Mercury fading fast
While doing my daily news search, I saw that Carspace's
Alternate Route had an entry up on Mercury's future, or lack-there-of.
May 19, 2008 - A Star Fades?The source of inspiration for
AR's blog entry was a
Chicago Tribune article (
here). Despite Ford's denial, the future for this brand looks pretty bleak, as there really isn't anything new planned.
"The Ford party line is that Mercury has a bright future, but we can't see any future for them," analyst Aaron Bragman of industry forecaster Global Insight said...
"There's nothing in the product pipeline for Mercury, and it looks like it's just going to be left to die."
- Permalink | Comments (7)
- Posted by: Bob Holland May 21, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories: Auto Industry
, Mercury, Trends
I understand Ford's concentration on their primary brand, but eventually Lincoln and Mercury will go beyond salvagability. Lincoln long ago lost any aspiration of retaining any heritage of Tier I luxury. Mercury, well, I don't even know what Mercury ever stood for.
I don't even know what Mercury ever stood for.
You're not alone.
Even when they've tried to be unique from Ford their products have bombed (Capri, Cougar).
I think there was a spot in the overall line up for Mercury "back in the day" as a step in between Ford and Lincoln. IMO if Linclons could be perceived and sold at a higher level and the Ford division's products kept lower, there could be solid middle ground for Mercury. But I think this requires a grand plan that hasn't happened or been maintained - Lincoln was allowed to become mediocre and the Fords and Mercurys were allowed to become too similar. It's conceivable to me that FOMOCO could cover quite a large spectrum of the market with three distict lines of vehicles.
Now it's a mess.... and despite the "you've got to put Mercury on your list" plea....there doesn't appear to be a compelling reason to do so.
Here is my idea of how FoMoCo should be:
Ford: The "every-mans" car. Fair price, decent style and quality and high value. In the $13,000-$30,000 range.
Mercury: Accessible luxury without pretention. (think: Volvo, Acura) high quality, high Tech. Stylish and slightly sporty. In the $28,000-$45,00 range.
Lincoln: "World Class" luxury. Very high quality. State-of-the-art technology. High style. Very Powerful, yet reasonably efficient.
In the $40,000-$80,000 range.
I agree with redliners accessment of what Ford should do..
However one only has to look at Fords complete lack of effort in the market lately to see they won't bother.
Mercury will die. Lincoln will continue to flounder with lame products and will eventually disappear.
Ford? Does anyone really care anymore?
Sad really.
The Mercury pipeline is bare, but, Ford is investing in Lincoln and expanding the lineup. The Lincoln brand will eventually have to replace volume the dealers will lose when Mercury is eventually eliminated.