Click above for high-res gallery of 2010 Mercury Milan spy shots
It seems like the Mercury Milan's lot in life is to follow the Ford Fusion, go wherever the Fusion goes and do whatever the Fusion does. Thus it's no surprise that when spy photographers happened upon prototypes of the 2010 Ford Fusion out being tested, the 2010 Mercury Milan was not far behind. Comparing the two sets of spy shots, the Milan appears to be making a bigger departure from its previous look than the Fusion. Its grille retains vertical slats, but the grille itself is much wider pushing the new headlights farther out towards the corners. Just like the Fusion, the Milan also gets a new front bumper, but its lower air intake and fog lamps have been incorporated into the same space rather than being separated into three distinct elements. In these spy shots we also get a clearer view of the Milan's new taillights, which, while retaining the same shape as those found on the current model, appear to have new covers with new elements inside. All the new Mercury Milan spy shots can be found in the gallery below, so get to browsing.
Ford's been cranking out hybrid CUVs on the CD2 platform for four years now, and with over 40,000 produced, it's gotten to be old hat. Since it started in 2004, Ford's managed to make the Escape, Mercury Mariner and Mazda Tribute 30-percent cheaper to build. That cost reduction, coupled with the pending introduction of the hybrid Fusion and Milan platform-mates, will allow Ford's hybrid program to actually turn a profit for the first time in 2008. The Mariner and Escape hybrids find about 21,000 owners per year, and adding the hardware to the sedans could spur sales of Ford's hybrid system, further reducing costs. We're excited to try out the sedans with the hybrid system and the potential for a winner is there if Ford manages to deliver the goods at an attractive price.
Zagato is responsible for some of the most exclusive and interesting rebodying jobs ever to grace tarmac. Beauty being in the proverbial eye of the beholder, some have had greater affection for their designs than others, but they're certainly intriguing. Some recent examples have included the custom Ferrari 575 GTZ and Maserati GS, but the Milanese coachbuilder's work has branched far out of the Italian peninsula, including the unfortunately stillborn Spyker C12 Zagato, as well as a stable full of British cars for Rolls-Royce, Jaguar and, of course, Aston Martin (among others).
The carrozeria has announced plans to prepare a coachbuilt Bentley according to the latest reports. The news arrives on the heels of Bentley's announcement that it would increase its in-house customizing efforts, which at the time ruled out turning to outside coachbuilders. This still appears to be the case, as a spokesperson for the automaker told us that to his knowledge, Bentley has not been involved with the Zagato project. No further details are known at this time, we're looking forward to scoping out what Zagato has in store for the Flying B badge. If we had to guess, a Continental will be the subject of the transformation. Stay tuned.
The Truth About Cars is reporting that some households are receiving "private cash" rebates of $500 to pluck a Mercury off the dealer lot, but not everybody is getting the message. There is no telling who is getting these emails or why, but the cash-off coupon can reportedly be used to grab any Mercury without a hybrid powertrain, i.e. it doesn't apply to the Mariner Hybrid. Each email has a specific code that is non-transferable, so sending the offer to a friend is out of the question. Mercury is also targeting buyers that don't seem to have a Ford-branded vehicle in their driveway, as conquest sales would be a big shot in the arm for the blue oval's most beleaguered domestic.
We can see why Mercury ad execs would send out a special rebate email to spur sales, but it's hard to imagine why the offers aren't transferable to those who would actually use them. With the recent high quality scores for the Milan and the improvements made to the Sable, the more people that Mercury can get into its showrooms the better.
Most special editions are offered to help manufacturers clear out the last run of an outgoing model before the replacement arrives. The smallest cars on the market, though, seem to have it backwards. When Smart introduced its new ForTwo city car, the special edition came not on the outgoing model, but on the incoming one. Now Fiat has revealed that, in advance of the introduction of the highly-anticipated 500, it will be offering a limited edition of its own.
Think the 500 looks no bigger than a large arm chair? Well, you're not far off. The special Cinquecentos are being offered exclusively during the International Milan Furniture Fair (April 18-23), as part of a promotion staged in conjunction with the Italian design house Cappellini. Two special versions – one in light blue and one in pearl white – will be offered to visitors of the "500 Lounge" at the Cappellini Temporary Store at the Piazza San Babila in downtown Milan, who can sign a non-binding inquiry to have their name placed on the list, later to be contacted by Fiat with pricing information and the option to buy or withdraw.
The Cappellini display will also feature a 250-square-meter autostethoscopic system at the entrance to the store, where interested customers can customize a virtual 500 on computer and then step inside the box to see a full-size 3D projection of what their car would look like, taking the "500 Wants You" campaign to a new level. Only 500 of the special editions will be made, and each will receive a special number plate and special badging.
Check out the press release after the jump for more details.
Not wanting to lose the momentum from 2006, Ford Motor Co. will offer some new lease deals and cut-rate financing on the Fusion and Mercury Milan sedans. The F-150 gets in on the action as well, with leasing and financing incentives on some models. The new deals that follow will run from January 3 to February 28.
Beginning yesterday, customers can lease a 2.3-liter equipped Fusion for $249/month for 39 months with zero cash out of pocket at signing. The Mercury Milan can be leased for even less, at $208/month, but requires $1,999 cash up front. If a lease doesn't suit your needs, 4.9% financing for up to 60 months is also available.
To generate some interest in the full-size truck market, the F-150 SuperCab XLT lease is available for $249/month for 36 months and the F150 SuperCrew XLT comes in at $299/month for 24 months, both requiring $1,999 cash at the time of signing.
Rearing its ugly head again is zero percent interest, now available for up to 60 months on the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner. One cool feature, however, is the no-charge "Moon and Tunes" package that adds a power moonroof with sun shade, AM-FM radio 6-disc CD changer, and a roof rack with cross bars.
Ford's trying a multi-pronged approach at raising the public's awareness of their turnaround efforts. Of course the big, glossy, traditional marketing campaigns will lead the way, but the Blue Oval's also beating the streets.
Ford is sending execs across the land to talk with community groups like Lions and Rotary clubs, chambers of commerce, and local news media. Most of the populace is aware that Ford is having some trouble, but they're less aware of how Ford plans to fly out of this stall. Emmissaries are spreading the word about the great Consumer Reports quality results of the Fusion/Milan twins, getting them jazzed about the MKX and Edge, and taking the time to answer locals' questions and let them check out the cars. The message Ford is trying to send appears to be "we want to stick around, we're working on it." Hopefully, those questions and comments coming back from the audience are being relayed up the chain of command. To really be successful, Ford needs to build cars people want, and what better way to find out what the public has on its mind than to ask?
We've given Ford credit in the past for its super smooth roll out of the Fusion midsize sedan and its counterparts, the Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ. To date the three sedans haven't had a single recall for anything minor or major, not an easy feat when you're launching all-new models as Ford found out the hard way with the recall-plagued Focus launch back in 2000. Still, our kudos mean little in the grand scheme of things. However, when Consumer Reports calls out your success in its predicted reliability ratings, potential customers take notice.
In its newly released 2006 Annual Car Reliability Survey, Consumer Reports discovered that the Fusion and Milan actually scored higher in predicted reliability than the Honda Accord V6 and Toyota Camry V6. The Zephyr also did will in the upscale cars category, scoring slightly behind the Lexus ES350. Other domestic models did well too, including the Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS, both of which were above average in predicted reliability.
Despite these pockets of success, the domestics still only managed to account for six of the 47 vehicles that achieved the highest predicted reliability scores and got a little red circle with a white dot next to their names. The Japanese, meanwhile, accounted for 39 (21 from Toyota/Lexus and 11 from Honda/Acura). The Fusion/Milan/Zephyr, Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Pontiac Vibe were the six American vehicles that scored highest. The remaining two vehicles were a split between Europe and Korea with one going to the MINI Cooper and the other to the Hyundai Azera.
Mercedes-Benz wound up the worst brand in reliability with eight models, including the new S-Class, rated as least reliable. Nissan, which has lately scored very pourly in these reliability rankings, still contributed the only five Japanese vehicles to be rated least reliable, though CR says its vehicles are showing about half as many problems as they did last year.
Check out CR's full press release after the jump with more details from this year's survey.
Ford announced today that its Fusion mid-size sedan equipped with all-wheel drive will have a base MSRP of $23,430 when it goes on sale at dealers this week. The upper level SEL model will base for $24,525. That base price comes in below its stable mate, the Mercury Milan AWD, which begins at $24,315. Ford is also touting that the Fusion AWD costs less than the Toyota Camry LE V6 ($23,960) and Honda Accord SE V6 ($23,945), essentially making the case that customers can get a Fusion with all-wheel drive for free at the same price as front-wheel driven competitors. While we won't dispute Ford on the facts, there's also the fact that the Camry's 3.5-liter V6 produces 268 horsepower and the Accord's 3.0-liter V6 produces 244 horsepower, compared with the Fusion's 3.0-liter V6 that produces only 221 horsepower. Couple the Fusion's less powerful engine with more weight and drivetrain components to turn, and we expect the Fusion AWD's performance will be near the back of the pack compared to its FWD competitors. It is still the case that this is a great price for an all-wheel drive mid-size sedan, especially after comparing the Fusion AWD's price to, say, a Subaru Legacy. While you can score a Legacy with AWD starting at $20,795 sans delivery charges, that model is powered by a significantly weaker 175-hp, 2.5-liter boxer four-cylinder. If you want comparable power in the Legacy, you'll have to step up to the 2.5 GT Limited model that adds a turbo to produce 243 hp but starts at $28,295. So it seems like Ford has deftly filled a vacant niche for an inexpensive, V6-powered AWD sedan that, along with the Fusion's impecable quality to date, should translate into even more Fusion sales for the Blue Oval.
The new Mercury Milan VOGA is being introduced right now during Miami Fashion Week in order to help the Ford brand attract the Hispanic dollar. Camilo Pardo, who designed another car you might remember – the Ford GT, designed the Milan VOGA. While the Milan VOGA lacks the 500 horses of the GT, it does add a nice dose of style to the Milan. Unfortunately Mercury is only going to produce one VOGA, which will be auctioned off on eBay in June at www.eBay.com/Milan. In our eyes the stainless blue metallic paint, 3D Carbon exterior ground effects and larger wheels would make a nice trim package for the Milan (perhaps wearing something smaller than 20-inch shoes). The VOGA also gets capped with a stainless steel roof.
Rosalyn Sanchez, who you might know from such cinematic masterpieces as Boat Trip, has been tapped to present the car. The proceeds from the auction will help benefit MANA, a national Latina organization.
The Truth About Cars is reporting that some households are receiving "private cash" rebates of $500 to pluck a Mercury off the dealer lot, but not everybody is getting the message. There is no telling who is getting these emails or why, but the cash-off coupon can reportedly be used to grab any Mercury without a hybrid powertrain, i.e. it doesn't apply to the Mariner Hybrid. Each email has a specific code that is non-transferable, so sending the offer to a friend is out of the question. Mercury is also targeting buyers that don't seem to have a Ford-branded vehicle in their driveway, as conquest sales would be a big shot in the arm for the blue oval's most beleaguered domestic.
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