For a long time now Ford has contemplated getting rid of Mercury. i'm more of a GM guy but have always had a bit of a soft spot for the brand. Mercury hasn't had a unique vehicle since the 2002 Cougar and that wasn't much of a success. I guess you can say the Marauder was unique and I did like it but it wasn't much of a success either. I do like the styling of the Mercurys over alot of the Ford versions with the exception of the Grand Marquis. I heard people say that a Mercury is a better value than the Ford. It seems that Ford doesn't have alot of products for the Mercury division so discontinuation is highly possible. I think that Ford should keep Mercury except give it a distinction other than a slighty more luxurious Ford. I think that they should do what GM did to Saturn... rebrand European Fords as Mercury.

That's a very good idea, hmm

The problem is that European Fords are rather smaller models than US Fords, so would it fit with Mercury's position in the group?

This is quite possible, and Ford needs every dollar it can get at this moment. Unfortunately never, other than Maybach, has a marque been revived after being discontinued. I would be very sad indeed.

I dont think nor the Focus nor the Mondeo are much smaller than the american Focus or the american Fusion, no?

Indeed, both Focus are the same size. But here the Focus is average size, Mondeo is the big one. In USA the Focus is the small one and Mondeo is nearly just a compact sedan I mean, the smallest Mercury has probably the same size as the biggest European Ford.
But indeed they could probably sell these models there, as "European Ford"... but last time they tried, with the Merkur, it failed.

Well things change dont they? now it is different, see how "apparently" other european car brands are trying to go there too, i dont know how is Saturn doing with the Astra and the others but i think things are different now, perhaps they would succed now, dont you think? they would probably be appreciated...

Also the problem with Merkur was that it was an unidentifiable name here in the US. Plus the Scorpio looked alot like the Sable (which was a better value). When I said that Mercury should sell European Fords I didn't mean that All of the current lineup should be deleted. Ford said that importing the Euro Focus to the US would make it more expensive than the current car. They could use the more upscale Mercury badge and target the VW Jetta, Subaru Impreza and other more premium small cars. The same could be said for the Mondeo. I think a good full-size Grand Marquis/Sable replacement could come from the Australian Falcon.

The way things are going, Ford, GM & Chrysler in the USA is going the same way all the old British car companies went.! Slowly losing all the famous old brand marks/Identities ..Not a good thing.!
It's probably helping them to save money, but making less & less choice for the buyer. (More of us forced to drive the same jelly moulds.!)

No, no, no, that would not work at all. Mercury is supposed to be a "semi-luxury" brand and European Fords are much too small to be "luxury" of any sort. Mercury needs to have big "luxury" cars like the Grand Marquis and Montego/Sable, which Ford's European market has no such equivalent to bring over here. I agree, the Mercury styling is better than the Ford equivalents, especially the Sable and even the Grand Marquis (in my opinion). But unfortunately Mercury's features and options don't differ too much from their ford counterparts, making the brand pointless (like Dodge and Plymouth, but to a lesser extent). From a financial perspective, Ford should axe Mercury altogether. Just as GM axed Oldsmobile, and just as they should axe Pontiac, Saturn, Buick, and GMC.

I don't see why GM should axe Pontiac, Saturn or Buick- Pontiac is the performance division, Saturn appeals to the young college students and Buick continues to satisfy the older middle class demographic. GM has done a much better job of assigning unique 'identities' in terms of design and branding compared to Ford in recent years.

As for Mercury, it hasn't existed in Canada since 1999, so any effect of axing the brand would barely affect us. Importing European cars under the Mercury badge isn't a bad idea, but Mercury also needs a stronger branding strategy to make it more distinctive- perhaps transforming it into a performance division might help.

Is luxury incompatible with small in USA ?

The Mondeo could be a good choice for that I think. In Europe the Mondeo has a reputation of very good build quality, so I guess that it could be sold at a higher price than a normal US Ford (which fits the Mercury idea then)



The Australian Falcon would be a good one too, I suppose.

Indeed i agree with Antoine, i was going to quote what taxiguy said, the Mondeo can actually be classified as semi-luxury, its not a BMW nor a Mercedes Benz but its not a normal cheap car either, not a vehicle that everybody can afford, i dont think it would do it that bad as a Mercury, its different, and has a more sportive style than others.

Maybe Mercury should think outside of the "semi-luxury" box. Maybe they should also bring in some upscale performance like they were way back. I know the Euro Focus comes in high performance versions. I'm not sure about the Mondeo. They used to sell a performance version here: Contour SVT. Also I'm sure to compete with Holden there are performance versions of the Falcon. I think Mercury still does have relevancy in the Ford lineup but the company isn't willing to try anything outside of the status quo.



I have to disagree there. Each GM division now more or less has their own identity. Pontiac is getting legitimate performance models again (with the exception of the G5 and non-GXP Torrents). Saturn is now the Euro-style division (positioned under Saab) and is also the replacement for Oldsmobile. Buick is becoming more of a conservative luxury division which makes it different from Cadillac because it's aiming for younger buyers (with the exception of the DTS). With GMC I do agree as it shares nothing that isn't available as a Chevy or Cadillac (except for the Sierra Denali). Overall though GM is nowhere near the badge-engineered company they used to be.

Are you kidding? The few times American automakers have tried to make a "luxury" small car they have been huge failures. Cadillac Cimmaron. Must I say more?

The reason for doing this is simple. GM has too many divisions. Toyota gets by with just three (Toyota, Lexus, Scion), and it just surpassed GM in total vehicle production for the first quarter of 2008. They don't need a "semi-luxury" division and a Saturn-type divison (it's so pointless I don't even have a phrase for what type of division it is). Don't even get me started with GMC. They have no original car of their own, they're all just re-badged Chevys with a different grill. All they need is a normal, no-frills, cheap car divison:(Chevrolet). A luxury car division:(Cadillac). And a young-people/performance division:(possibly Pontiac I guess). That covers pretty much all the bases. Just look at the example set by Toyota and you'll see that the answer to GM's problems is obvious.

Buick=old person semi-luxury!
America is aging, increasing the market for Buick Lucerne and Toyota Avalon.

I mean now that gas prices are higher etc.
For sure several years ago it was incompatible...

They have Daihatsu too (but I guess that these are not sold in USA, since they use that make for small cars)

Cadillac could make a model similar to the Lucerne, for people who want something cheaper and more modest than a CTS, STS, or DTS while still being big and semi-luxury. This would absorb Buick's "old-people" market segment if Buick were to go away, which I predict it will (eventually)