Ford says it's not killing Mercury but their actions indicate otherwise. In the past two years, The Blue Oval Boyz have cut their ranks by 400 dealers, mainly by merging the three brands under one roof in many areas. Automotive News [sub] reports that starting this week, Ford execs will tell the remaining stand-alone Lincoln-Mercury dealers their latest and greatest consolidation plan for rolling them into Ford dealerships. The dealers aren't overly pleased with the prospects, but they see the handwriting on the wall. While Ford says they stand behind the Mercury brand and will give it a new small car, "one Ford insider told Automotive News that company executives want to make it clear to dealers that no major influx of new product is coming for Mercury." Once the dealer consolidation is done, you can just about bet that the Mercury brand will be starved for product, with all of the new models going to Ford or Lincoln. Then it's just a matter of time before Mercury just fades away like DeSoto in the early 60s.
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It makes a lot of sense to offer Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury under one roof. I see this as a way to allow Mercury to finally have some unique vehicles instead of just Ford clones to fill in the gaps of the Lincoln offerings in stand alone Lincoln-Mercury dealerships.
By eliminating the Milan, Mariner, Sable, and Mountaineer (Fusion, Escape, Taurus, and Explorer clones respectively) and letting upmarket trim levels of the Ford versions sell on the lot, FMC will be free to devote resources to giving Mercury some premium small cars as it has stated its intentions to do.
The writing is indeed on the wall…no amount of BS from the top is going stem the fears of Mercury going away…and the dealers know it.
Ford bought out my Lincoln-Mercury dealership back in June – the owner was 3rd generation whose Grandfather opened a Lincoln dealership in the early 50’s, and added Mercury a few years later. The owner is a brilliant man, so he must see the writing on the wall, and got out.
The main reason to go Lincoln-Mercury is the dealership sales and service is much better – the average Ford store caters to a much less polished customer base.
Ford has really screwed up both Mercury and Lincoln, and rebadges of little European and Japanese cars have no interest for me. Once the Grand Marquis dies, so does me being a customer of Ford.
My how times have changed. In the early 90’s, the largest volume dealer in Western New York was a Lincoln Mercury animal in an upscale suburb.
It went thru a name change or two before it was plowed under for office & retail a few years ago. Props to Bill Ford and the blue oval boyz for abysmal brand management.
taxman100:
The main reason to go Lincoln-Mercury is the dealership sales and service is much better – the average Ford store caters to a much less polished customer base.
I’d see this as an opportunity for standalone Ford stores to really up the quality of their sales/service so that not only are they on par with what the luxury customers expect, but they are above and beyond what the average Ford customer expects. There is no reason there ever should have been inferior service or sales experience at a regular Ford store to begin with, no matter the MSRP of the car, the customer deserves the best.
As far as I know there are no plans to offer rebadged Japanese cars anywhere in the lineup, and the Euro cars are at least real Ford products, not another make with a new grill. And while the Grand Marquis may be a nice enough car for what it is, its death as a model has a lot to do with the death of its customers. The average age of a Grand Marquis buyer (from my own experience) is north of 60, possibly even north of 70. Younger buyers don’t even give it more than a passing glance.
While visiting my family in Virginia, I dropped by the nearest L-M dealer to test drive the MKS. The showroom was small, crowded with cars, dirty-looking, ugly, and thoroughly lacking in class. Worst I can remember.
Maybe they’re waiting for the Ford dealer down the street to buy them out. He has a fairly new, classy showroom.
Moving LM into the Ford dealership will be like going down to the local Buick/Pontiac/GMC/whatever dealership – same vehicles with different badges all lined up at different price points. If anything else it will reinforce how much badge engineering goes on between Ford’s three domestic brands.
The small city I live in has a relatively new Ford dealership just down the road from an older Lincoln Mercury dealership. The LM dealership never has much in the way of new cars on the lot – most appear to be used Fords bought at auction.
Michael,your story reminds me of the day I visited my local LM dealer, by invitation. I got there to find chaos, as they were giving away toasters. I kept my Infiniti.
This has to negatively impact Lincoln sales. One of the reasons my in-laws get new Lincolns every two years is because of the hand holding they get from the local LM dealer. They’re NEVER going to get that from the local Ford dealer. I know that.
It’s the same reason my mom went to look at the Hyundai Veracruz, but ended up fawning all over the RX. It wasn’t so much the car – it was the dealer experience.
Sometimes, the cars can’t make up for the dealer experience – and I don’t know what car Lincoln has that could make up for anything less than a fabulous experience. Really. Not one.
With regards to crusty old LM standalone dealerships and difference in service with Ford vs. Lincoln customers, again, this move to merge all into one network can only be a good thing.
The extra sales and income from having all three brands under one roof will allow dealers to upgrade their facilities more often and keep them more presentable.
As for level of service, the dealership at which I work used to be a Ford only store, and had been a successfull one for many many years. Last year we picked up Lincoln/Mercury and survey scores did initially drop. However, through training and experience with Lincoln/Mercury customers they have gone right back up. While a Ford customer might want to walk the lot with you and find the car they want on foot, many of the Lincoln/Mercury crowd prefer to come right inside, be offered a beverage, and sit down and talk about what they are looking for, have the salesperson go out and fetch it, bring it up to them, and repeat until the right car is found. There are other differences as well, but in the end we have learned what to do, and any other store can as well.
William442
Y’kno…I got an invitation like that when the Zephyr (now MKZ) was introduced. The dealership was ‘ok’ as I wasn’t expecting much from an American dealer, although they kept wanting me to fork over a deposit citing i was the kind of young person Ford was looking for to buy the Zephyr. Then I broke their hearts by telling them “Why? It’s nice, but deep down it’s just a rebadged Fusion, which itself is Japanese underneath.”
Then I went to a G37 Coupe launch at an Infiniti dealership down the street from where I work.
It was no contest…plus I almost won a 1 year lease on a G35 sedan. Bummer…but comparing the service, Infiniti won hands down…no way will I step into a Lincoln/Mercury/Ford dealership unless the service improves.
The Lithia dealership by me is a F-L-M and it’s rather nice. Service dept. is excellent too, I take my Mazda over there instead of the terrible Mazda dealer 18 miles away. They even did a couple TSB’s for me.
One of the reasons my in-laws get new Lincolns every two years is because of the hand holding they get from the local LM dealer. They’re NEVER going to get that from the local Ford dealer.
They should. And GM should do the same with Saturn: fold it’s award-winning customer experience back into Chevy and Cadillac. If you have to develop or maintain a separate brand to deliver decent service, you have a customer service problem. QED.
That said, at least Saturn has (had?) a good reason to exist: demographics. Last I checked, which was some time ago, Saturn had a median buyer age somewhere around 29-32, or at least fifteen years younger than the next-youngest (Pontiac) at 43-45. Mercury has nothing that Ford couldn’t offer if they upped their service and interior appointments.
I don’t think using Mercury to sell premium, Euro-style compacts is a good thing. Ford already has Mazda and Volvo for this, and neither Mazda nor Volvo are damaged goods, where Merc is. Lincoln has a chance if Ford can make it distinct from Volvo (which, currently, they’re not doing a good job of).
Mercury was cancelled in Canada, by the way and I don’t think that anyone really noticed. That said, what we have noticed is that Mazda is doing extremely well selling cars that don’t compete with Fords. About the only turkeys on Mazda lots are the Tribute. B-Series, CX-7 and -9.
My dad (long time Ford guy) is thankful that, up in my area, there is actually one Ford dealership that excels with service. Also happens to be closest to where he lives. I’ve gone with him on many a run, and they are always cordial and helpful. Other Ford dealership experiences have been much less than so (without getting into my fiasco when I bought my last car, which was fine until the finance department tried to financially screw me – almost had to bail until she ‘adjusted the numbers!’).
I’ve been to a L-M dealership myself, though I may soon to get a look at the MKS.
The best service I’ve had at a dealership, in terms of shopping for a car, have been luxury makes. Frankly, folks who buy luxury cars are usually more stuck-up than average folk – they demand good service. The local Lexus dealership treated me like a king.
Sorry, may sound a bit redundant, but dealership experience can make or break a decision, even if the car is amazing.
Well, the Ford powers-that-be will swear to God and Jupiter that Mercury is going to be revived with new product from Europe, ala Merkur. We’ll see.
As for dealerships – I bought my LS at my local dealership, a nice 6 mile drive from my house. It’s a Ford/Lincoln-Mercury dealer. After a couple of years of HORRIBLE service experiences (including the techs not knowing or bothering to learn that the engine took 6.7 qts of oil, not 5 AND once they must’ve rammed a hand truck or something down the passenger side of the car – I went to pick it up and it had about $5000 worth of body damage which they of course said – “It was like that when u brought it in” To which I said “Well, let’s look at the paperwork because I had YOUR guy do a walk-around (Thank GOD I did that) when I dropped it off and there’s no mention of body damage. They did finally concur they must have done it and they repaired the damage.) I now take both my Lincolns (yeah, my IQ is about 65) to an L-M dealer 30 miles from my house where I get excellent service.
Ford has really screwed up both Mercury and Lincoln, and rebadges of little European and Japanese cars have no interest for me.
But unless they do a ‘Merkur’ on Mercury (child abandonment), I think the rebadged Euro cars are a last chance, ‘let’s try to make this work and resurrect the brand’. I think its a wise move.
The Grand Marquis is dead. Of the four G-M owners I know, not a one is under 70. The Sable went to a superior platform, and yet L-M can’t sell more than a few. Both model names are, right or wrong, tied in to an older generation.
My neighborhood dealer (Lincoln-Mercury-Isuzu) was a beehive of activity as recently as 7 years ago. Six months ago, they were dead as could be. Three months ago Isuzu got dismissed, and the L-M dealership folded into the Ford dealer down the street. The huge empty abandoned dealership now houses surplus inventory for the neighboring Toyota dealer.
How’s that for a dose of reality?
I know that one of the local L-M dealers has taken the buyout and is shutting down.
My brother-in-law’s sister works in the back office for the local L-M dealer. She mentioned that it was going to close down, with a local Ford dealer taking over the L-M franchise. In June, I think, she said they didn’t sell a single car. Ouch!
But unless they do a ‘Merkur’ on Mercury (child
abandonment), I think the rebadged Euro cars are a
last chance, ‘let’s try to make this work and
resurrect the brand’. I think its a wise move.
Wouldn’t be the first time Ford put the screws to
Mercury, remember “The Car you always promised
yourself.”?? 1977 was the final year, why?? Because
in 1976 the Capri outperformed the Mustang. It had
a V6, the Mustang had a V8… Can’t have that now
can we…
Steve(I own 5 Capris)L
Killing off Mercury ultimately hurts Lincoln the most.
Lincoln cannot maintain a class image being sold in the same stores that sell Fords. Toyota doesn’t try to pedal the Lexus in the same building that sells Toyotas. For the most part, even though it mixed Cadillac with Oldsmobile or even with Buick and Pontiac in smaller towns, GM didn’t sell Cadillac and Chevy in the same dealership.
At least since the ’60’s, Mercury has existed to provide enough volume to support Lincoln as a brand sold separately from Ford, without tarnishing the Lincoln image by associating too closely with the Ford line.
After the damage Ford Motor has done to the Lincoln brand, to merge it into Ford showrooms is a perfect way to assure that Lincoln cannot compete with BMW, Audi, Lexus, or Cadillac
Neither Lincoln nor Mercury have a credible reason to exist.
A) All their products (save the archaic Town Car) lose money.
B) There is no cohesive image for either brand.
C) Ford already has a luxury brand in Volvo that has already proven it can sell upscale, economical vehicles. Even the porker XC90 had a very good run for quite a while.
As it pertains to C), Volvo is an incredibly under-invested brand at this point. Virtually all their vehicles are either old in tooth or had been developed with a brand draining focus of supporting other Ford divisions.
Unfortunately I don’t think Ford will make Volvo a success at all. In fact, other than Ford and Mazda, I don’t see any of these brands surviving in five years as part of their prodding parent.
It is a shame…