Although i hate the idea of another american car company downsizing, what good is mercury doing? Last time i checked, they didnt have any 2010 comets or cyclones out there lol
Once upon a time, Mercury was the next step up from a Ford, followed by Lincoln. More options, more luxury than a Ford, but less than top of the line Lincoln. GM's line up was built the same way, Chevy on the bottom, then Pontiac, Olds, Buick and Caddy at the top. Everybody shared some body panels and running gear, but the options list was different for each line. Caddy and Lincoln usually got the newer stuff first, like power windows and door locks, then after a few years, it would filter down the line to the other makes. Nowadays, you can pretty much get the same options on a Ford as you can get on a Mercury or Lincoln, so why do they need them? The old way of thinking was, "A car in your price range with what you want on it". Now they are all about the same price with the exception of the top of the line Lincoln and Caddy's, but even they have cheaper cars to influence buyers to their brands. Most Mercury's were redesigned Ford's anyway, with maybe a different grill or tail lights. Same with Old's, Buick's, and Pontiac's, just redesigned Chevy's. Last Mercury that I remember that was Mercury only was the ugly 2 seat Capri's from the late 90's. Like somebody else said, no Comets, no Cyclones, no Cougars built on the Mustang chassis, so no great loss....
It sucks because the Ford execs would not allow Merc to build a modern retro-styled Cougar on the Mustang chassis. If they would have built a new Cougar that has styling cues of the old 60's Cougars, like the way the Mustang does, it would have been a hot seller, and could have possibly saved Mercury from the chopping block. Sometimes I just dont understand the decisions these corporate big-shots make.
You hit it on the head there, of course. Mercury has been just a rebadged Ford for a very long time. It was even less of its own brand than Buick, Olds and Pontiac were, because those brands at least had their own engines well into the 80's. There hasn't been anything uniquely Mercury since the 40's and 50's, with the possible exception of certain Cougars like the recent Contour-based one and the early Mustang-based cars. Even those were just styling differences, but they were a bit more significant than just "badge engineered" cars like the Sable, Tracer, Topaz, Marquis, Villager, Mountaineer, and most everything else in the past few decades. Still, part of me sheds a tears for old Mercury, just as it did for Pontiac and Olds. They all had their bright spots, and they all had a chance to come back as something great eventually, but now we'll never see another new GTO, Firebird, Cutlass, Marauder or Cougar. This is especially sad in a time when it looks like the muscle car wars are about to be back in full swing.
Just proof that people like to buy cars that LOOK ALIKE. Cars aren't as distinctive as they used to be, making it harder to sell different brands from the same manufacturer (IMO). I hate to see Mercury go.
Yeah, they completely brought it on themselves. What Mercury needed was something to return it to the James Dean days, not more Taurus clones. It got to the point where it wasn't even a "dressed up Ford" anymore, rather just a "wearing slightly different buttons and cufflinks" Ford. But until they wheeled the bodies out of the nursing home there was always a glimmer of hope that those dying brands could eventually get up and walk. The disturbing thing is these are all traditionally the "middle class" brands. The demographic is going away. There's really not nearly as much of a middle class in the US anymore, just people living paycheck-to-paycheck and the fat cats who do what they can to make sure we stay in debt, pay that interest, and buy the next shiny new thing that comes along.
I'm not sure this is all Fords fault, but also a sign of the times. It seems like all anyone wants now is something that looks like a mid-sized import. Take a look at the new Taurus. It's got import influence ALL OVER it. When everyone wants just one thing, it's hard to make ONE thing with different "cufflinks" and be successful. Sure, there will always be us car guys, but I bet the average consumer is more worried about cupholders, ipod docks, and bluetooth capability more than they are appearance and performance. OK.... :rant: This is just my opinion.
I agree on the cars looking the same... My brothers g/f drives a 500, and until I actually looked at it (instead of just a glance) I swore it was a Nissan Altima... and shes had the think for several years. Something caught my eye on it about 6 months ago and was like what the heck, this is a Ford. I hate to see the car companies go but the times are tough
Well couldnt we do this for cars of an era looking similar? Yes there are distinct differences between the tail lights on the nova VS the maverick, or the hood on the Aspen in comparison to the comet. Just like the Honda and the Nissan have different headlights then the new taurus. Yes they maintain many similarities but that is the popular design right now, just like the giant luxo cruisers of the late 70's or the round cars of the early 50's they want their cars to sell and that is the design style that is selling right now. My point is all the cars of certain eras retain design cues from other manufacturers. When one body style is really popular then other manufacturers produce a similar design and play off of the popularilty, look at the mustang the challenger and the camaro.
it really is too bad their closing merc, but hopefully they keep the plants and crews for building fords and just specialize out to make building the cars more efficient. unfortunately they will most likely not though.... i agree with facelessnumber that this is another bad sign of the times.
