06-03-2010, 10:44 AM
Mercury Comes To The End Of The Road
In the latest move of an ever-changing automotive landscape, Ford Motor Company announced today that it will kill off its Mercury division while beginning the expansion of its Lincoln line. The 71 year-old brand was created by Edsel Ford to fill a gap between Ford and Lincoln.
The move comes in an effort to further streamline Ford’s domestic operations. Over the past few years, Ford has rapidly shed all of its European brands, although the decision to shutter Mercury is the first division closure since the Blue Oval ended its failed Merkur operations in 1989.
Ford follows in the footsteps of General Motors, which has ceased production of four brands in just six years: Oldsmobile (2004), Pontiac (2009), Saturn (2010) and Hummer (2010).
End of an era
Ford says that it will cease Mercury production across the board by the end of 2010, discontinuing all four of the division’s products. Mercury hasn’t had a fully unique model since the slow-selling Cougar coupe was dropped after the 2002 model year, so Ford says it hopes buyers will find what they’re looking for either in Ford showrooms or in a newly expanded Lincoln lineup.
Over the last couple of decades, Lincoln’s mission as a stepping stone between “everyman” Ford products and “exclusive” Lincolns became muddier and muddier to the point where nearly all of the brand’s offerings were simply rebadged Ford vehicles. Ford admits that its emphasis on offering more features in its namesake division products helped spell the end of Mercury, too. Today, no Mercury offers any exclusive features over its Ford counterpart.
The only relatively unique Mercury product, the dated Grand Marquis, is virtually identical to the fleet-only Ford Crown Victoria sedan. The St. Thomas, Ontario, assembly plant that builds the Grand Marquis and its Panther platform siblings (including the Lincoln Town Car) is slated to close in 2011; it’s expected that production of the police and taxi-specification Crown Victoria and livery-oriented Town Car will continue until the plant closes.
Mercury’s Mountaineer SUV was slated to be discontinued later this year, as well, as its Ford Explorer sibling moves to a new platform.
The scheduled scrapping of those two products would have left just the Ford Fusion-based Mercury Milan and Ford Escape-based Mercury Mariner in the brand’s showrooms. Of those, the Mariner’s future was in doubt as the Escape is expected to be replaced by the European-market Ford Kuga.
As recently as a week prior to this year’s New York International Auto Show, rumors emanated out of Dearborn that Mercury would get a Tracer-badged clone of Ford’s upcoming 2011 Focus. But the car was pulled from the show as Ford reevaluated the brand’s future.
Lincoln to grow
Lincoln will instead receive a version of the Focus as Ford attempts to salvage the struggling luxury brand. Faced with ever-dwindling sales, Lincoln’s fortunes have not been reversed despite a number of new products – the Fusion-based MKZ, MKS luxury sedan, and a pair of crossovers: The MKX and MKT.
The brand has lost considerable ground to import brands and even domestic rival Cadillac, which has seen relatively strong sales despite only offering three truly competitive products, the CTS, SRX and Escalade.
Ford seems to understand the challenges Lincoln faces, both in terms of improving its product offerings and revamping its marketing and dealer network.
“We have made tremendous progress on profitably growing the Ford brand during the past few years. Now, it is time to do the same for Lincoln,” said Mark Fields, Ford’s president of The Americas, said in a statement released to the media. “The new Lincoln vehicles will transform luxury for North American premium customers through an unexpected blend of responsive driving enjoyment and warm, inviting comfort. We will also offer our customers a world-class retail experience through a vibrant retail network.”
Ford promises an entirely revitalized product lineup within the next 48 months. In addition to new products, however, the brand says it will be differentiated from Ford by featuring a brand-exclusive V6 and EcoBoost (twin turbocharging and direct injection) powertrains across the lineup.
The challenge
Unquestionably, Ford’s plan to grow its Lincoln lineup presents a tough obstacle. Through May, Lincoln sales are up 12 percent to 37,444 units, while Mercury sales have increased an identical 12 percent to 41,680 cars. Yet despite the positive appearance of a 12 percent increase in volume, neither brand is performing particularly well in the market and both are rapidly losing share.
Automakers have long been criticized for spreading lineups too thin; a C-segment, Focus-based Lincoln will inevitably be a tough sell, especially if Ford intends to improve the level of customer service offered by its Lincoln dealers. No luxury competitor offers an entry-level small car.
Mercury dealers have been notified of the plan to wind down the brand’s operations. Dealers will receive an undisclosed financial package in exchange for surrendering their franchises. The automaker plans to offer special deals on Mercury products throughout the summer to clear out excess inventory.
In the latest move of an ever-changing automotive landscape, Ford Motor Company announced today that it will kill off its Mercury division while beginning the expansion of its Lincoln line. The 71 year-old brand was created by Edsel Ford to fill a gap between Ford and Lincoln.
The move comes in an effort to further streamline Ford’s domestic operations. Over the past few years, Ford has rapidly shed all of its European brands, although the decision to shutter Mercury is the first division closure since the Blue Oval ended its failed Merkur operations in 1989.
Ford follows in the footsteps of General Motors, which has ceased production of four brands in just six years: Oldsmobile (2004), Pontiac (2009), Saturn (2010) and Hummer (2010).
End of an era
Ford says that it will cease Mercury production across the board by the end of 2010, discontinuing all four of the division’s products. Mercury hasn’t had a fully unique model since the slow-selling Cougar coupe was dropped after the 2002 model year, so Ford says it hopes buyers will find what they’re looking for either in Ford showrooms or in a newly expanded Lincoln lineup.
Over the last couple of decades, Lincoln’s mission as a stepping stone between “everyman” Ford products and “exclusive” Lincolns became muddier and muddier to the point where nearly all of the brand’s offerings were simply rebadged Ford vehicles. Ford admits that its emphasis on offering more features in its namesake division products helped spell the end of Mercury, too. Today, no Mercury offers any exclusive features over its Ford counterpart.
The only relatively unique Mercury product, the dated Grand Marquis, is virtually identical to the fleet-only Ford Crown Victoria sedan. The St. Thomas, Ontario, assembly plant that builds the Grand Marquis and its Panther platform siblings (including the Lincoln Town Car) is slated to close in 2011; it’s expected that production of the police and taxi-specification Crown Victoria and livery-oriented Town Car will continue until the plant closes.
Mercury’s Mountaineer SUV was slated to be discontinued later this year, as well, as its Ford Explorer sibling moves to a new platform.
The scheduled scrapping of those two products would have left just the Ford Fusion-based Mercury Milan and Ford Escape-based Mercury Mariner in the brand’s showrooms. Of those, the Mariner’s future was in doubt as the Escape is expected to be replaced by the European-market Ford Kuga.
As recently as a week prior to this year’s New York International Auto Show, rumors emanated out of Dearborn that Mercury would get a Tracer-badged clone of Ford’s upcoming 2011 Focus. But the car was pulled from the show as Ford reevaluated the brand’s future.
Lincoln to grow
Lincoln will instead receive a version of the Focus as Ford attempts to salvage the struggling luxury brand. Faced with ever-dwindling sales, Lincoln’s fortunes have not been reversed despite a number of new products – the Fusion-based MKZ, MKS luxury sedan, and a pair of crossovers: The MKX and MKT.
The brand has lost considerable ground to import brands and even domestic rival Cadillac, which has seen relatively strong sales despite only offering three truly competitive products, the CTS, SRX and Escalade.
Ford seems to understand the challenges Lincoln faces, both in terms of improving its product offerings and revamping its marketing and dealer network.
“We have made tremendous progress on profitably growing the Ford brand during the past few years. Now, it is time to do the same for Lincoln,” said Mark Fields, Ford’s president of The Americas, said in a statement released to the media. “The new Lincoln vehicles will transform luxury for North American premium customers through an unexpected blend of responsive driving enjoyment and warm, inviting comfort. We will also offer our customers a world-class retail experience through a vibrant retail network.”
Ford promises an entirely revitalized product lineup within the next 48 months. In addition to new products, however, the brand says it will be differentiated from Ford by featuring a brand-exclusive V6 and EcoBoost (twin turbocharging and direct injection) powertrains across the lineup.
The challenge
Unquestionably, Ford’s plan to grow its Lincoln lineup presents a tough obstacle. Through May, Lincoln sales are up 12 percent to 37,444 units, while Mercury sales have increased an identical 12 percent to 41,680 cars. Yet despite the positive appearance of a 12 percent increase in volume, neither brand is performing particularly well in the market and both are rapidly losing share.
Automakers have long been criticized for spreading lineups too thin; a C-segment, Focus-based Lincoln will inevitably be a tough sell, especially if Ford intends to improve the level of customer service offered by its Lincoln dealers. No luxury competitor offers an entry-level small car.
Mercury dealers have been notified of the plan to wind down the brand’s operations. Dealers will receive an undisclosed financial package in exchange for surrendering their franchises. The automaker plans to offer special deals on Mercury products throughout the summer to clear out excess inventory.
