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: edhackett
Yea, so maybe they will make the Fords look better now they don't have to make them uglier than the Mercuries.

One of my friend's dad was a Ford Mechanic in the 40's and 50's. He said there was no reason for Mercury to exist back then. Ford and Linclon were all that were needed. Mercury has always been nothing but a Ford with different trim.

Ed


Kind of like GM.

 

[rjacket]

It made sense when the domestics competed against each other only but now it clearly doesn't. Take a look at Hyundai who produce all sorts of cars from cheap and cheerful to alternative prestige under the one brand. The unifying theme though is reliability and quality. Ford's move is smart, enabling the Ford brand to compete with Toyota, Honda, VW and Hyundai, while Lincoln handles the luxury segment

 

[92saturnsl2]

I never quite understood why Mercury stayed around so long. I agree with edhacket--

Put those Mercury design engineers that are redesigning headlamps (i.e making a Ford a Mercury) to good use and make the Ford product line even better.

 

[pbm]

I agree that the Mercury usually looked a little better than the Ford version, ie: Milan vs. Fusion. Marquis vs. CV.

 

[L_Sludger]

The customer has spoken: We will no longer tolerate badge engineering.

 

[dwendt44]

Quote:
Mercury has always been nothing but a Ford with different trim.


Not true.
For many years they were quit different. Mercury engines in the 50s anyway were not Ford line engines for the most part.
Mercs were large higher 'luxury' level autos for many years.
Styling was a mixed bag. Better on some models, worse on others.
Little difference today.

 

[addyguy]

"If I had money,
tell you what I'd do,
I'd go downtown and buy a Mercury or two,
I'm crazy 'bout a Mercury, I'm crazy 'bout a Mercury,
I'm gonna buy me a Mercury and cruise it up and down the road...."

For fans of the brand, it literally WILL be 'the Mercury blues'!

 

[Win]

Sad.

They ditched all their premium RWD brands, and now Mercury.

I guess the customer with a bit more money in their pocket than the average Ford buyer is a customer they are willing to let another company have.

 

[Win]

Originally Posted By: rjacket


Ford's move is smart, enabling the Ford brand to compete with Toyota, Honda, VW and Hyundai, while Lincoln handles the luxury segment



Ford has taken itself from being a builder of world class premium cars, to one that can only compete with plain vanilla car companies.

Hope that works out for them.

 

[Win]

Originally Posted By: tonycarguy
The Mariner and Mountaineer are a couple of the best looking SUVs out there, regardless of price. I also find the Milan more attractive than the Fusion.


Yep. The Mercury's were attractive little cars. The corresponding Ford's are hideous. They should fire the Ford stylists, and keep the ones that did Mercury.

 

[bigmike]

What are we going to do without the Grand Marquis?! Where is the big car market going?

 

[addyguy]

To the new RWD Impala that I think is coming out.....

 

[rjacket]

Originally Posted By: Win
Originally Posted By: rjacket


Ford's move is smart, enabling the Ford brand to compete with Toyota, Honda, VW and Hyundai, while Lincoln handles the luxury segment



Ford has taken itself from being a builder of world class premium cars, to one that can only compete with plain vanilla car companies.

Hope that works out for them.


Care to expand a little on this comment? I think Ford's compare well with the competition eg Toyota. I've been quite impressed with the Escape and the Fusion. I don't think I would ever consider a Lincoln although I always like being taken around in a Town Car once in a while. Is it the premium sector where you think they've failed or everywhere?

 

[bruno]

Took a while for Ford to figure out what Mercury was supposed to be . First they were fancier Fords , them in the late '40s early '50s they were cheaper Lincolns - finally fancy Ford won !

 

[rjacket]

I don't think many large manufacturers have done a good job of their acquisitions. My sense is that the accountants take over and the cost synergies take priority over brand "purity".

To some degree, yes sharing makes sense, but if I see what happened to Saab and Jaguar once GM & Ford bought them, it was a disaster.

They need to find a way to make the brand soul the number one consideration, with cost cutting synergies something that does not impact on that. I sense that Renault Nissan have done a reasonable job on that front.

I think Jaguar is a great example of what goes wrong. How many absolutely gorgeous cars has Jaguar made? How many of them needed more reliability? So why did they produce the X type and the S type instead of the XF when they were part of Ford? And why is it that they now have the XF now that they are not part of Ford?

 

[bluestream]

Originally Posted By: Johnny
This would be very sad, but I figured it had to happen sometime. Been a lot of Mercury vehicles in my extended family throughout the years and I have good memories of all of them.

Yup, we have owned a lot of Merc's as well. Ford canned the Mercury line in Canada in 1999, so the writing was on the wall. Redundant product line in today's world.

My Dad had a 1964 Mercury pick up truck that I loved as a kid. (re-badged Ford)