I8ABMR

Can we bring back the supra , 240, a twin turbo Z, and alfa romeos spider veloce. How about the NSX for 50k. That would a cool one as well ( in fanatsy land)

The cars that should die are all of the vehicles from GM, ford, and chrysler. Slingers of crap.

LexFather

Its looking more like brands that WILL die and not should.

mmarshall

Yes, I agree GMC has little reason to exist (they are just Chevy clones), but why should Buick and Mercury die just because they don't have a lot of young buyers? That, IMO, is nonsense. None of us, BTW, is getting any younger ourselves, including you and me.

Older people have rights, too, and one of those rights, as I see it, is the right to choose a car of their liking. That often (but not always) means a car with lots of sheet metal around them to protect them, and a smooth ride.

And........guess what? Some YOUNG people like a big, smooth, cushy car, too.

2002GGPIS3

Ok, I didn't mean it like that, the automotive landscape should be full of choices, for diffrent types of people, I am just looking at the brand situation right now. One big critisim of GM and to a lesser degree Ford, is having advertising for all thier unique makes and models, some get cut out, like when is the last time you saw a advertisment for a Mercury grand marquis?, which is a great car, I liked highway driving with it when I rented one. I don't like brand killing, I was even sad to see oldsmobile go, I am a history buff and love the history and models of the various car comapnies, my fav buicks are the 63-65 riveria, just a great design, the Buick GS, especailly the 455 stage 1 GSX version, and of course the black grand national/GNX of the 80's, mean looks and turbo power. My fav Mercurys, are the 50's Merc hot rods, the first generation couger XL-7, and the last and short lived Mercury Marauder, I would love to see this car at it's full potential. Anway, I am 29, there really is nothing Mercury and Buick have right now, that excites me, or anyone else I know. Even mighty Lexus does things like the F sport line to appeal to a younger audience, it is all about image. Lastly taking a sports example, NFL football is the number 1 sport in the U.S., it used to be MLB baseball. The NFL attracts young men, the big group being 25-35, and they spend money on the games, mercandise etc.. they like how fast, innovative and exciting the game is. MLB baseball on the other hand attracts the tradationlists, older guys who grew up loving the game from a young age, and really the game has not changed much, and is considered to slow and boring by the younger generation, and money, and popularity for baseball is going down each year, while football is always going up. So does this sound familar?

mmarshall

No problem.

I wasn't trying to sound like I was on your case.....just tried to make a point.

Lexus F models may appeal to a younger audience, but, like the BMW M-series, Audi S and R/S, Cadillac V, and Mercedes AMG series, the main problem is cost. Many younger people just have not been working enough years (or have highly-enough paid jobs) to have saved up long enough (or to get a good enough credit rating) for a car of that nature. That is one reason why the BMW and Mercedes leasing buisnesses did so well....but even with leases, you still have to qualify for them.

As far as the pro sports audience goes, it is true that The NFL outranks MLB, but, among teens and very young adults, basketball, today, is the in game. You will probably find as much money in the NBA as football and baseball combined......basketball stars can make obscene amounts.

SLegacy99

Well Mercury is slated to transition into European Ford vehicles. Personally, I think they should go all hybrid. Prove that it can be done.

Saturn should go back to the cheap, economy cars that they were. Otherwise why is their Chevy or Pontiac?

Kaydee

Saturn, Mercury, Daewoo, oldsmobile, Kia...I feel these brands exist just to spite us

tex2670

These 2 brands make absolutely no sense at all.

tex2670

I don't agree with Buick, but I agree about Mercury. Not because the buyers aren't young, but the lineup makes no sense. Why have a Ford Fusion, Lincoln MKZ and a Mercury Milan?? Have Ford add a higer end Fusion, or Lincoln add an entry level MKZ. Why support a whole 3rd brand that sells a line up with no unique models.

Didn't this do in Olds?

mmarshall

I understand your point (and this question has been brought up with Mercury before), but Mercury, in general, attracts a different set of customers than your typical Ford dealership.....older, more affluent, and, in general, somewhat more conservative in the type of vehicle they are looking for. That is why Mercury dealerships don't offer any cloned versions of entry-level Fords (Focus), sportier Ford products like the Mustang, or pickup trucks. Mercury dealerships, in general, also tend to offer better customer service, too. Ford dealerships are somewhat like Chevy, in that they just mass-market to huge numbers of people, without the time or attention for personal service.


When Olds folded, many of its customers, as predicted went over to Buick.
If Buick folds, for the most part, they won't have anywhere else to go, if they want to stay with GM. Chevies are too down-market for them (although the new Malibu and Impala are nice), and most of the Cadillac lineup, now, is either too expensive or too sport-sedan-like and firm-riding for their tastes.

Ironically, if Buick DOES fold, don't be surprised if Mercury picks up a lot of its former customers.........I don't think they will go to Chevy, Saturn, or Cadillac. So then, all the more reason to keep Mercury around. Conversely, if Mercury folds, Buick will pick up a significant number of its former customers, rather than Ford.

bad co

i want to see more car's from mercury like the marauder but faster nicer not as uglt. the marauder of early 2000's was great big v8, rwd stealth looking car. ford has to set its priorities make mercury the sports brand or the luxury one same with lincoln. the cars over lap to much. fully loaded fusion is a mid range milan, a fully loaded milan is a mid range mk wat ever. ford has some nice cars coming i.e fiesta, new mustang, fusion hybrid, escape hybrid is fantastic. the new flex looks nice on the road as well.

i want to see a toyota with ***** back. a ferrari with *****, they have been way to softened (i.e the new california) all ferrari's should be like the ferrari's of the past (f40).

+1 on alfa in the u.s

i want to see buicks like the buicks of the 30's to be a special custom order car like rolls royce or maybach

the rx-7 back in all her beauty

i want the fiat 500 abarth in the u.s

the bmw 2000

give the eclipse some *****(like it used to, gsx )

ford you own mazda ask them how to make car look good and go well too (mazda speed3)

gmc- dead

volvo-dead

saab-dead

tesla-dead (too many promises and excuses)

hummer- be reworked to make cars like the wrangler but offer a i4 thats td that would own the wrangler market

tex2670

The Marauder is a specialty car. No way Mercury can survive by just producing a bunch of low volume specialty cars. Plus--with most of their customer base being people that want a cushy boat, to remake the brand that way would take a long time, and cost much money and customer base. And--wouldn't a high power Crown Vic, sitting in the showroom next to a Mustang make more sense? Family guy would love a Mustang, but it's too impractical. But, he can get a similar punch from a Crown Vic.

I don't see Volvo being killed off--sold maybe. And, it would be shame if Saab was shut down instead of sold. Instead of just improving the make, which I think has generally decent designs (other than the 9-7X and the 9-2X, which were just rebadges), and trying to put out a competitive product, just shutting it down would be sad. They can rejuvinate Caddy, why not Saab?

Sytfu_IS

iTrader: (4)

I think those and GM/Chrysler should be gone

TwiBlueG35

Cars I want to see revived:

Mazda RX-7
Nissan Silvia
Acura NSX
Honda Prelude

Cars I want to see in the U.S.:

Toyota Crown Athlete
Honda Civic Type R(European version)
Subaru Exiga
Ford Fiesta
Honda Stream
BMW 320i
Toyota Alphard
Fiat 500 Abarth
Alpha 159 Sportwagon

mmarshall

Incorrect. GMC makes no sense. Mercury makes SOME sense.