2008 Ford Five Hundred

[Atomic]

The updated 2008 Montego is set to debut in February.? I'm guessing that as the Five Hundred was Fusion-ized, the Montego will likely be Milan-ized.? ?

i'm wondering the same thing. the rear of the '08 500 does look very close to that of the current montego. hopefully, both cars will look unique from all angles.

[TheIntrepid]

i'm wondering the same thing. the rear of the '08 500 does look very close to that of the current montego. hopefully, both cars will look unique from all angles.

I'm hoping they just drop the Montego.

[Atomic]

I'm hoping they just drop the Montego.

...and not the milan? (aged) grand marquis?

just asking, dude? !

[TheIntrepid]

...and not the milan? (aged) grand marquise?

just asking, dude  !

Well in my opinion the Mercury line is useless altogether. Is there really a point to them? I mean they're all rebadged Fords, with little to no luxury added, and at a higher price. If I wanted a more luxurious Ford, I'd just buy a Lincoln..right? They're not sold in Canada anymore either so I'm hoping they just drop the entire line.

Seriously, what's the point of Mercury?

[TBR]

To provide a fuller line for Lincoln dealers. Just rid of them both imho. It would be a shame, but Ford would be better off without them.

[ifcar]

Not at all. Bad publicity, lost dealers, lost sales, and I can't see the lower expense being sufficient to justify that.

[TBR]

Offer the dealers Volvo and Land Rover or Ford franchises for reduced cost. Two problems solved in one quick move.

[ifcar]

Not at all. Land Rover and Volvo can't support that volume or already may be established in the area. They'd still lose mainstream sales, sales to people who like big floaty cars, and rural dealerships would likely all go under or abandon FMC. And there are already plenty of Ford dealerships anywhere where there would be a LM dealership.

[TBR]

Less structure to support then. Bad publicity would be the only issue. GM managed to get through Oldsmobile's demise without any costly dealer related law suits that I know of.

[ifcar]

GM also lost most of the Olds buyers, who went to the competition rather than other GM divisions. Ford can't afford to lose those sales, nor has a reason to.

[TBR]

Different situation, I was referring directly to dealer related issues. I have a hard time believe that any Montego buyer would refuse to buy a Five Hundred. Lincoln is another matter entirely, no one would cry if the MKX or MKZ left, but the Town Car and Navigator do bring in a lot of money. Maybe cut Mercury, reduce Lincoln's line-up, and offer former Mercury dealers Volvo franchises. Of course would sharing showrooms with Lincoln hurt Volvo's image? Difficult quandary for sure.

[nickdrinkwater]

I don't think Volvo would be very happy about sharing with Lincoln.

Why don't they do with Mercury what GM has done with Saturn, make it into a kind of European style brand.

They need a makeover really.  Mercury doesn't exactly have hip and fashionable connotations.

[TBR]

More showrooms is a good thing, though sharing with Lincoln wouldn't be ideal it would be a method for quick expansion.

[ifcar]

Different situation, I was referring directly to dealer related issues. I have a hard time believe that any Montego buyer would refuse to buy a Five Hundred. Lincoln is another matter entirely, no one would cry if the MKX or MKZ left, but the Town Car and Navigator do bring in a lot of money. Maybe cut Mercury, reduce Lincoln's line-up, and offer former Mercury dealers Volvo franchises. Of course would sharing showrooms with Lincoln hurt Volvo's image? Difficult quandary for sure.

I thought I replied to this, I guess I didn't.

Right now, there is no problem. Lincoln has its money-makers, and the volume that Mercury brings in sustains the dealerships. It doesn't cost much for Ford to sell the Mercurys, so there's no reason to throw it all away.

[VetteZ06]

GM also lost most of the Olds buyers, who went to the competition rather than other GM divisions.

Is this hearsay, or do you have some evidence for this?

Not that it really matters. I'm just curious.

[TheIntrepid]

Is this hearsay, or do you have some evidence for this?

Not that it really matters. I'm just curious.

It's obvious. If GM's sales numbers had stayed the same after the loss of Olds, that would mean the buyers stayed but bought other GM products, but the sales went down, indicating that the Olds buyers went to the competition.

[MX793]

It's obvious. If GM's sales numbers had stayed the same after the loss of Olds, that would mean the buyers stayed but bought other GM products, but the sales went down, indicating that the Olds buyers went to the competition.

That doesn't mean it was specifically or exclusively the Olds buyers that they lost, though.

[USA_Idol]

GM also lost most of the Olds buyers, who went to the competition rather than other GM divisions. Ford can't afford to lose those sales, nor has a reason to.

I suspect many Olds buyers actually defected to Buick...a company that targets the same buyer Olds was gunning for.  I don't think Oldsmobilians (new word) abandoned GM entirely.

[ifcar]

Is this hearsay, or do you have some evidence for this?

Not that it really matters. I'm just curious.

It's said nonstop at GMI and never questioned, so I assume there's some source behind it.

[ChrisV]

Maybe cut Mercury, reduce Lincoln's line-up, and offer former Mercury dealers Volvo franchises. Of course would sharing showrooms with Lincoln hurt Volvo's image? Difficult quandary for sure.

The local Lincoln/Mercury dealership is also a Volvo dealership and they share the showroom with no problems. The sales volumes, however, are in the Mercury products.

[Raza]

The local Lincoln/Mercury dealership is also a Volvo dealership and they share the showroom with no problems. The sales volumes, however, are in the Mercury products.

I agree; I don't think shared showrooms hurt image, since many dealerships stock very different types of cars, from different manufacturers.  I've been to Porsche/Acura, Aston/Infiniti, Bentley/Lamborghini/Aston/Rolls/Saab/Cadillac/Oldsmobile/Hummer (it's a huge dealership), and even Jeep/Mazda.  I don't think anyone felt that Bentley and Lamborghini were cheapened by having Oldsmobiles on the same floor.

[TheIntrepid]

Around here we have gigantic auto malls... with 15-20 makes under the same roof. Generally though the prestigious brands aren't there.

[nickdrinkwater]

We don't really have many joint dealerships here.  The ones that are are usually split into separate sites.

Are the cars from different makes sat next to each other in the showroom in these joint dealers in America?

Also, don't Mercury or Lincoln have any dealers that just does one of the two makes?

[Raza]

We don't really have many joint dealerships here.  The ones that are are usually split into separate sites.

Are the cars from different makes sat next to each other in the showroom in these joint dealers in America?

Also, don't Mercury or Lincoln have any dealers that just does one of the two makes?

In the Porsche/Acura dealer I mentioned they were.  In the Roller dealer, the upscale makes (Rolls, Bentley, Aston, and Lambo) had a showroom, and further down there was the Olds, Caddy, Saab, and Hummer room.  They're so far apart, I've never seen any of them inside the building.

[TheIntrepid]

Also, don't Mercury or Lincoln have any dealers that just does one of the two makes?

In Canada they do... all Lincoln dealers do Lincoln only... because we don't have Mercury in Canada.

[93JC]

Also, in Canada it is very atypical to have showrooms with a mixing of brands from two or more different companies, i.e. a Porsche/Acura dealer would never exist, but there are many Pontiac/Buick/GMC, Chevrolet/Cadillac and Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealers.

There are also Volkswagen/Porsche dealers, and they're legally not the same company. The only one in Calgary I know of that sells products from two very distinct companies is a Hyundai/Suzuki dealer. But other than that they all follow company lines, as far as I know because the various Canadian headquarters mandate it as a condition of the franchise agreement (i.e. GM will give a dealer the choice of being a Pontiac/Buick/GMC(/Hummer) dealer or a Chevrolet/Cadillac dealer, but not a Pontiac/Cadillac dealer, or a Chevrolet/Mazda/Subaru dealer).

[SVT666]

Don't forget the Saturn/SAAB/Isuzu dealerships that used to be somewhat popular.

[TheIntrepid]

The only one in Calgary I know of that sells products from two very distinct companies is a Hyundai/Suzuki dealer

Right near the Stampede Park on McLeod trl?

[93JC]

Don't forget the Saturn/SAAB/Isuzu dealerships that used to be somewhat popular.

Yeah, them too. Saturn/Saab, nowadays.

[93JC]

Right near the Stampede Park on McLeod trl?

No, I was thinking of the one in the NE, north of Memorial, just off Barlow.

Don't know which one you're thinking of...