Thanks to some hard-nosed detective work by Edmunds’ Inside Line, Ford has confirmed that the Mercury Sable (now, as always, a twin of the Ford Taurus) will be ending production in April. As a likely April Fool’s joke, Ford may announce on April 1 that the Sable is being replaced with something not boring. In other, equally important news, GM has confirmed that all cupholders will grow in size by approximately 0.01 millimeters, and Audi announced that the popular A4 sedan will probably be available in “some colors” next year. I have fond memories of riding in the rear-facing seats of a Sable wagon as a kid, but that’s only because years of therapy have suppressed the memories of being terribly nauseous back there. All joking aside, dont tell anyone, but I do like the current Sable.
Holy crap, I didn’t even realize the Sable was still around.
And now that I’ve visited their website, I’m surprised they still sell these cars. I honestly thought the Milan and Mountaineer were their only cars… I mean… Grand Marquis? Seriously? Who’s buying these cars?
Lets all hope the Sable takes the rest of Mercury with it.
Mercury has been dead for years in Canada.
I didn’t even notice they were gone until I went hunting for them on the internet just now.
I don’t think it was much in the way of detective work. Production of the 2010 Taurus starts May 5, and it’s been posted on the Ford boards for a while that the order bank closes at the end of January for both the Taurus X and Sable. I suppose one needs officially official confirmation, but all the evidence was laid before us.
Mercury will be down to Milan and Mariner by the end of 2009 (or VERY early 2010) and will get one or maybe two (depends on timetables) new models in 2010 – both smaller than the Milan. The Milan will be Mercury’s largest vehicle going forward. We should be seeing the Mercury concept at NAIAS or maybe NYIAS (those are very speculative – far more than the hard dates for order stoppages above).
The current Sable is a totally competent, high-quality car in a terrible package. But the 2010 Taurus (which is moving a bit upmarket) and MKS (which doesn’t start that much higher than a loaded Sable) have squeezed it out of the market. Mercury is for small cars now.
C’mon! The “some colors” line didn’t make anybody else laugh out loud? My mirth really is the product of all this excessive drinking?
…you guys are jerks. I’ll check back in the morning.
The Grand Marquis is the only real Mercury left anyways, and Ford let it die from neglect. Without a competant rwd body on frame sedan, there is nothing of interest now, or in the future.
I just drove a 2008 Toyota Avalon for a week in Los Angeles. Nice powertrain, but if that car represents the future of large sedans, I prefer the past – tinny doors, front wheel drive torque steer, lower quality ride, noisier, etc.
That Avalon probably appeals to those who don’t know any better.
I think it “Is what you let it become.” I was recently given a book about cars of the 60’s and it is interesting to see then that a Ford and a Mercury were not the same; pretty significant differences actually. I honest believe it still could be that way with some intelligent marketing segmentation but that concept pretty much died with that numbskull from GM, Roger Smith. He’s the granddaddy of badge engineering (think Cadillac Cimmaron here).
It may be too late to save Mercury; it definately is if it continues to pursue the same directionless existence. It could survive as a niche other than “commodity” Ford and “luxury” Lincoln but some high steppin’ needs to happen and happen fast!
Ford should just let Mercury (and probably Lincoln) die. They have no direction…other than being tarted up Fords.
Well, this is another D3 failure that has been put to sleep. That makes:
Five Hundred
Montego
Freestyle
Sable
Taurus X
And in a year or so, when Ford realizes that they missed the Mark with the Taurus, Lincoln Taurus, and Flex, they will be killed as well.
I’ll ask again:
How many vehicles must fail on a platform before the blind car company STOPS using that platform?
It’s a damn shame what’s happened to the Sable. The Montego (when launched in 04) was not a bad car – better looking than the Five Hundy, with some sharp accents like LED tails, HID headlights, snazzier rims, and cleaner looking trim. And it was a nice (not great) car to drive with tons of space.
Then the Sable rebadge came along, they stripped it of what understated character it had. Short of a better powertrain, it was a bomb sytlistically.
Its unfortunate, but it must die. One can only hope a great car will replace it, but the right thing to do would be to euthanize the Mercury brand outright.
The Sable got squeezed out by the Milan, MKZ and MKS. Priced on top of the Milan V6, it was a bigger car than the MKZ for alot less, and the same size as an MKS for a hell of a lot less. Hard to justify selling a loaded Sable AWD for $33k when a base MKS FWD on the same chassis starts at $38k.
I wonder if the first gen sable will ever be anything more than a collectible oddity. I swear, all Ford has to do is put clear projector headlights (and light bar) on the original futuristic Sable, give it a Milan Hybrid powertrain and they’d have a home run on their hands today. That thing makes a Prius look conventional.
Anyway, no big loss on the current Sable.
RobertSD : so what in your detective work leads you to believe that the Grand Marquis (and other panthers?) will be dead come 2010? Just curious.
Neither Mercury nor Lincoln need to die, but for the Sable, although it is a good car, letting it go makes sense.
Bringing all L-M dealerships in with Ford dealerships makes the Sable redundant, as the Taurus has the same options list and practically identical pricing across the board.
I am surprised the Sable doesn’t sell better however, as both it and the Taurus offer tons of room, good power, a great chassis, ergonomic layouts, and an affordable price. Lincoln MKS’s are selling at a good pace, but no one pays any attention to the Taurus or the Sable.
With the Sable’s demise look for some of your more classy dealer sales mgrs to start adding ratty faux carriage tops to Mariners.
The problem here was platform. That list of cars represents cars that were boring by design, and with tweaking (power & tightening of the suspension) the platform is good. They were also among the safest cars in the country. But boooorrrriiinngg. People don’t swarm to nice, clean, numbingly unoffensive designs unless they are Toyota Camrys. The Sable was actually the better looking one.
There’s also the problem that Ford has about the worst marketing in the world, and always has. Most people dont’ even know that they sell beyond the F-150. No one knew some of these cars every existed at all, and the midstream name change didn’t help matters.
The early Sables look like Panhards.
I was recently given a book about cars of the 60’s and it is interesting to see then that a Ford and a Mercury were not the same; pretty significant differences actually.
They were magnificently different. Lincoln, too. All totally different stylistic personalities. Lincoln was the grand luxury car of presidents. (LBJ’s old Lincoln is in Jawn Bugsy Lawlor’s (familiar to those who listen to cartalk) garage.) Kennedy, of course, was in one when he was assassinated.
The ’64 Mercury, looking at the front largely frm the side, looks like a raptor.
As long as Jill is still around, it’s OK with me.
We had two Sables growing up…an 86 GS and a 91 LS. Both were very reliable (!) and had nice rides to them, the 91 was the first car I drove and somehow it escaped both transmission and head gasket issues. I would have preferred my dad kept the 90 SHO over the Sable though.
I liked the Montego, a very well appointed Mercury for a great deal. I get tempted by AWD Montegos and Five Hundreds every time I see one on Craigslist…they’re a steal! Be a perfect stablemate to the old 760.
As long as Jill is still around, it’s OK with me.
Some platforms definitely hold up better than others.
I thought that the demise of the Grand Marquis, Vic, and Town Car and the closure of the plant has been pretty well established by now. Not sure of the current drop dead date.
It is a shame that Ford hasn’t been able to sell the Five Hundred, Taurus, Montego, Sable. I spent some time in the Five Hundred and it offers all the virtues of the old, large American sedans, the only penalty being the first gen’s 3.0 V6 wasn’t exactly spirited. Used these vehicles are freakin’ steal. I recently look at first year Five Hundred with ~20,000 miles for $6,500 Canadian. Nothing with that room in that condition comes close. Pity right now I am shit scared about my job, just like a lot of people.
Anyway, these cars are victims of Ford’s schizophrenic branding/marketing. Hopefully they can get that straightened out.
Yes, here in Canada Mercury has been gone for a long time, and it disappeared with out a ripple.
I’ve still love to find an older Merc with the scarce 410cid FE engine.
In 2007, the Grand Marquis outsold the D3 Sable 4:1. In 2008, it’s still outselling it 2:1, and that’s with the Grand Marquis as a special order item — you can’t buy one off the lot.
I imagine that annoys many Ford execs, but it tells you something about how well they’ve marketed the Sable.
@P71_CrownVic: Did you get kicked out of BON again?
rpol35: I was recently given a book about cars of the 60’s and it is interesting to see then that a Ford and a Mercury were not the same; pretty significant differences actually.
I think that they still used the same drivetrains, although there were significant styling differences, and differences in length and wheelbase.
@P71_CrownVic: Did you get booted from BON again?
geeber, similar drivetrains, but they did get different engines occasionally (see my comment on the 410cid FE above)