The Irish Doggy Posted May 28, 2010 Share Posted May 28, 2010 Ford Said to Plan End of Neglected Mercury After Seven Decades By Keith Naughton May 28 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. is preparing to wind down the Mercury line, created in 1939 by Edsel Ford, after sales plunged 74 percent since 2000, said two people familiar with the plan. The automaker’s top executives are preparing a proposal to kill Mercury to be presented to directors in July, said the people, who asked not to be indentified revealing internal discussions. Mercury, losing two of four models next year, will be starved of products and promotion, the people said. Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally emphasized the automaker’s namesake brand as he revived the only major U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy. The timing of Mercury’s demise depends on how fast executives can convince the brand’s dealers, who also sell Lincoln models, to close or merge with Ford showrooms, they said. “Mercury is a forgotten brand,” said John Wolkonowicz, an auto analyst with IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. “Many Americans probably already think it has been discontinued. Mercury was too similar to Ford from the very beginning.” This is an outrage. Now who is going to almost make me want to buy American just based on their smoking hot looks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted May 28, 2010 Share Posted May 28, 2010 yeah, every mercury I can think of, at least for the last 20 years or so, was just an existing ford model with a different grill. totally pointless, on one hand....but on the other hand, seems like it would cost next-to-nothing to keep it alive. couple dedicated grill designers and lincoln salesmen is pretty low overhead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEC=UGA Posted May 28, 2010 Share Posted May 28, 2010 (edited) Jill Wagner, Hell Yeah! Some of you may find these offensive. http://www.tvpredictions.com/jillspike.jpg http://www.wallpaperez.info/movie/Jill-Wag...-Blade-965.html Edited May 28, 2010 by SEC=UGA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
posty Posted May 28, 2010 Share Posted May 28, 2010 Good night and big balls... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarc117 Posted May 28, 2010 Share Posted May 28, 2010 she will find work somewhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westvirginia Posted May 28, 2010 Share Posted May 28, 2010 yeah, every mercury I can think of, at least for the last 20 years or so, was just an existing ford model with a different grill. totally pointless, on one hand....but on the other hand, seems like it would cost next-to-nothing to keep it alive. couple dedicated grill designers and lincoln salesmen is pretty low overhead. Actually the Mercury models were usually more luxury-oriented (and correspondingly more expensive) than the comparable Ford Models. That being said, Mercury is to Ford as Buick is to GM, a brand dedicated to the AARP crowd mostly. The savings are probably all in the supply chain with the separate dealerships, and the overhead for the separate brand management/design groups. And they probably have to do all the certifications for EPA, CAFE, safety, etc. Mercury actually made a pickup until 1949/1950 or so, but it was just a re-badged F-100 of the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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