The Detroit News reports that Ford’s wind-down of its Mercury brand continues apace (i.e., very slowly). Now that the mothership has eliminated its standalone Mercury franchises, they’re using the same process of attrition to grandfather the brand’s models to death. As of Thursday, Ford will no longer build the Mercury Sable. I know, it’s a crime, right? “Ford only sold 1,158 Sables last month, down 37.8 percent compared to April 2007.” Yup, the Sable’s another D-platform loser. “That will leave Mercury with just four models,” the DetN writes, displaying an uncanny knack for numeracy, “including the Mountaineer and Grand Marquis, both of which are scheduled to be killed over the next couple of years. Mercury is supposed to get a new small car, but Ford has no other models planned for the brand at this time.” At this time? Brrrr. Will someone please close that door? Hang on; what’s this?
As we reported in our most recent Ford sales blog, Mercury outsold Lincoln last month. The margin: 7,772 vehicles (Mercury) to 5,793 (Lincoln). And while the aforementioned 1,158 Mercury Sable sales suck, that’s only 50 fewer cars shifted than the Lincoln MKS. And check this: the Milan outsold EVERY Lincoln model made (or, you know, sitting in inventory), at 2,272 units.
Here’s the deal: Ford’s longstanding and lamentable inability to take Lincoln upmarket has left Lincoln-Mercury conjoined twins. Or, if you prefer, co-dependent cannibals. Without a leg to stand on. Starving to death. Given that the new MKT and MKS look set for failure at such lofty price points, one begins to wonder if Ford isn’t killing the wrong brand. In other words, life without Jill Wagner may not be worth living.
Damn, if it wasn’t for Jill, Mercury would have nothing to look at on their commercials!
Lincoln could go upmarket if they’d build more cars like the MKS (is that right?). Rebadging a Fusion/Milan is not where Lincoln needs to be, and that type of GM thinking is going to get FoMoCo nowhere fast. Or is already working at it. Merc has always been a rebadged Ford with just the slightest bit of extra stuff standard, or at least for as long as I can remember. My memory is flooded with Bobcats, Capris, and Zephyrs from the ’70s and ’80s. That wouldn’t be a problem if Lincoln would truly move up and leave the MKZ behind, and offer something unique like Cadillac does with their Sigma offerings.
Mercury was a “dreamt-up” brand started in 1939 in order to (partly) fill the yawning price gap between Ford ($599 to $921) and the big Lincoln K series ($5615 to $6300).
Mercury prices were $916 to $1018.
Lincoln Zephyr prices were $1369 to $1839.
Perhaps given that price differentials have almost entirely been eliminated between once tiered brands, and the fact that Mercury is solely sold in the United States (I don’t believe they are even sold in Canada any more, even though some are manufactured there), it’s probably time for it to be put to rest with dignity, following it’s short-lived brothers Edsel, Zephyr to the grave. Not forgetting cross town mid-priced rivals DeSoto, Clipper, Oldsmobile, Pontiac (soon), Nash, Hudson, Kaiser and Frazer.
Here’s my three cents on turning Mercury around…
Do what GM didn’t allow Saturn enough time to do- become the outlet for some of Ford Europe’s best offerings- Turbo Fiestas anyone?
And while they’re at it, I’m sure there’s a U.S. market for Australian made Ford Rancheros (or whatever they call them down there).
Ford tried selling Euro-Fords through Mercury as “Merkur” cars (epic fail) and also tried selling 2-seat convertible Australian Fords as Mercury brand (another epic fail). I don’t think Ford has any interest in repeating epic fail #3 and trying both again, slinkster.
Besides if we get the Ford Falcon “Ute” why not sell it as a Ford Ranchero? Not to mention, why not build it in North America? Alongside the sedans?
The old Panther (Ford LTD cop-car exclusive, Mercury Marquis and Lincoln Town Car) are all very long in the tooth.
Ford could tool up a factory for them – perhaps even the same factory which will soon be giving up the Panthers, in Ontario.
Ford is not killing the wrong brand…they are only killing 50% of what they should. Lincoln should have go as well…and slot Volvo into the *real* luxury spot that Lincoln can only dream of filling again.
Ford does not need Lincoln if all they are going to do is sell over priced, rebadged Fords that compete with Buick.
Could L-M dealers remain profitable without sales & service from the M part? I think not, which is why it’s still around despite it otherwise not making a whole lot of sense.
Mercury could use a Cougar Kuga, but supposedly a unique new small Ka car is planned.
The remarketing of Mercury as a brand for women and “metrosexuals” has been such a smashing success, eh?
Mercury has always been the brand for conservative, middle and upper middle class white collar professional men. Steve McGarrett is the classic stereotype.
Mercury has always risen and fallen with the sales of their full sized sedan – the Grand Marquis for the last 25 years.
The starvation of the Grand Marquis is the starvation of Mercury – it’s as simple as that. They may as well kill the brand when it goes.
Even if Lincoln goes upmarket and Ford goes downmarket ($35k for a Taurus or Flex anyone?) to make room for Mercury, Dearborn still has these problems.
1. Contracting market from the recession and disappearing niches as a result.
2. Mostly undesirable product, with questionable American branding power. (no V8s, Mexican/Japenese/Swedish engineering, and an ancient Panther platform that needs a redesign)
3. No current plans to make S197 based sedans, coupes or CUVs that’ll ride the coattails of the Mustang.
Until things change, all of L-M’s moves are rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
As a brand, Mercury is in the nursing home waiting to be reunited with Edsel. Ford is clearly opting for a natural death instead of a pull-the-plug Pontiac demise.
Ford has been busy pulling the Ford brand upmarket with Taurus and Flex into the Mercury space. The Lincoln C small car concept is obviously a test balloon to see if those promised small Mercurys can just become Lincolns. A sort of Lincoln Integra if you will.
Ford has obviously picked its play book from Honda and Toyota. Ford will be the full market major player like Toyota, and Lincoln will be top-tier Fords with unique sheetmetal and techno-toys like Acura.
I’ve owned Acuras and Lincolns, and I always knew I was just driving a Honda/Ford with a prettier dress and little more makeup. Plenty of people are fine with that, and there’s good money to be had if you don’t spend too much more on that new dress.
taxman100 is right. Mercury was marketed as “The Man’s Car” in the ’60s. It’s weird because Jill appeals to guys and should be hawking a man’s car, not a metrosexual’s car. I believe their is space between a mass market car and a true luxury car in Ford’s home market.
I’m pretty sure the Mountaineer was canceled about 4 years ago.
{ Google search }
Wait… WHAT?!?!? OMG they still make that thing? Now that is nuts.
The problem with Ford’s brands is that they are really just trim levels. Why not just eliminate the confusion and self-competition and sell them all as Fords?
Mercury’s position in the Ford brand lineup is not any different now than it ever was. There has never been a Mercury that hasn’t been a slightly fancier Ford; the closest they ever came to that would be the 1957-1960 cars. Whenever a new size or style of Ford came out, a Mercury counterpart also appeared: Falcon/Comet, Fairlane/Meteor, Mustang/Cougar, Taurus/Sable, etc., etc.
What is changed is the drastically reduced market share. In this market I think it finally does make sense to drop the Mercury name, and fill any unserved market niches with high-line Fords and less-elaborate Lincolns. Chrysler Corporation used a similar strategy quite successfully in the 1960’s to compensate for the loss of the DeSoto brand.
Of course the Lincoln brand itself is in desperate need of help – names instead of WTF’s would be a start – but that’s a topic for another thread.
Mr. Sparky: “Ford has obviously picked its play book from Honda and Toyota. Ford will be the full market major player like Toyota, and Lincoln will be top-tier Fords with unique sheetmetal and techno-toys like Acura.”There’s another option for Mercury, albeit it’s a longshot. Mercury could become Ford’s Scion. It would actually make sense since a majority of Scion’s market turned out not to be the intended Gen-Xers, but the over fity crowd, which would actually fall in rather nicely with who’s buying Grand Marquis’ anyway.
And to those who say it can’t happen need only refer to Pontiac where Bunkie Knudson, Pete Estes, and John DeLorean took a languishing old person’s car from the fifties and turned it into the modern, swoopy Widetrack, effectively knocking Plymouth out of third place for many years. Of course, they had some help with the bungling done by Chrysler’s management, but Pontiac was still an astonishing success due to a complete makeover.
I always thought Mercury had a better grill and taillights…so not much has changed there! Seriously, I like that satin finish.
As it stands Mercury has two hybrid models, the Milan and Mariner. I’ve also heard rumors of a forthcoming Taurus hybrid.
So, why not drop all non-hybrid options vehicles from the Mercury line-up and in several years have a hybrid Sable (resurrected), Mariner (successor), Milan, and new small car (if Ford felt ambitious, perhaps also a hybrid Grand Marquis that would comply with the new hybrid taxi laws in places like New York).
It’s not a full line-up but it’d have a distinctive selling point. A slightly upscale American brand that is fully hybrid.
The brand would be able to keep it’s (small) base of supporters, while having the marketing tools and identity necessary to become a real competitor while also giving it an identity separate of its models Lincoln and Ford counterparts.
# MrDot :
May 18th, 2009 at 10:39 am
The problem with Ford’s brands is that they are really just trim levels. Why not just eliminate the confusion and self-competition and sell them all as Fords?
Yes. Ford has enough on its plate right now just getting the Ford brand and lineup in shape. Escort needs work, but 2010 Fiesta, Fusion, and Taurus plus 2009 F-150 look competitive. Eco Boost engine family looks interesting.
Never understood why Ford feminized the Mercury brand AND picked hottie Jill Wagner as spokesperson. Get the attention of men and then show them a car they wouldn’t be caught dead driving. Wouldn’t it be better if Jill tried to sell guys Mustangs?
I’m not sure I agree with the reasoning above. Clearly you don’t think that Lincoln can survive without Mercury, but Lincoln won’t have to until 2011 at the earliest. Until then, Mercury will shed its least profitable and brand-dragging vehicles. The death of Sable does not mean the end of the Mercury brand now – or the loss of a profitable vehicle (half of all Sable sales were fleet in 2008, 90% of Marquis sales are fleet, the Mountaineer is on pace for about 6,000 sales this year). LM dealers (many of whom sell Ford, Volvo or another brand) don’t really need that volume if Lincoln continues to steal share as the market recovers next year, and Lincoln is not upscale enough to justify the existence of Mercury.
The Detroit automakers are criticized heavily for too many brands and bad use of them (and I might add that this site does its fair share), but Ford is taking care of that by eliminating vehicles within a dying brand and hopefully pulling life support off that brand, and yet, there is criticism of that as well.
If Mercury survives until 2012, it will be a niche brand: small crossovers, small MPVs, small hatches, small convertibles – potentially with an all Ecoboost line-up and maybe a spattering of hybrids. I’m not sure it will make it that far – the launch of the MKZ, MKS Ecoboost and MKT and continuing dealer consolidation will actually be a good indication of what Ford’s next move might be. If enough LM dealers merge with Ford or other dealers and Lincoln’s luxury share continues to grow, I have little doubt Ford will kill Mercury.
RE: overpriced vehicles. All reviews I’ve heard of the MKT are quite good actually (although I don’t like its looks). A more nimble, powerful, efficient vehicle with a drastically better interior for $5-7k less than an Audi Q7? How is that a loser? Similar story with the MKS: a more nimble, powerful, efficient vehicle with enough equipment to make the Lexus GS460 jealous and a comparable sticker price $5k less. If Ford does its marketing job right (and they have the right marketing team in place finally), they will get traction at those prices (we’re still talking sub-$60k here even for a loaded MKT).
The starvation of the Grand Marquis is the starvation of Mercury – it’s as simple as that. They may as well kill the brand when it goes.
I’ve been waiting for a De Sade special edition for years now. Guess I’ll learn to live disappointed.
I think the Lincoln brand has some promise. With GM’s troubles, you may see some Caddy and Buick owners take a look at Lincoln. And with Acura losing some of its luster, you may see some of their buyers take a look as well.
The MKZ could be helped by the terrible styling of the new TL. I can see some people who want a near-luxury mid-size front-wheel drive sedan with a little sportiness for around $30-35k taking a look at the MKZ after seeing the new TL.
There’s nothing Mercury does that couldn’t be done better by Mazda. Or rather, that isn’t already being done better by Mazda.
All these car-guy fantasies about Mercury being an upscale, sporty, European Ford are just that: fantasies. They ignore the fact that Mazda is that already, and has the side benefit of not being a damaged brand, and has zero equity in a modern market. No commercially worthwhile demographic exists for them.
Put it this way: Ford of Canada knifed Mercury years ago. I don’t think the six non-fleet Grand Marquis drivers noticed that their once-a-decade land-yacht purchases are made at Ford stores now.
As others have stated. Ford needs to make Mercury a trim level. For example…instead of a Mercury Milan, make the highest trim level the Fusion M with all the same changes that were made to sell the Milan. You could still sell the Fusion M at Lincoln dealerships and potentially bring in a younger customer base since no one goes out looking for a Mercury. I would also stretch the Lincoln badges back out…Mark S, Mark X, Mark T, or drop the MK all together…Lincoln S anyone?
The ’57 Mercury was my first favorite car. Still think it’s beautiful. Of course, that sort of Mercury died decades ago, and what remains is, well, they could call it the Acme.
Again, another move that I have seen coming for months. I have known since about last year that the Sable was going back to the graveyard while the Taurus soldiered on with its new mate, the Lincoln MKS.
Whats with this Robert? It is “old news that we have all seen coming” week at TTAC?
What we are seeing here is the obliteration of the step-up strategy so prevalent with the D3 the past 60 years.
It’s pretty clear, now, that people don’t move up from a Chevy to a Pontiac to an Olds to a Buick to a Cadillac.
Instead, buyers start out with Toyota, buy a certified pre-owned BMW and then buy a new Mercedes/BMW/Audi or Acura/Lexus/Infiniti. The real step up is from a 3-series to a 5-series to a 7-series.
The step-up brands died a long time ago. They don’t stand for anything anymore: that’s why they died. In reality, they died a decade ago–it just took Detroit 10 years to figure it out.
Sajeev Mehta :
3. No current plans to make S197 based sedans, coupes or CUVs that’ll ride the coattails of the Mustang.
One of Ford’s biggest mistakes in a lot of years. It was designed and ready to go. Taurus SHO is the giving in that maybe there were some customers that still want a 4dr high performance car.
Another idea. Taxman100 has it right – the Mercury IS the Marquis. Keep the current Grand Marquis and rename it Marquis. Then give the Town Car to Mercury as the new Grand Marquis. Lose some of the frills like the rear air suspension, but this car would make a great Mercury flagship that is not also available at the Ford dealer down the street.
Then, of course, Lincoln needs a real flagship sedan with rear wheel drive and at least 350 horsepower that can really sell for $50-60K. I am sure that the FoMoCo engineers are capable of taking the old Town Car frame and adding a great suspension, a new high output V8 and a seriously tight bank-vault body. Somebody has to give Lexus a run for it, why not Lincoln?
jpcavamaugh:
The Lexus LS has stiff competition in the form of the Mercedes S-Class.
Mercury has wings on it’s feet…therefore it will soar. Ford=low price, Mercury=medium price, Lincoln=high price. What’s da deal?
cardeveloper
Ford actually had a DISI-powered Fusion, with a stick, but the powers that be decided there was no market for it. Makes me mad every time I think about it. All the benefits of a Speed6, in a better-looking package. They would have sold every one they built. So let’s hope they continue down the line with injections of fun.
The Lincoln/Mercury dealership experience has always been superior to the local Ford stores. Both sales and service. Since Mercury cut their marketing budget, most of the higher end trimlines could be purchsed for less than the similar Ford config as well.
Arm chair CEOs might want to pay less attention to brand positioning and more to customer satisfaction. Drive your best customers to your best dealerships to build real loyalty.
Flarn : Mercury has wings on it’s feet…therefore it will soar.
Like the Hindenburg!
(Apologies to Stephen Colbert)