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Will Mercury soon be joining Plymouth and Oldsmobile?
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Comments
Dump the Mercury and go back to the original company that Henry put America on wheels!
The first Mercuries were almost indistinguishable from a Ford. You'd think every panel from a Mercury would interchange with a Ford, but it doesn't. The 1946-48 Mercuries were clearly Fords with extremely busy front-end styling.
I'd say from 1949 through 1960, Mercury clearly was a step-up from a Ford. They cheapened the brand from 1961-64 and went back to being a super-deluxe Ford. It went back upscale again in 1965 in the "Lincoln Tradition" and stayed there through 1978. Remember those awesome Park Lanes and Marquises Jack Lord drove on Hawaii Five-O? It went back to being a super-deluxe Ford in 1979 and stayed there since.
Yes. Awesome, huge and grotesque. Would rather remember Magnum PI's ride.
Perhaps you got some lyrics for Five-O theme? What did Lord say to Dano at end of case?
As said before, the only memorable car from Mercury was 49-50 model, which can still be seen in many custom/hot rod shows. Still looks good chopped and channeled.
With all of Ford's problems in recent years, cannot understand why they still prop up the Mercury brand.
"Mercury and Lincoln will complement each other. Lincoln will start with midsized sedans and move up from there...Mercury brings a younger, more female customer than the Ford brand.We're focusing (Mercury) very much on small, fuel-efficient products."
Ford hopes that Mercury will continue to attract these younger premium car buyers who will then move up to Lincolns as they get older and their families get larger.
Going forward, he said, Mercury will continue to offer improved versions of its Mariner crossover, Milan mid-sized sedan and a new as yet unnamed compact. That car will go into production in 2010 and will share a common platform with the new Ford Focus that will also enter production that year. In addition, Mercury will offer hybrid versions of the Mariner and -- starting at the end of this year -- the Milan.
Kuzak made no mention of the full-sized Mercury Sable, which no longer appears to be part of the brands future lineup. Instead, he said, Lincoln will pick up where Mercury leaves off, giving Lincoln-Mercury dealers a full product lineup.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080726/AUTO01/807260344/1148-
They used to run the commercial of a woman driving her male office colleague to a business meeting and meeting their female boss.
They also need some commercials showing a tall guy late 20's/30's with about 5-day beard stubble, in jeans and getting into Mercury with his actress-like female companion and he driving to "in" place.
I imagine that Ford is quietly studying whether to invest more in Mercury to reinvigorate it, or to close the brand. So, in the future, you'll either see more aspirational and youthful Mercurys, in the spirit of the '49-mid '50s, and the Cougar, or no Mercurys. I don't know which it will be. Does Ford really need a middle brand? Arguably, it doesn't, if Ford models top out at entry luxury, and Lincoln begins there. On the other hand, it wouldn't be difficult to make a case for a middle brand, so long as it's differentiated from Ford and Lincoln. I have confidence that Alan Mulally will make the right call on Mercury. He's obviously acting deliberately, rather than hastily.
I think there's room for expansion of the Mustang line, plus a market for a RWD Lincoln 3-Series competitor, once Ford's financial condition improves.
I did not see a single new Mercury, not even the Milan which sells pretty well in Arid-zona.
As I was looking at the new Taurus it occurred to me that there doesn't seem to be a
new Sable version even though it's big enough to serve as a replacement for the Grand Marquis.
It looks like Ford Motor Co. is going to let Merc die for lack of new product.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
talk about a slow death. :sick:
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Will anybody on the highway notice?
Good idea or not?
The article mentions an old movie having James Dean driving a Mercury and Five-0 tv series using big Mercury. Recall that Clint Eastwood movie "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" had bad guys driving a Mercury.
Except for James Dean customized Mercury, which copies can still be seen at hot rod, old car shows in the summer, there has never been a notable Mercury car.
Unless there are still Mercury "only" dealerships, there is absolutely no reason for Ford to offer Mercury. It is only diverting vital resources at Ford Corp that could otherwise be used to improve and refine the gold-plated brand of Ford, and rebuild the past fine image of Lincoln.
I wonder though, if the Lincoln dealers are going to make it on reduced volume. I read elsewhere that Ford wants them to either merge with local Ford dealers, or close down entirely.
Interesting to see Buick get new legs, while Mercury goes into a death spiral. It's probably a sign that there's only room in the marketplace for one American brand that those 60 and over can relate to—and they will miss it dearly.
Wonder if this will hurt Mulally's (walk-on-water-do-no-wrong) image, or Ford's (Rise like a Phoenix) image when the deed is finally done?
Bob
I think one advantage that Buick has is that it, at least, is a step up from Chevy. Mercury really hasn't been a step up from Ford in a long time...maybe the early 1990's?
Ford never really knew what, exactly, to do with Mercury division. It came out in 1939, as a mid-priced brand. IIRC, it was situated, price-wise, a bit above the likes of Dodge and Pontiac, but below DeSoto and Oldsmobile. In some years, it was a glammed-up Ford, while in others, it was a cheapened Lincoln. In 1957-60, Mercury got its own, dedicated body (although the bigger 1958 Edsels did share it) and tried to move a bit upscale. However, that move was a failure, and from 1961 onward the car went back to being a gussied-up Ford. And, over the years, as the Fords got nicer, they started encroaching into Mercury territory. And once downsizing hit Detroit, and the Lincolns got shrunken, that put a further squeeze on Mercury.
Report: Wings to Fall Off Ford's Mercury Division (AutoObserver)
"According to data from Edmunds.com, Mercury is most-often cross-shopped with Ford. In April, 46 percent of Mercury buyers cross-shopped with Ford, 23 percent cross-shopped General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet, 22 percent cross-shopped Honda and 21 percent cross-shopped Toyota."
just like Ford after selling Jaguar and Volvo is in the process of moving Lincoln up market.
Ford can also use some Mercury trims on future top of the line Fords.
On an emotional side note, how cool would it be to take a Fusion, let Chip Foose work his magic and call it a Mercury Comet.....put 400hp in anything and its cool!
Also, for every older buyer turned off by not getting the 'better' brand, there are much more buyers under 35 willing to buy new Fords. To them, Merc is 'my grandparent's old car'.
Here in Chicagoland, L-M dealers competed with Ford pushing Tracers, Topazes, and Sables claiming 'they are better than a Ford', even though made in same plant!! Now dealers are combining.
Anyone who thinks Ford "needs" Mercury is living in 1971. :confuse:
I think that's going to be a serious problem, especially with the Fords going upscale. For instance, that MK-whatever thing...the one that Volvo essentially tought them how to build...seemed like a nice car last year. When we still had that older 500/Montego-based Taurus and Sable. But the new Taurus is pretty impressive inside and out. It ain't just a generic, mass-market fleet car anymore. And, it's not particularly cheap.
Then, there's that other MK-whatever thing, the one that used to be called "Zephyr". Y'know, it would be an impressive car if there was no Fusion or Milan to compare it to. I think the interior is really sharp looking. It evokes memories of the classic early/mid-60's Continentals, while still being modern. And I even think the car looks good, with the exception of the taillights, which seem too over-sized for the car, and positioned poorly. But, for all the pleasantry, it's still just a tarted up Fusion. It's a 2010 Versailles!
Cadillac, at least, seems a bit more insulated than Lincoln, since GM has other divisions to spread the cheaper models across and that helps Cadillac to retain a bit of exlusivity. For instance, there is no other divisional equivalent to the CTS or STS (although the STS is a moot point, I guess). And while Buick does still carry the Lucerne, GM does, IMO at least, a pretty good job of differentiating it from the DTS.
Now, the pickup truck/SUV-based stuff, that's a different story. But truth be told, you can option up a Silverado or Sierra to obscene amounts of money, anyway. I think I heard somewhere that Chevrolet sells more $50K+ vehicles than any other brand in America!
However, it seems things are changing. The new SRX, IMO, is a step in the wrong direction. Sure, it's a hot seller right now, but at what ultimate cost? I mean hey, the Vega and Citation were hot sellers once upon a time. And the Cadillac Cimarron sold tolerably enough to last for most of the 80's.
And I think that new LaCrosse-based Cadillac thing is a step in the wrong direction, too. If it would be, say, a replacement for the STS and the older Seville, then yeah, go for it. But as a DTS replacement, I don't think it's worthy. To me, the DTS should compete with the likes of the Lexus LS, BMW 7-series, Audi A-8, Benz S-class, etc. Basing it on the LaCrosse, IMO, takes it down to the level of the ES350.
It's Official: Mercury Is an Ex-Brand (Edmunds Daily)
That would be true of course if Ford was more like Toyota and Honda. The Ford brand is still transforming itself and is now making inroads, but Lincoln is neither a Lexus or an Acura competitor. Lincoln sales suck. The MKS and MKT (newest Lincolns) have failed to energize the brand. As bad as Mercury sales were (and they were bad), they still outsold Lincoln.
Other companies have several divisions and do well. VW is on its way to being #1 in a few short years, and it has VW, Audi, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Bentley, SEAT, Skoda, and now Porsche. They are buying Suzuki and will probably purchase Proton (Malaysia). Not all their brands are going full guns, but it is a business model that is presently working for the parent company. GM is another example with four divisions that are able to increase sales--no mean feat after going bankrupt. GM already outsells Ford again, and has more new models coming than Ford does. Chrysler owners also market a plethora of brands.
So two brands work, and multiple brands under one umbrella can work. The key is to provide a good core brand, and differentiation and enough flair with near luxury and luxury models that they truly are aspirational. Lincoln isn't there yet. The MKS is not superior to the Taurus in power, amenities and certainly not in styling.
Meanwhile, Ford needs to step it up with Subaru, Kia and Hyundai barking at its heels. Efforts like the Transit Connect, Fiesta and 2012 Focus are terrific. The 2011 Mustang really has the motors now. The F150 will remain competitive, especially with Ecoboost, but the 2004 body shell with 2009 mods looks less cohesive than Ram or Silverado. The 2011 Fusion still uses the same body shell introduced in 2005. The 2011 Superduty still uses the same body shell introduced in 1999. The Expedition and Navigator still use the 1997 body shell with embellishments. The 2011 Mustang body shell is from 2005. The Ranger has not been significantly restyled since the fall of 1992. Ford still seems to think it is OK to change the front clip, tail lights and interior furnishings every 3-5 years and call the model "all new." I always do hope it works, but I also hope that when Ford returns to reasonable profitability, that it will routinely restyle its new models on the outside when it modifies them underneath and within.
RIP Mercury. You could have lived if anyone at Ford had cared to do more than cynical brand engineering when Ford was flush in the early 2000s. Thank goodness for Mulally. Now, let's see that Freestyle/Flex/MKT/2012 Explorer architecture-efforts turned into something that will burn up the sales charts.
With the announcement of their discontinuing the Oldsmobile line, they sent me a coupon that gave me $1500 credit toward a new Olds vehicle, or $1000 toward other GM vehicles.
Does anyone know if Ford has a similar program for recent new Mercury owners?
That's due partly to Chrysler's dealer structure. Up through 1959, there were few, if any, stand-alone Plymouth dealers. They were almost always sold through Dodge, DeSoto, or Chrysler-Imperial dealers. Heck, one store local to me sold all 5 brands at one time!
However, in 1960, Chrysler changed their divisional structure. Dodge became a stand-alone division, while Plymouth and DeSoto were merged in with Chrysler-Imperial. Since Dodge dealers would no longer have Plymouths to sell, the Dart was introduced to fill that gap. This was not the compact Dart that most people think of, but a full-sized car that competed directly with Plymouth, Ford, and Chevy. Even the advertising for the Dart mentioned the Plymouth as a competitor!
Another problem with this divisional structure was that Dodge got to get almost any new model it wanted, while at Chrysler-Plymouth, if it was a cheap model, it came out as a Plymouth, while if it was a nicer model, it came out as a Chrysler. This actually worked out pretty well through the 1960's, as there was still a pretty big gap between the cheapest Chryslers and the biggest Plymouths. Competitors like Buick, Olds, and Mercury fielded compact and intermediate cars, but Mopar left those for Plymouth. Chrysler division built nothing but full-sized cars through the 1960's, and its models were larger and roomier than Plymouth's full-sized models.
However, in the 1970's, Plymouth started missing out. For example, as personal luxury coupes became all the rage, Mopar responded with the Dodge Charger S/E and the Chrysler Cordoba. No Plymouth version was offered. When more upscale compacts hit the market, again, it was the Dodge Diplomat and Chrysler LeBaron, with no Plymouth version. Now, these cars were just gussied up Volares and Aspens, and Plymouth did have a nice model called the Volare Premier. But, those LeBarons and Diplomats were definitely a step up at the time...or at least, presented the illusion of it!
For 1979, Chrysler half-heartedly downsized its full-sized cars. Dodge got the St. Regis, while Chrysler got the Newport and New Yorker, but Plymouth got nothing. Actually, for 1979, Plymouth division was essentially down to just two models, the Horizon and the Volare! And this was supposed to be Mopar's "volume" line, to compete with Ford and Chevy! The lineup was fleshed out with a few captive imports like the Plymouth Colt and Champ, and the larger Sapporo. And there were even a few Plymouth-badged trucks and vans during that timeframe. Still, Plymouth was missing out on the more profitable midsize, fullsize, and personal luxury coupe market.
Plymouth did finally get a full-sized car for 1980, the Gran Fury, but it was sold mainly to police, taxi, and other fleet buyers. And in 1980, with the second fuel crisis coming on strong, full sized cars suddenly weren't so profitable anymore.
In the 1980's, with the introduction of the K-car, we got some pretty small Chryslers, and some pretty cheap ones too, which really cut into Plymouth territory. Dodge was still usually getting a version of everything, cheap AND nice, while at C-P, Plymouth was increasingly relegated to the cheap models, while the nice and even not-so-nice models were badged as Chryslers. And this kept going on right up until the end, when the final Plymouth, a 2001 base Neon, rolled out the door and into history.
Dodge was supposed to be a "step up" division, along the lines of Pontiac or Mercury, but over the years, it increasingly became Chrysler's volume Ford/Chevy fighter. Dodge was also around long before Chrysler Corporation was even founded. In fact, the first Fords used engines manufactured by none other than the Dodge Brothers! So that might be one reason why Chrysler stuck it out with Dodge...more heritage. Plymouth was thought up after the merger of Chrysler and Dodge, a car to compete with Ford and Chevy.
Farewell, Mercury