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Will Mercury soon be joining Plymouth and Oldsmobile? - READ ONLY

308 messages,  Last post on Feb 26, 2011 at 6:29 AM

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What is this discussion about? Mercury Milan, Mercury Montego, Mercury Mariner Hybrid

Messages Page 29 of 31

#279 of 308 Re: Ford Puts 70-Year-Old Mercury to Sleep! [Mr_Shiftright] by rsholland

May 28, 2010 (8:50 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (May 28, 2010 6:48 am)
Mercury was Ford's Buick.
 
Interesting to see Buick get new legs, while Mercury goes into a death spiral. It's probably a sign that there's only room in the marketplace for one American brand that those 60 and over can relate to—and they will miss it dearly.
 
Wonder if this will hurt Mulally's (walk-on-water-do-no-wrong) image, or Ford's (Rise like a Phoenix) image when the deed is finally done?
 
Bob

#280 of 308 Re: Ford Puts 70-Year-Old Mercury to Sleep! [rsholland] by andre1969

May 28, 2010 (9:10 am)

Replying to: rsholland (May 28, 2010 8:50 am)
Interesting to see Buick get new legs, while Mercury goes into a death spiral. It's probably a sign that there's only room in the marketplace for one American brand that those 60 and over can relate to—and they will miss it dearly.
 
I think one advantage that Buick has is that it, at least, is a step up from Chevy. Mercury really hasn't been a step up from Ford in a long time...maybe the early 1990's?
 
Ford never really knew what, exactly, to do with Mercury division. It came out in 1939, as a mid-priced brand. IIRC, it was situated, price-wise, a bit above the likes of Dodge and Pontiac, but below DeSoto and Oldsmobile. In some years, it was a glammed-up Ford, while in others, it was a cheapened Lincoln. In 1957-60, Mercury got its own, dedicated body (although the bigger 1958 Edsels did share it) and tried to move a bit upscale. However, that move was a failure, and from 1961 onward the car went back to being a gussied-up Ford. And, over the years, as the Fords got nicer, they started encroaching into Mercury territory. And once downsizing hit Detroit, and the Lincolns got shrunken, that put a further squeeze on Mercury.

#281 of 308 Re: Ford Puts 70-Year-Old Mercury to Sleep! [andre1969] by steve_ HOST

May 28, 2010 (9:23 am)

Replying to: andre1969 (May 28, 2010 9:10 am)
Another blurb:
 
Report: Wings to Fall Off Ford's Mercury Division (AutoObserver)
 
"According to data from Edmunds.com, Mercury is most-often cross-shopped with Ford. In April, 46 percent of Mercury buyers cross-shopped with Ford, 23 percent cross-shopped General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet, 22 percent cross-shopped Honda and 21 percent cross-shopped Toyota."

#282 of 308 bad news for mercury... by explorerx4

May 28, 2010 (4:35 pm)

but i think Ford/Lincoln can divide up some of that.
just like Ford after selling Jaguar and Volvo is in the process of moving Lincoln up market.
Ford can also use some Mercury trims on future top of the line Fords.

#283 of 308 A shame really by craigmri

May 29, 2010 (4:13 am)

I agree the brand engineering thing is lame. The Current Mercury offerings are all re-badged Fords so why compete with yourself? They spent the last 10 or 15 years letting the brand get stale. Who brags that they just bought a sweet Mercury anymore? It'll cost millions(hundreds of millions) to resurrect the product and lots of time(a decade) for people to come around. Letting it go is probably the most cost effective approach and apply the corporate assets on the Ford and Lincoln brands.
 
On an emotional side note, how cool would it be to take a Fusion, let Chip Foose work his magic and call it a Mercury Comet.....put 400hp in anything and its cool!

#284 of 308 Guess I better hang onto this one... by lemko

May 29, 2010 (5:02 pm)


 

#285 of 308 Re: Guess I better hang onto this one... [lemko] by andre1969

May 29, 2010 (5:20 pm)

Replying to: lemko (May 29, 2010 5:02 pm)
Oh, that thing's going to last you until the next ice age! How many miles do you have on it now? My friend with the 2004 Crown Vic has something like 180,000 miles on it and it's still running well. He had a 1995 Grand Marquis before that, which had around 175,000 on it when he traded for the Crown Vic. Admittedly, it was getting a little tired. Running rough, smoking a bit, and the check engine light was on. He got a whopping $600 in trade on it. I would've been tempted to buy it from him for that price, except that it was too new and would've needed to be inspected.

#286 of 308 Re: Ford Puts 70-Year-Old Mercury to Sleep! [andre1969] by hpmctorque

May 30, 2010 (11:42 am)

Replying to: andre1969 (May 28, 2010 9:10 am)
There was a lot of overlapping between GM's mid range brands and, to a slightly lesser extent, between Dodge and DeSoto. However - and I know we're splitting hairs here - I saw Mercury as more of a direct competitor to Pontiac and Dodge than to Olds, Buick and DeSoto.

#287 of 308 Smart business decision by cannon3

May 30, 2010 (9:28 pm)

I am a Ford fan, I have blue blood Sorry Merc fans, the brand was dying. Now Ford can take this extra cash/capacity and give it to Lincoln. Lincoln is rising and with the open capacity/cash it can now make models to compete and beat BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Acura. Cadillac is now in the same room as these top luxo brands and continues to put out great vehicles. Lincoln has the chance now to do the same.

#288 of 308 Re: Guess I better hang onto this one... [lemko] by euphonium

May 31, 2010 (9:52 am)

Replying to: lemko (May 29, 2010 5:02 pm)
Did you ever find the secret location of the switch that lowers the top down?

Messages Page 29 of 31

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