Filed under: Euro, Plants/Manufacturing, Ford, Mercury, Rumormill
Mercury rising: Thursday announcement expected to lay out Euro-infused future
Mercury has been languishing over the last several years with badged-engineered products barely distinguishable from their Ford brethren. As the market shifts towards smaller cars with higher fuel efficiency, there may be a golden opportunity for the Mercury brand to actually prove its worth as Ford's outlet for European-designed vehicles for the American market. In a move akin to what General Motors has done with Saturn, importing Opels to the U.S. in an attempt to revive the marque, Ford could bring its highly-desirable Euro-only models to the States badged as Mercurys. According to unnamed sources, the New York Times is suggesting that Ford will begin manufacturing six Euro-spec models right here in America at plants formerly used to produce F-Series trucks, SUVs and vans. We'll have to wait until this Thursday before any official announcements are made by the Blue Oval, but that gives us some time to speculate on which Kinetic-infused products are on their way. That's what the comments are for -- have at.
[Source: The New York Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
the vegas style guy 1:03PM (7/22/2008)
Honestly, I don't care what they bring over, just bring something quick!
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EVan 1:22PM (7/22/2008)
This is a stupid idea... rather than rebadging Fords as Mercurys, just bring them over as Fords, moving Ford America up market.
Get rid of Mercury, two brands is enough for Ford. Just like Toyota/Lexus, Nissan/Infiniti, Honda/Acura, and other much more profitable companies a Ford/Lincoln duo would be much more competitive.
dkw 1:32PM (7/22/2008)
EVan... you mean the Scion/Toyota/Lexus trio?
jamie 1:38PM (7/22/2008)
I agree.
Bring Fords over from Europe and call them what they are: FORDS!
Mercury is dying on the vine and should be laid to rest. But how do you accomplish this without a lot of moolah and litigation? Easy.
Ford should replace Mercury dealers with Volvo dealers.
Everybody happy now?
EVan 1:58PM (7/22/2008)
@dkw... +1
My bad, but the point still remains... kinda.
Nick 2:43PM (7/22/2008)
It was just estimated that the Ford brand, just the brand and not any of their facilities, real estate, etc., is worth approximately $8 BILLION, now Mercury, even though the brand will be worth much less, will still be worth A LOT! It behooves them to try to save the Mercury brand economically. You don't just willingly throw upwards of a BILLION dollars down the toilet. That's one of the reasons these guys are auto-execs and we're not...
imoore 4:47PM (7/22/2008)
Lexus/Toyota/Scion/Hino and soon to be Subaru. Toyota is becoming what GM already is.
If they do import Fords as Mercurys, how about Mondeo, Fiesta, Ka, S-Max, and Falcon?
John 5:23PM (7/22/2008)
This could be a very clever move by Ford. The longer term plan is to build the Euro Fords as Fords in NA, but they need small car product now and importing Fords manufactured in Europe is too expensive.
If they were to rebadge them as Mercurys at a premium price, they might sell a few and make some money while waiting for 2010, without risking the future small Fords getting an "overpriced" label like Saturn.
When the new NA Fords finally arrive, the imported ones will die, probably along with Mercury. If the imports happen to really click with buyers at a premium price, then both Mercury and Ford could win, but I doubt this will be the case.
This looks like it could be a winner for Ford, at low risk.
AngeloD 1:05PM (7/22/2008)
Smart move on Ford's part. Their European offerings are well regarded over the other side of the pond and will likely sell well here in the US.
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Kaptain75329 3:30PM (7/22/2008)
I'm not so sure about that. GM tried this with Saturn and they seem to be getting very mixed results. I too used to think that Mercury should be Ford's answer to Saturn ("The Euro Outlet" if you will) but after thinking about it in historical context for Mercury vs Saturn, and watching closely how it's worked so far for GM, I can say that GM has a reasonable chance here, Ford does not.
Mercury essentially appeals to the same crowd as Buick, so you can imagine how tough it would be to make "Buick" cool when you consider the very heavy stigma attached to the elderly brand (read: Mercury). At least Saturn USED to be cool once, so giving it a second chance isn't the same drastic leap of faith as far as the buying public is concerned, which is probably the only real reason GM is seeing any good results at all with the Saturn/Opel alignment and cross-development model.
No.. the answer is to kill Mercury and modernize Ford with the euro models. The public will buy into it because Ford has already been making a credible -- if insufficient thus far -- effort to get with the program. The brand carries a more youthful and respected image (I know.. but compared to Mercury) and is a lot more salvageable when you consider it's easier to get more people in a Ford dealership than is the case with Mercury. An entire generation has grown up not knowing Mercury has a storied history. (What's a Cougar?) But that same generation knows about iconic products like the Mustang and F-150, plus the Edge and Fusion show that at least Ford is doing something worthwhile. But nobody ever hears about Mercury. Maybe nobody should.
Rocketboy 10:32AM (7/23/2008)
Well, that's assuming that they screw it up just like GM has/is screwing up Saturn. Saturn was first the friendly plastic car brand. Then they became the plastic brand that nobody cared about, or even remembered. Now they are the metal car brand, that we don't know why we should care about.
TJ 1:05PM (7/22/2008)
yet absolutely no suppliers have been contacted? *cough*bull$#!&*cough*
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Torrent 1:06PM (7/22/2008)
Oh my gosh yes. I knew Mercury should be to Ford what Saturn is to GM.
Title Should Read: Mercury- after decades of sucking, shall no longer suck after Thursday.
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Frank 1:30PM (7/22/2008)
fat chance.... hopefully ur right.
Dave T. 1:45PM (7/22/2008)
And Saturns are selling soooo well right now.
Torrent 1:51PM (7/22/2008)
uh this has little to do with Saturn. Since you may be a little slow let me clarify... :
Ok Saturn is bringing over Opels from Europe and selling them as Saturns......
Next step: Mercury will bring over Fords from Europe and sell them as Mercurys. They're doing virtually the same thing as Saturn. Just because they're doing the same thing doesn't necessarily mean they'll have the same fate.
duh. //_-
Dave T. 2:07PM (7/22/2008)
No, you said Mercury could be to Ford what Saturn is to GM. I know about the imports for pete's sake I used to edit this site!
Currently Saturn is not performing up to the expectations of GM at all. After a few months of full sales and the Astra sold 888 units in June. The brand total sold 19,000 units in June. 8800 were Vues. 6,000 were Auras.
Believe it or not Saturn still came close to selling as many cars as Lincoln and Mercury combined. So maybe being Saturn would be a bump up for Mercury. But Saturn has done an awful job communicating its new lineup to buyers. Vue is pretty much the best CUV on the market (besides fuel economy) and is just now catching on with buyers. Outlook is the most affordable of the 3 row crossovers but never sold as well as the other 2. Need I go on?
jzohlmann 1:08PM (7/22/2008)
Jesus- thank GOD- I was worried we were going to lose Jill Wagner. (whew).
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Torrent 1:28PM (7/22/2008)
No Not Jill!
The way she says, "You've gotta put Mercury on your list....." It's magical.
Randy 1:43PM (7/22/2008)
Thank you! Now I know her name! LOL Soooo hot!