LexFather

According to a recent report, Mercury could be getting a new lease on life with the addition of a new small car.

During a dealers-only meeting, where Ford outlined their future product lineup, company executives confirmed Mercury will get a version of the redesigned Focus. While details are limited, two Mercury dealers said the car will wear the Tracer name when it goes on sale next year.

After the event, Ford's President of the Americas, Mark Fields, said "...the trend toward fuel-efficient vehicles is very important, and the trend toward small cars is coming back. Our strategy is pretty simple: have a broad-based lineup."

This is good news for Mercury fans, as the brand has been in limbo for years. With the Sable dead, the Grand Marquis obsolete, and the current Mountaineer on its way out (it remains unclear it there will be a new model) - many believed Mercury was toast. However, this initial report seems to contradict the doom and gloom. Will Mercury survive? Will anyone care? We'll find out soon enough.

http://www.worldcarfans.com/11002152...er-due-in-2011

SLegacy99

Why dont we just call it the Probe?

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

what a WASTE. Why do they bother?

UberNoob

i could never understand the point of Mercury
(ok i didnt bother trying either)

but the new focus is not bad looking

DustinV

Mercury was established to keep customers from switching over to other brands.

In the 1930s Ford was in a difficult position because it was only comprised of Ford and Lincoln. Ford was the affordable mainstream brand while Lincoln was the expensive luxury marque. In order to keep their customers moving up the ladder, another brand was needed in between Ford and Lincoln: that job was left to Mercury. It was hoped that a customer would start with a Ford product, then move up to Mercury and from Mercury move up to Lincoln.

In the 1950s Ford even contemplated slotting in another brand between Mercury and Lincoln: Edsel.

Faymester

^ I never knew that. Thanks for the info

SLegacy99

Similar to:

Chevy
Pontiac
Buick
Marquette
Oldsmobile
Cadillac



....I think I got that right.

Och

iTrader: (3)

And then Ford also had another European brand called "Mercur" - way to cause confusion.

-J-P-L-

Ford, if they insist on keeping Mercury alive, might as well have a version of the Focus for Mercury. This could be a great opportunity to tone down the aggressive sporty styling of the new Focus to bring in more conservative customers to the their small car segment. They need to give it such distinct styling that it's fully worthwhile, unlike the Escort/Tracer's of the '90's that were almost identical.

The other thing, they need to not use the name "Tracer". There's no reason in the world to bring such a name back. Same reason Ford moved on from "Escort". Never mind the lousy history, the name just kinda stinks anyway.

mmarshall

That was "Merkur".............the XR4Ti and Scorpio, a couple of German imports from Ford of Europe that was sold here in the 1980's. They were interesting cars but were noted for their unreliability.

LexFather

Yeah...and Mercury has stunk it up for decades now, a has been brand and a bunch of re-badges. When they do something different, it sells poorly.

Ford needs to kill it and put that money in Lincoln.

mmarshall

Well, Mike, that's interesting news.....and, IMO, something badly needed for the Mercury Division. Not long ago, you and I were discussing whether Mercury would follow Plymouth, Pontiac, Saturn, Oldsmobile, and Hummer as the next American nameplate to bite the dust. And, at auto shows, I pointed out to Mercury officials, several times, their lack of an entry-level product.

I've always liked the basic concept of the Tracer. The 1-Gen model was esentially a more-or-less rebadged, but slightly reworked, Mazda 323 hatchback. My late mother owned a Tracer from 1988 (the car's second year on the market) until 1994, when she bought a Corolla wagon (she liked small, 5-door cars with liftbacks). I, of course, found both cars for her and helped her on the deals.

The 2-Gen model, introduced in 1990, was based off the Mazda Protege (I myself owned a Protege in the early 90s). A subsequent version was more Ford-based and almost identical to the Escort of the period. Then Mercury, (foolishly IMO), dropped their small-car line altogether, and used the mid-size Mystique as their entry-level model.

The return of the Tracer is a good sign at Mercury, but, IMO, not enough. The Sable, Grand Marquis, and..........yes, a DECENT Cougar, not the awkward-looking coupe that was sold in the 1990's....all three of these vehicles need to come back, along with the Tracer. The Sable would (now) have the superb new Taurus platform as a base, and the Grand Marquis is ever-popular with the older crowd. With the loss of the Grand Marquis and Sable, Mercury shooed off a lot of their formerly loyal customers. Whether it would be feasible for Mercury to bring back its minivan line, though, is questionable....the Villager (a 1Gen Nissan Quest rebadge) was never that popular to start with.

mmarshall

Not only that, Faymester, but, in the late 40s and early 50s, Mercurys, particularly the customized/chopped-roof model with the peek-a-boo windows, were considered the "Cool" or "In" cars with the high-school/young-adult crowd, although Oldsmobiles, with their "Rocket" V8 engines, were also popular. A couple of years later, in 1955, Chevy then took over with its advanced new V8, and the mid-late-50's Chevys went on to become classics.

In fact, it was Mercury and Hudson, probably more than any other nameplates, that helped pioneer stock-car racing and NASCAR in the late 40s. Mercs were ever-popular with the whiskey-runners/moonshiners, who ran illegal alcohol in them, and Hudsons were noted for relatively good handling and flat cornering (something rare in the 1950's with American-made cars). The first stock-car "races" were actually whiskey-runners who got together on weekends with their cars and had local contests.

SLegacy99

Ford of Europe should rebadge their vehicles as U.S. Mercurys. Simple as that.

mmarshall

First, the new Tracer is indeed a Ford of Europe product (the European Ford Focus that is also coming here). That's the whole thread title..........its rebadging in a Mercury Tracer version.

Second, Ford tried an all-Ford-of-Europe line with the 80's-vintage Merkurs (see my earlier post) and the result was, if not an outright disaster, a very bad experience, here in America, with the Merkur line. Of course, Ford of Europe probably does much better products today than 25 years ago, but, still, why do you think that marketing them as Mercurys will make them any more successful? As I see it, yes, we need a new Tracer, but we also need more REAL Mercurys (Mercury, lately, seems to have forgotten both the entry-level customer, and, of course, their traditional senior-citizen base). They could also use a REAL Cougar....not the awkward coupe they sold in the 90s.