How much truth is there to a Mercury phase-out?

[Watchdevil]

Same thing will happen here that happened in Canada. LM dealers will become Ford/Lincoln dealers, the Crown Victoria will be fleet only, and the GM will become the "Ford" Grand Marquis.

 

The Grand Marquis is on the Ford of Canada website. I have visited the Ford of Canada site several times over the past few years. Previously I have seen pictures of the rear of the Grand Marquis with a Ford blue oval on the center of the decklid. The current site specifically states that the model shown is a US model. There are no rear shots of the GM on the Ford of Canada site. However the 360 degree viewer still shows the Mercury badge, but as a US model shown.

[kpc655]

Long overdue..too bad it'll take until 2012.

 

i sat in a meeting at ford recently where they had 3 different posters up on the wall, 1 for Ford, 1 for Lincoln and 1 for Mercury all attempting to identify the brand and their customers. Having them all next to each other really drove home the idiocy of the strategy. Take the same car, throw on a different grill and try to market it to 3 distinctly different groups. Talk about a recipe for failure. As long as the cars are copy/paste models...theres no reason to have so many brands.

[suv_guy_19]

The Grand Marquis is on the Ford of Canada website. I have visited the Ford of Canada site several times over the past few years. Previously I have seen pictures of the rear of the Grand Marquis with a Ford blue oval on the center of the decklid. The current site specifically states that the model shown is a US model. There are no rear shots of the GM on the Ford of Canada site. However the 360 degree viewer still shows the Mercury badge, but as a US model shown.

 

 

There is mercury badges on both ends...just no lettering...I checked for you when I saw a new one at a stoplight..

[ZanatWork]

Mercury should be a huge asset, but Ford needs to actually implement the strategy they described years ago!

 

The brand could and SHOULD be used to go after the people that are all about "chic" imports...the same people VW advertises to. This was the plan, and it could work...but Mercury needs the tools for the job.

 

Let's look at the lineup, and how it would fit in this scheme:

 

Milan- great!

 

Mariner- good, needs driveline updates...including the upcoming 2.5 engine for CRV hunting.

 

Mountaineer- err, oops. While I personally prefer it to the Explorer, it's an awkward fit here. C-Max, Meta-One, something large crossover-ish.

 

Sable- I worry that I haven't seen a single ad for this car yet. Did Ford only learn half their lesson from before?

 

Grand Maquis- the real bad fit, but very important to the brand. If the Ford AUS tie-in does come to pass, this car could be made to appeal to a much wider audience.

 

What's needed:

 

Version of the C-1 cabrio. Talk about your no-brainers to market...just let Jill Wagner pose in it a bit. They need to get her in more ads anyway. This would also give Mercury a convertible, which they've needed for some time.

 

Something in an upscale hatch...a C1 or a dolled-up C170, as long as it looks swank inside and out. Give it a hybrid version, and something like the 200 hp VW turbo motor.

 

Either the Grand Marquis or the Sable needs a true "touring" version. Richard scoffs at "halo" cars, but I scoff at Richard in this case. Something to look impressive in showrooms and to garner lustful reviews is badly needed in Mercury's lineup...yesterday.

[rmc523]

Same thing will happen here that happened in Canada. LM dealers will become Ford/Lincoln dealers, the Crown Victoria will be fleet only, and the GM will become the "Ford" Grand Marquis.

 

What if Ford just made Mercury a trim-line of Ford products (they basically already are), then Ford could condense dealers to Ford/Lincoln dealers w/ Mercury editions of Fords. These Mercury trim vehicles could keep the Mercury styling, even the Mercury emblem. You could have the Ford Fusion "Mercury edition", eliminate the Mercury names, and marketing could be absorbed into Ford marketing, you could still have the current ads running, they'd just be the Ford Escape, Mercury edition.

 

I know this is probably more complicated than just keeping Mercury a separate division, but it's a thought.

[Roadrunner]

Mountaineer didn't use to "not fit" with the Mercury brand.

 

The brand just shifted.

 

When we picked up a Mountaineer 7 years ago to replace a Bronco II, it was because we just didn't want an Explorer.

 

Now that Mercury is a "chick brand" I wouldn't put my dad in one of those ever. Maybe an Escape if it can tow like a V8 Explorer, but otherwise we might have to go GM.

[rmc523]

Mountaineer didn't use to "not fit" with the Mercury brand.

 

The brand just shifted.

 

When we picked up a Mountaineer 7 years ago to replace a Bronco II, it was because we just didn't want an Explorer.

 

Now that Mercury is a "chick brand" I wouldn't put my dad in one of those ever. Maybe an Escape if it can tow like a V8 Explorer, but otherwise we might have to go GM.

 

What makes/made you not want an Explorer? Also, what would you switch to if you did go to a GM product?

[LincolnFan]

What makes/made you not want an Explorer? Also, what would you switch to if you did go to a GM product?

 

An Aveo.

[David Johnson]

What if Ford just made Mercury a trim-line of Ford products (they basically already are), then Ford could condense dealers to Ford/Lincoln dealers w/ Mercury editions of Fords.

 

 

Right now Lincoln alone does not have enough volume for the dealers to compete with other luxury brands. 10 units per month does not allow dealers to have facilities of this caliber: http://groups.cardomain.com/groups/12040/pages/12340

[NickF1011]

Right now Lincoln alone does not have enough volume for the dealers to compete with other luxury brands. 10 units per month does not allow dealers to have facilities of this caliber: http://groups.cardomain.com/groups/12040/pages/12340

 

10 units per month? This is Lincoln, not Ferrari. It's also not a matter of dealer volume on how big or gaudy the place looks. The Jag/LR dealer here is enormous and likely cost multiple millions to build. In the end, I'm sure they sell far fewer vehicles than the smaller Lexus and BMW dealers down the road.

 

Lincoln's volume isn't as far behind the big boys as you might think, especially when you consider that Lincoln is doing as much volume as it is with far fewer models than the big boys like Mercedes and Lexus -- a problem which should be remedied in another 2-3 years' time.

[thirdmust]

-Acura

 

-Infinity

 

-Lexus

 

Rebaged brands that sell ???

[mustang84isu]

Considering that article about the Kuga made mentions of Ford and Lincoln crossover replacements without ANY mention of Mercury, I'm starting to fear the worst. With FoMoCo whittled down to Ford, Lincoln, Mazda, and maybe Volvo, it just seems like there's suddenly a lot of market share gone. Lincoln has no worldwide presence to fill the void of Jaguar and Land Rover. Mercury seemed like its getting Oldsmobiled. It's really sad to see the umbrella slowly being stripped apart.

 

If they're going to kill Mercury, I'd rather them stop beating around the bush, come out front and say it rather than treating us like GM treated the Oldsmobile fans.

Edited July 27, 2007 by mustang84isu

[old_fairmont_wagon]

Unless there's some sort of surprise revival of Mercury in the works, I think the writing was on the wall when the Meta One didn't see the light of day. When they canned the Villager/Monterey and didn't replace the hole in the lineup for a practical three row family hauler (for which, they had a vehicle that was largely complete) and then, as gas pricescontinued to rise, didn't come up with a mid sized CUV for mercury that got better mileage than the Mountaineer, it just seems obvious.

 

I believe the plan is to bring the Lincoln brand up to a self sustaining volume by offering more products in more niches for them. We have rumors of the following:

 

a small CUV/SUV derived from the Next Escape platform.

a sporty coupe

A version of the Flex for Lincoln.

Possibly either a stretched MkS or a true replacement for the TC.

 

If you add all of that to Lincoln's current lineup, you get 4-5 cars and 4 SUV/CUVs. To put that into perspective, that's more vehicles than both Lincoln and MErcury had combined less than a decade ago. I believe that it won't be that big of a deal for Ford to then terminate the MErcury nameplate as Lincoln will be self sustaining at that point. It will allow dealers to better focus on one brand, less training and promo material expense. I see it as win-win for all parties.

 

The big problem that GM faced was that there were a bunch of oldsmobile only delaers out there (not ap roblem with Mercury, they are ALWAYS at least paired with Lincoln) and the brands that they had to offer as replacements weren't any better [buick was on life support, Pontiac was in the toilet, and GMC still had low volumes and was a truck line. They weren't offering Cadillac as an option, and Saturn was its own little undesirable beast.] (Lincoln is getting a product revival which will make up for the loss of Mercury).

 

This also gives those dealers an opportunity to buy in a Mazda franchise or possibly a Volvo one.

Edited July 27, 2007 by old_fairmont_wagon

[NickF1011]

So Ford sells Aston Martin. Okay, I can live with that.

 

Ford then sells Jaguar/Land Rover. Hmmm. Okay, no super-high-end luxury cars. I guess Lincoln and Volvo can adapt.

 

Ford then sells Volvo. Wait. What's going on here?

 

Ford then closes down Mercury. Oh shit!! What the hell does Ford still have left??

 

I really wonder about this strategy. If Ford is planning to dump all of PAG, there's no way in hell they should be getting rid of Mercury also.

[ZanatWork]

Ford NEEDS Mercury, especially if Volvo goes.

 

Mercury could and should be the $30-40K brand, and should take on the lower Acuras, Infintis, and Lexii as well as the upper-echelon "mainstream" imports.

 

Lincoln needs to move upmarket to be anything like a useful brand to Ford. It's time to reset the targets completely...because Lincoln must build itself into a brand for customers up to $100K.

 

I remind those assembled that Caddy's already there, and that there's a Corvette pushing those numbers.

 

Ford needs to get itself sorted out model-wise...then figure out what models could be SIGNIFIGANTLY updated to Mercury status. No more than maybe 6 models, but all made at a similar/superior quality level to anything competitive.

[akirby]

So Ford sells Aston Martin. Okay, I can live with that.

 

Ford then sells Jaguar/Land Rover. Hmmm. Okay, no super-high-end luxury cars. I guess Lincoln and Volvo can adapt.

 

Ford then sells Volvo. Wait. What's going on here?

 

Ford then closes down Mercury. Oh shit!! What the hell does Ford still have left??

 

I really wonder about this strategy. If Ford is planning to dump all of PAG, there's no way in hell they should be getting rid of Mercury also.

 

Let's see:

 

Toyota/Lexus - 2 brands

Honda/Acura - 2 brands

Nissan/Infiniti - 2 brands

 

Tell me again why we need more than Ford/Lincoln (outside of any dealer issues)?

Edited July 27, 2007 by akirby

[ZanatWork]

Let's see:

 

Toyota/Lexus - 2 brands

Honda/Acura - 2 brands

Nissan/Infiniti - 2 brands

 

Tell me again why we need more than Ford/Lincoln (outside of any dealer issues)?

 

 

Easy.

 

Ford vehicles are rarely cross-shopped by the same wannbe elitists that buy VWs, lower-line Audis/BMWs/Benzs/Lexii/etc. Similarly, Lincoln's stance with "traditional" interior styling and their overall approach is unlikely to be too attractive to the more "sporting" of the entry-lux customers.

 

Ford's too plain, seen as blue collar. Lincoln's too old-school.

 

Mercury was supposed to fill this gap. This division should be a step up from NA Ford, a good place to test-market Euro/AUS Fords and a real great place to sell the kind of "daring" cars most people will never associate with Lincoln.

 

The dealer network's already there, and God knows how many people have seen this logic for years. I've been shouting about this for at least 5.

 

Give the Milan HIDs, the 3.5, and both serious sport and luxury packages (it already has AWD available)...and it's an instant Acura/Lexus competitor. The TL and the ES really wouldn't have anything it didn't...and the MKZ could move further upmarket and nip at the A6.

[NickF1011]

Toyota/Lexus - 2 brands

 

 

Aren't you forgetting about Scion? Toyota is also going to be expanding Prius into another sub-brand like Scion and making multiple models with the Prius name.

 

The difference with Mercury compared to most other brands is that is exclusively paired with Lincoln (much like Scion is to Toyota or Mini is to BMW) in the dealer setting, so it costs very little to market compared to most other brands that operate as independent entities.

[Meelaan]

If Ford erases the Mercury brand, the only FoMoCo product I will continue to have interest in is Lincoln. I do not like Ford's brand due to its image as a discount line. As a tarnished brand it's the company's single greatest adversary: its own name.

 

Similar to how GM is using Saturn to boost the entire corporation's appeal, the Mercury brand has an image that can save Ford--if Ford will let it. Killing Mercury wouldn't provide a shot to the arm, but rather a shot to the head.

 

"Save Mercury: Save the World!"

[silvrsvt]

Similar to how GM is using Saturn to boost the entire corporation's appeal, the Mercury brand has an image that can save Ford--if Ford will let it. Killing Mercury wouldn't provide a shot to the arm, but rather a shot to the head.

 

The problem is, that Ford of NA and Ford Europe are going to be sharing the same platforms and to a lesser extent sheetmetal in the very near future, making a European Ford a Mercury a moot point...

[J-150]

If Ford erases the Mercury brand, the only FoMoCo product I will continue to have interest in is Lincoln. I do not like Ford's brand due to its image as a discount line. As a tarnished brand it's the company's single greatest adversary: its own name.

 

Similar to how GM is using Saturn to boost the entire corporation's appeal, the Mercury brand has an image that can save Ford--if Ford will let it. Killing Mercury wouldn't provide a shot to the arm, but rather a shot to the head.

 

"Save Mercury: Save the World!"

 

 

uh, Saturns are not Chevys with a different logo. They at least look different.

 

And Mercury is far more tainted than Ford as a brand

[Watchdevil]

How many Ford products are left that people aspire to own? Not many in my eyes. The Mustang and the F-150 seems to be the only Ford vehicles left people are more likely to seek out without question or comparision shopping. There are stil people that have to have a Mustang and some people that won't buy any truck but a Ford. The rest of Ford's vehicles including Mercury and Lincoln are subject to fierce competition and it's like compasion shopping refridgerators... Every brand has a competitive model. Ford vehicles nowdays have to have something that stands out and gets people to notice and persuade them to purchase a Ford product whether it is for economy, value or luxury.

 

This is a very long wait and see period for Ford until they can engineer and get new product out that makes an impression with buyers. It's gotta be good product that sells, not flashy imagery that advertising seems to promise but canot deliver on that alone.

[Watchdevil]

If Ford erases the Mercury brand, the only FoMoCo product I will continue to have interest in is Lincoln. I do not like Ford's brand due to its image as a discount line. As a tarnished brand it's the company's single greatest adversary: its own name.

 

Similar to how GM is using Saturn to boost the entire corporation's appeal, the Mercury brand has an image that can save Ford--if Ford will let it. Killing Mercury wouldn't provide a shot to the arm, but rather a shot to the head.

 

"Save Mercury: Save the World!"

 

I think the growing problem with the Ford brand is it's present discount image where it should be the traditional american image of reliable value without making a person feel poor or have a perception from others that they have not made a sensible educated choice of a vehicle to own.

 

So much could potentially be done to boost the Mercury brand into a youthful fashionable image people feel good about with it also being a brand of a lot of value for the money. They could play on the planet theme like Saturn has and be the domestic alternative to imports. Mercury the red hot planet closer to the sun... Mercury really needs to shitcan that waterfall logo if it continues as a brand.

[wescoent]

I think the growing problem with the Ford brand is it's present discount image where it should be the traditional american image of reliable value without making a person feel poor or have a perception from others that they have not made a sensible educated choice of a vehicle to own.

 

So much could potentially be done to boost the Mercury brand into a youthful fashionable image people feel good about with it also being a brand of a lot of value for the money. They could play on the planet theme like Saturn has and be the domestic alternative to imports. Mercury the red hot planet closer to the sun... Mercury really needs to shitcan that waterfall logo if it continues as a brand.

 

Frankly, all Mercury needs is more product. Their current strategy, in my opinion, is a good one. Ford has plenty of vehicles in its global product portfolio, and frankly, I believe a nicer Ford and Mercury could happily co-exist.

 

Mercury and Lincoln need to work together on their product portfolios, and come up with a range of upscale and luxury products. Mercury needs to design its models to FEEL like a luxury car in the detailing, but simultaneously share Ford doors and interior parts, as well as offering a staggeringly low price. At this point, Mercury needs a Focus, a convertible, and a very nice pair of crossovers.

[Watchdevil]

Frankly, all Mercury needs is more product. Their current strategy, in my opinion, is a good one. Ford has plenty of vehicles in its global product portfolio, and frankly, I believe a nicer Ford and Mercury could happily co-exist.

 

Mercury and Lincoln need to work together on their product portfolios, and come up with a range of upscale and luxury products. Mercury needs to design its models to FEEL like a luxury car in the detailing, but simultaneously share Ford doors and interior parts, as well as offering a staggeringly low price. At this point, Mercury needs a Focus, a convertible, and a very nice pair of crossovers.

 

That was indeed the success and formula of Mercury models in past generations... The 50's, 60's and 70's... A Lincoln look and feel of luxury at closer to Ford prices, also without the stigma of driving a run of the mill Ford brand. Mercury was at a pinnicle with the Cougar until it disappeared into irrelevency with the shrinking coupe market. Paired with the Thunderbird it did quite well as a pick your favorite flavored ice cream variety in a hot personal coupe market. Those Tbirds and Cougars made eveyone feel like they could have luxury and afford it too.

 

No one really seemed to care much about the Cougar when it switched to the MN-12 platform. By then people were indeed sick of the stodgy formal notchback roofline that became oversimplified and unnteresting when it switched to the MN-12 platform, not to mention it resembled every GM and Chrysler FWD crapbox of the era. All I ever seen driving them was elderly men compared to the slightly wider demographic of people that still bought Tbirds with the fastback roofline.

 

Then Mercury got misguided and tried to make a FWD Pussy instead of a Cougar. This was the start of Ford missteps after missteps... An now look at all the casualties... Deceased iconic nameplates left and right... It was never the nameplates that were the problem... It was the product.

 

There are no iconic models left in the lineup since the Cougar legend was abandoned and never reformulated for relavency. The only popular model is *gasp* a Grand Marquis that doesn't even appeal to the Golden Girls. Hell they even started buying Camry's in white and beige...

Edited July 30, 2007 by Watchdevil