GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

I haven't/never bought one and I won't miss it

the only mercury that I remember is the capri and the cougar that was posted earlier. Oh, and the merkur that I always thought looked like a saab.

mmarshall

Many people, though, who cannot afford the model they want new often end up buying pre-owned or older versions of the same vehicle. That's what I first did when I was young.

You're not kidding. American-market Merkurs depreciated faster than some cars police-impounded for drug operation.


It was the same way with the British Sterlings, which came out about the same time. The Sterling was a interesting mixture of a reliable Honda Accord drivetrain and classic British body/interior/coachwork. It failed to catch on in America, though, and was pulled after just a few years.

mmarshall

Were the Merkurs sold at Mercury shops in your part of CA? Here they were strictly limited to Ford dealerships, not Mercury.

I fail, though, to see how either Merkur product looked like a Saab?

mmarshall

So.....after Mercury folds (and assuming that IS-SV is correct and GMC, even though it does only Chevy truck/SUV clones, survives), who then will be the NEXT automaker out of the U.S. market? Mitsubishi? Suzuki? Maserati? (This issue might need a separate thread, but I'm hesitant to start one until if and when Mercury actually DOES fold).

My hunch says Mitsubishi, especially if the new all-electric model soon coming out fizzles. The Evo/Ralliart junkies will simply not be enough to justify keeping the company here. The Eclipse was once quite popular, especially the GS-T/GS-X turbo versions, and had a widespread following, but they screwed it up about 10 years ago with the new 3Gen model, which simply gave up too much. None of their other U.S.-market models, for a number of reasons, really compete any more.

IS-SV

"Yes, there is a BIG difference between being interested in a car and actually buying one."

That's true. But since we are on the topic of Mercury....

If that's the main hope to move metal at the Mercury division (selling used or pre-owned cars to the young and poor), that's surely a going out of business or train-wreck scenario.

The potential closing of any crappy auto division is largely an economic business decision, despite the emotional attachments (often non-buyers of that brand) have to certain brands. Yes we can guess as to which brands will fail next based on the unworthiness of the products, but the guessing is incomplete without the corresponding financial analysis too.

LexBob2

Around here Merkurs were sold only thru Lincoln-Mercury dealerships. Mine was black just like in the picture. Even had the bra.

IS-SV

Same here in northern CA.

SLegacy99

Ford, not the consumer, are responsible for Mercury's demise. You have to offer a product worth spending the extra money on.

mmarshall

I'm not sure I agree with that logic. If Ford, makes products worth buying, then why not their virtually identical Mercury versions as well? The difference between them, price-wise, is not much, and Mercurys (usually) come with a little more perks and standard equipment/trim to justify the (slightly) higher price. One of the rare differences where the Ford version actually DOES offer more equipment is on the Explorer, where the Mercury Mountaineer version does not include a low-range transfer case for off-road driving. But that, of course, is because Mercury buyers are less-likely to go off-road with their Mountaineers.

As I see it, to say that Fords are worth buying and Mercurys are not is like saying you'll date one supermodel, but not the other.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Amen to that

darkdream

Mercury still exists? I did not know that.

IS-SV

In the last decade or two, you didn't miss much.

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

Hilarious, but so true. Been saying all along that Mercury needs to go away. Time to ramp up the Lincoln brand to be more competitive. Mercury is so yesterday.

tex2670

But--what has Ford done to their Mercury models to differentiate them, and justify the added price? A different grille and tail lights doesn't cut it.

There are many on CL that rag on the Lexus ES350 as "just a Camry". But the styling is very different, and Lexus offers many more lux features than are available on the Camry. Ford does this too--for its Lincoln brand. Which leaves Mecury models as just more expensive Fords, or less expensive Lincolns.

I think that if most people want to pony up for the more expensive version, they want the Lincoln. And if they don't, how is fully-loaded Ford version any different than the Mercury?

Chrysler finally figured this out years ago with Plymouth.

caddyowner

I think the big question re Mercury folding is what to do with the LM dealer network. There is not enough product nor volume for most dealers to survive on Lincoln sales alone. As mentioned in articles, it is probably a way to force consolidation so most Ford dealers will become Ford-Lincoln dealers. In large metro areas, there will probably be some dedicated Lincoln dealers.

The question of GMC is entirely different. GMC provides the Buick dealers truck, SUV, and crossover offerings to sell. Also, I've heard that in Canada, GMC outsells Chevy trucks.