Ford Motor Co. May Terminate Mercury
While industry insiders have speculated for years that Mercury might be on its way out, Ford CEO Alan Mulally–who has been leading the company on a triumphant turnaround–might stand the best chance of convincing dealers and the Ford family that now is the right time to kill it.
The Dearborn automaker is intensely reviewing its premium brand, which has been suffering from a lack of new products, a person familiar with the discussions said Thursday. The company’s board is expected to make a decision on the brand in the months ahead.
The Mercury brand, created by Edsel Ford in 1939, was recently championed by Elena Ford, Edsel’s great-granddaughter and the director of Ford’s global marketing, who helped bring new products to the brand earlier this decade.
In 2004, she helped unveil the Mercury Montego sedan, a vehicle that is no longer sold, and like most Mercury models, was a revamped version of a Ford product–in this case, the old Ford Five Hundred.
On Thursday, Bloomberg News first reported that Ford’s top executives are preparing a proposal to kill Mercury to be presented to directors in July.
Mercury had been expected to get a compact car, the Tracer, which had some believing the brand would live, but those plans are now in limbo, a person familiar with the discussions said.
In Washington, Ford CEO Alan Mulally said: “As you know, we continue to evaluate all of our models … But we have nothing new to announce today.”
Mercury would be hard-pressed to survive in its current state unless Ford were prepared to invest in fresh product for the brand.
Last year, consumers bought just more than 92,000 Mercury cars and trucks–mostly the Milan midsize car and Mariner SUV.
That sales volume is barely enough to support an entire brand, experts say. By comparison, Ford sold twice as many Ford Fusion midsize cars as the entire Mercury brand sold.
“Mercury is a forgotten brand,” John Wolkonowicz, an auto analyst with IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass., told Bloomberg. “Many Americans probably already think it has been discontinued.”
