Ford's mouthpiece continues to deny there's any plan to smother Mercury with its own pillow, but a Ford supplier has whispered something different in the ear of Inside Line. According to IL and its source, the last Mercury to die will likely be the handsome and likable Milan sedan, which will receive a mid-cycle refresh that shall carry the model through to 2012. The Sable will likely expire in 2010 when the new Taurus rolls out without a Mercury counterpart. Ford rhetoric, however, still holds that Mercury and Lincoln are being repositioned, with Abe's brand taking over as the volume-seller of the pair.
We'd buy the seemingly banal explanation a bit more if there were actually some product in the Mercury pipeline besides the Milan Hybrid, but there's no mention of anything else pending. With suppliers right now securing contracts for those programs that have Job One dates in 2010 and 2012, they might serve as a canary in the coal mine for us. Mercury can't build vehicles without any parts, and if they're not putting in orders now, it will likely be sometime in 2012 that we'll hear some real news about Mercury's future from Ford. Hey, what else are we supposed to think when the last spy shots of a Mercury were back in 2006, hiding the Montego to Sable transition? Thanks for the tip, DC.
[Source: Inside Line, Photo: Blogcrypt.com]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Eddie @ Jun 10th 2008 10:37AM
IMO there hasnt been a cool Mercury since the 1940s. I hope Ford can focus more on Lincoln now. I also hope Buick dies, so GM can focus more on Cadillac.
Ken Stamper @ Jun 10th 2008 10:51AM
If I may respectfully disagree I'd throw the '67 Cougar in there as the last cool Mercury (not including various Euro-Fords sold through L-M dealerships over the years). Really though, Mercury has become totally redundant with the announcement that Lincoln will be the "volume" brand at L-M dealerships. Ford is doing the same thing GM did (slowly) with Olds and that Chrysler did with Plymouth- starving the brand of product uuntil its death will appear natural.
Ron @ Jun 10th 2008 12:29PM
GM is not going to kill Buick. It's huge in China and it makes no sense for GM to kill a major brand in an emerging market.
iamhoff @ Jun 11th 2008 4:01PM
Very disappointing...Ford could totally come up with a unique lineup and brand position for Mercury without a whole lot of effort. http://tinyurl.com/4rqwha I also cover Ford and Lincoln lineups on subsequent pages. Plymouth died because of lack of product and lack of ad support. Olds had some decent product (Alero and Intrigue in particular) but had zero ad support. There has been decent ad support for Mercury in the past (but come to think of it, I can't recall the last Merc commercial I've seen), and I've got the product list all laid out. All it takes is some balls on the part of Ford.
wrussi @ Jun 10th 2008 10:47AM
it was about time! how more can they humiliate a brand before they decide enough is enough.
John P. @ Jun 10th 2008 10:52AM
Well said, Mercury is just another example of Ford's bad decisions. It's a great name, and has a good history. I find it amazing they can't do anything with it. Mercury should have always been the Volvo fighter. Dump Volvo too.
We'll probably see millions of chinese cars bearing the Mercury name in 5-10 years being sold all over the usa, helping put another nail in the coffin of the American car industry.
geo.stewart @ Jun 10th 2008 12:07PM
or it could be that, hope against hope, that Mercury becomes Ford's Saturn, and they dont need the suppliers they currently have.
nah. that would be a GOOD use of product and brands. cant expect Ford to do that. though Mullaly has probably pitched it. still too much detroitness present at Ford.
Mike @ Jun 10th 2008 12:18PM
geo,
Ford doesn't need Mercury to import Euro products. Ford is Ford in the rest of the world, not Vauxhaul or Opel. If they want to bring over Euro product they will do it, they're already proving that with the Transit Express, Fiesta, and the next gen Focus. They already said that the car side save for Mustang and maybe a RWD sedan will be shared with Europe.
As for the supplier, just because they didn't get tapped for a re-upped contract doesn't mean that Mercury is gone. We've already heard that the refresh of the Fusion and Milan will last until about 2012 meaning there's a redesign by then, assumingly a global car such as the Mondeo with different bodies on top. If this supplier got contracts for the next gen Fusion but not Milan, maybe there'd be more to this.
Aprime @ Jun 10th 2008 12:53PM
I think I'd rather have regular Ford sell Euro cars than Mercury and Ford becoming a world econobox brand like Chevy.
You guys haven't really been paying attention now, have you?
3cubed (4squared plus 2squared) @ Jun 10th 2008 10:49AM
Just give Mercury a cool RWD Cougar and Marauder. Make them low volume and keep the rebadged Ford SUVs and the Milan. But I guess this is easier said than done and it is Ford we're talking about here. Oh well, If it makes Lincoln and Ford better then more power to them.
Aprime @ Jun 10th 2008 12:57PM
Why have another brand when you can just make it a Ford?
It's not like these cars would be luxurious, there's no reason to do that, it's a waste of marketing money.
3cubed (4squared plus 2squared) @ Jun 10th 2008 3:23PM
I guess its because I would prefer owning a Cougar instead of a Mustang. But if GM can have Buick, SAAB, and Cadillac, I think Ford can work something out.
MosquitoControl @ Jun 10th 2008 10:49AM
Eddie is pretty spot-on: there hasn't been a memorable Mecury in at least half a decade.
I don't get why Ford would keep it around. I really don't get why many of these American brands are being kept around. By and large your 18-45 age bracket despises these brands. You couldn't pay me to walk into a Mecury dealership, as my memories of Mercury are the disgusting pieces of garbage from the 80s and 90s. Same with Buick, which, to me, is something reserved for blind octogenerians.
I suppose brands can make a comeback of sorts. Pontiac has almost done this. Sure, most of their cars kind of look like slugs, but they're better built. Still, I'd be more likely to buy them if they weren't Pontiacs, as the name, to me, means piece of garbage with lots of bolted on plastic flair.
My evidence is all anecdotal, but I think this is true for most people under the age of 40: we kind of hate these brands. Yes, there's history, but that history was torpedoed in the past 30 years.
I think a lot of these brands, particularly Buick, are akin to Mae West. Sure, in her day she was the epitome of sexy and every guy wanted her but things change. If Sexette was a good script it should have been offered to a better star, as I don't think the core movie going public, having grown up with Mae West no longer being the nymphette, really had any interest in her, nor do I think a movie of any quality could change that.
Same with these brands. In the heads of America's core automobile buying demographic they're representative of turds. Things you wouldn't be caught dead in. Things you were embarrassed to be seen in when your grandfather picked you up from middle school.
Let them out to pasture. They're not necessary and they don't have a great amount of good will. If need be bring them back with a great deal of fanfare after a while. Hey, it worked for the Camaro, another car that took a huge hit in the past 30 years, was known largely as the white trash 'Vette (which, in those days, said a lot), yet managed a beautiful resurgence by disappearing around the time it started improving then coming back in excellent fashion.
Jared @ Jun 10th 2008 11:00AM
Buick has a reason for being -- it has the highest market share in China, which is the fastest growing market in the world.
Mercury, on the other hand, has no reason for being. It has no brand equity left. The only reason that Ford hasn't killed the brand is because Ford can not afford to do so. The ridiculous franchising laws make it very expensive for Ford to kill Mercury -- it would have to pay huge amounts to buy out dealers. So instead Ford is going to try to starve those dealers out by not giving them any product.
AZMike @ Jun 10th 2008 12:19PM
I don't think they are only buiding cars for you to like; there are a few other folks out there besides you.
it's interesting to note how many people here always extoll the virtues of RWD; isn't the Grand Marquis RWD? can you name any other full size, V-8, RWD car that you can buy for $16K (with incentives), BRAND NEW?? what would that buy at a Toyota dealer, a loaded Yaris S?
also hate to disappoint you with those "octagenarean" demographics in regard to Buicks: the average age of Enclave buyers is 42.
perhaps your best bet would be to investigate the demographics of some of the makes you "prefer". Toyota's is over 50, with Honda not being far behind.
AZMike
MosquitoControl @ Jun 10th 2008 12:36PM
Yes, Mike, the average age of most auto manufacturers is north of 40.
But those people aren't exactly getting younger, are they? And the older they get, the less likely they are to keep buying new cars, right?
And, as mentioned, someone 40 or 30 was around when these brands meant something.
Those sales are the past. It's the people now in their 30s that these brands need to attract. And they can't. No one in their 30s wants a Buick. Most can't even name a Buick. They just remember those awful Riveras from the 80s.
Never did I say they were building cars for me. Nor did I even say they're building bad cars now. I'm saying that the brand name is in the toilet.
You mention the Grand Marquis as a counterpoint, but it just proves my point: car buyers will go into a Toyota dealership and walk out with a Yaris despite being able to get a better equipped Grand Marquis... because they never go near a Mercury. The name isn't even on their radar. They wouldn't be caught dead looking at a Mercury these days.
For men in their late 20s the brand is further tarnished by its gender ambiguity. The Mercury brand was marketed, on and off, as a woman's brand. For the generations that grew up with it angled as this, well, it's what it will always be. And, every few months, it seems to be what Ford wants it to be, anyway.
Again, people that weren't preteens and teens during those marketing campaigns might not feel that way, but the notion is pretty well cemented into two generations.
PhillyB @ Jun 10th 2008 8:46PM
Jared says: "Buick has a reason for being -- it has the highest market share in China, which is the fastest growing market in the world."
So then let the brand live on over there; it's all but dead here, so why not go the final step and make it official? There's no rule stating that if you kill a brand in one country it must be killed the world over.
Soccer Mom @ Jun 10th 2008 10:51AM
There isn't really any value in keeping two re-badged Fords. Lincon alone should suffice.
MTU 5.0 @ Jun 10th 2008 10:57AM
The new MKS is a lot more than a rebadge. If that is the strategy for future Lincoln's maybe the Mercury's can fit the slightly more "designer" oriented role that Ford has been pushing for them lately.
Alex @ Jun 10th 2008 12:01PM
Ford is making sure that Lincoln will be much more than just a re-badge. They will certainly share platforms, but that is the industry standard. Consider Ford's DEW platform, it has been the base for the 2008 Jaguar XF, 2000-2008 Jaguar S-Type, 2000-2006 Lincoln LS, and 2002-2005 Ford Thunderbird. You can hardly call any of those cars a rebadged of each other.
Personally i think this will prove to be a smart move for Ford. This will give them more room for Ford to step up and allow a greater differentiation between Ford and Lincoln.