Ford to throw the kill switch on Mercury brand

Ford Motors has announced that as of the last quarter of 2010, they will no longer make Mercury automobiles. First introduced in 1939, Mercury was originally intended to be a “mid-level” brand. Rather than footing the several hundred million dollar price tag that it would take to keep Mercury as a brand, Ford is cutting it entirely.

Article Resource: Ford to throw the kill switch on Mercury brand

The history of Mercury

Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, originally introduced the Mercury brand in 1939. The Mercury cars were intended to be a lot more “high-end” than Ford cars, but much less expensive than Lincoln vehicles. In 1945, the Lincoln and Mercury brands were combined into Lincoln-Mercury. Since 1945, Mercury has shared "platforms" (basic vehicle designs) with both Ford and Lincoln models. Given that 1999, Mercury has not been sold in Canada, but was instead sold just within the United States and a few smaller countries.

Sales of Mercury autos

In 1978, Mercury cars hit the peak of their sales. 580,000 Mercury vehicles were sold in that year. In 2009, that number dropped to 92,000 autos. The lack of sales meant there was less money for Ford to spend on the Mercury brand. Mercury has been on life support for quite a while, because of these anemic sales figures. In 2009, Mercury accounted for just 1 percent of Ford's sales.

How Mercury will be closed

It is very difficult to simply shut down a brand of vehicle. Mercury autos are sold by over 1,700 dealerships in the United States. Every single one of these dealerships may have to change their business somewhat. Plants that make Mercury cars will also have to be re-tooled or shut down. Ford said that of the 1,712 dealerships that sell Mercury autos, only 276 are stand-alone Lincoln-Mercury shops, the rest are "blended" brand dealerships. Stand-alone dealerships can be offered an option to continue as stand-alone Lincoln dealerships. The sales cycle is expected to remove Mercury vehicles from the “blended” dealerships, and their inventory won’t be changed by the company.