And another one bites the dust

[Byteme]

Alas, Mercury will soon be no more.  




DETROIT (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. will announce Wednesday that it plans to kill its 72-year-old Mercury brand, according to two people briefed on the decision.

The automaker plans to add models to the Lincoln lineup to give dealers more products to sell, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the official announcement has not been made.

Ford has scheduled a conference call with dealers and a press conference for late Wednesday afternoon. The company said in a statement that the press conference would be an important product and brand discussion.

Mercury, which sells the Milan midsize car and Mariner midsize sport utility vehicle, has been suffering for years from a lack of new products and advertising support from Ford.

Its sales peaked in 1978 at more than 580,000 vehicles but just over 92,000 Mercurys were sold last year.

So far this year, the Mercury brand has captured less than 1 percent of the U.S. market, while the Ford brand has 15 percent.

[Vinsanity]

meh. Mercury made even less sense to keep around than Pontiac. At least Pontiac tried to gain relevance by importing the Aussie muscle cars, but Mercury hasn't tried to do anything unique since the FWD Euro Cougar.

[Raza]

This needed to happen years ago.

[mzziaz]

Still kind of sad.

I owned a Mercury Capri once   

[565]

What was the point of Mercury? 

All you need is a mainstream brand and a luxury brand.

[GoCougs]

What was the point of Mercury? 

All you need is a mainstream brand and a luxury brand.

Mercury was to FoMoCo as Pontiac, Buick and Olds was to GM; a bridge between the plain Jane (Ford/Chevy) and the luxury (Lincoln/Cadillac) marques.

All important up until about 1960 but entirely irrelevant today.

[Onslaught]

About time. I hate seeing people get hurt by this stuff. But I've thought that Mercury was useless for year.

[2o6]

What was the point of Mercury? 

All you need is a mainstream brand and a luxury brand.

Tell that to GM, Toyota, and VAG.

[MX793]

Mercury was to FoMoCo as Pontiac, Buick and Olds was to GM; a bridge between the plain Jane (Ford/Chevy) and the luxury (Lincoln/Cadillac) marques.

All important up until about 1960 but entirely irrelevant today.

Well, there might have been room for Mercury if Ford had moved Lincoln up to Cadillac levels as a real competitor to the European and Japanese luxury brands.  Instead, Ford decided to keep Lincoln lower on the food chain, more at Saab or Buick levels than Caddy or Lexus, which meant that Mercury ultimately got squeezed in too small a niche.

[FoMoJo]

As my first car was a Mercury I feel a bit saddened by it.  However, there seems little point to keeping the nameplate around.

[dazzleman]

My first and third cars were Mercuries.

But it's true -- Mercury served little purpose.  Ford ran Mercury into the ground.  It was really a relic of the old Detroit era which is long gone.

RIP Mercury.

[Madman]

Since Ford decided to debase the Lincoln brand by saddling them with thinly disguised Fords, Mercury has had no reason to exist.  Traditionally, Mercury was the posh Ford and Lincoln was considered a true luxury car.  Problem is, Lincoln hasn't built a true luxury car in decades and, by going downmarket, Lincoln now occupies the niche once held by Mercury.

R.I.P. Mercury
1939-2010

[the Teuton]

That said,



They should have built this on the Falcon platform instead of giving us a tarted up Taurus for $50k.

[2o6]

That said,



They should have built this on the Falcon platform instead of giving us a tarted up Taurus for $50k.

I heard that the Falcon's platform can't be converted to LHD.......cost effectively, of course.

[the Teuton]

Perhaps they should completely redesign it for its next iteration if they don't replace it with the Taurus.

We were all talking about bringing over the Mondeo as a Mercury a few years back. It's a little funny that the next Mondeo and Fusion, as well as the Kuga and Escape, and a few other models, will be interrelated in their next generations. So much for Mercury becoming the Euro outlet for Ford with that one, too.

[2o6]

Perhaps they should completely redesign it for its next iteration if they don't replace it with the Taurus.

We were all talking about bringing over the Mondeo as a Mercury a few years back. It's a little funny that the next Mondeo and Fusion, as well as the Kuga and Escape, and a few other models, will be interrelated in their next generations. So much for Mercury becoming the Euro outlet for Ford with that one, too.

Lol, about three weeks ago, Ford was saying that Mercury was going to get a Focus rework.

[the Teuton]

Lol, about three weeks ago, Ford was saying that Mercury was going to get a Focus rework.

And the Vue was going to become a Buick. So what?

[omicron]

Still kind of sad.

I owned a Mercury Capri once  

?

Sorry about that.

Mind you, they do look nice.

[Laconian]

?

Sorry about that.

Mind you, they do look nice.

I bet you live next door to the designer of that car!

[ChrisV]

Well, there might have been room for Mercury if Ford had moved Lincoln up to Cadillac levels as a real competitor to the European and Japanese luxury brands.  Instead, Ford decided to keep Lincoln lower on the food chain, more at Saab or Buick levels than Caddy or Lexus, which meant that Mercury ultimately got squeezed in too small a niche.

Agreed. The current Lincolns SHOULD BE Mercuries, and Lincoln should be basically a new Continental to compete at the high end. I'd say even above where Caddy is now. Lincoln and Caddy used to be at the tiop of this heap, and neither should be trying to be a bargain "near luxury" brand.

Well, looks like my Comet just got more significant.

Apparently you should not name your car company after a planet...

[Byteme]

Agreed. The current Lincolns SHOULD BE Mercuries, and Lincoln should be basically a new Continental to compete at the high end. I'd say even above where Caddy is now. Lincoln and Caddy used to be at the tiop of this heap, and neither should be trying to be a bargain "near luxury" brand.

Well, looks like my Comet just got more significant.

Apparently you should not name your car company after a planet...

Winged messenger of the gods, I think.

There's a trivia question.  How many planets share their names with cars.

Without research I can think of 4, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn. 

[Laconian]

Volvo shares its logo with Mars.

[SVT32V]

Agreed. The current Lincolns SHOULD BE Mercuries, and Lincoln should be basically a new Continental to compete at the high end. I'd say even above where Caddy is now. Lincoln and Caddy used to be at the tiop of this heap, and neither should be trying to be a bargain "near luxury" brand.

Well, looks like my Comet just got more significant.

Apparently you should not name your car company after a planet...

Lexus sells a bunch of ES350s more than anything else, rebadged camrys, I am not sure this is not a good strategy

True that lexus does have models not based on plebian toyotas though.

The Lincoln LS was a legitimate luxry car that ws not far if at all behind the competition but it suffered from a total lack of any advancement after its initial successful debut.

Probably thank Nasser for that.


It would be great to see a modern incarnation of the continental or mark3 that were way ahead of the world in their time.

[Madman]

Apparently you should not name your car company after a planet...

There's a planet named Pontiac? 

[2o6]

There's a planet named Pontiac? 

Saturn.

[Madman]

Saturn.

You don't "get" sarcasm, do you? 

[2o6]

You don't "get" sarcasm, do you? 

What's not to get?

[ChrisV]

Winged messenger of the gods, I think.

There's a trivia question.  How many planets share their names with cars.

Without research I can think of 4, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn. 

At least there were worse planets to name a car company after...

[Byteme]

At least there were worse planets to name a car company after...

Introducing the 2011 Uranus Super Sport.   

[Vinsanity]

Introducing the 2011 Uranus Super Sport.   

I think the 2011 Uranus Probe will be a more interesting car