Ford Motor Company to Put an End to a 71-year-old Brand

Ford Motor Company announced this week that it will discontinue the 71-year-old Mercury Brand by the end of the year.  Over the next four years, Lincoln will get seven all-new or entirely refreshed products –including its first ever C-segment vehicle. Lincoln also will get brand-exclusive powertrains and other technologies to distinguish it from Ford’s namesake Blue Oval brand and make its vehicles more competitive with offerings from rival automakers. 

Ford’s President of the Americas, Mark Fields, announced the board voted to stop production of all four Mercury models in the fourth quarter. Ford plans to send letters to Mercury dealers around the nation, offering them buyouts or the chance to merge with Ford dealers.

“Given our improving financial situation, it really allows us to absorb the short-term cost of discontinuing Mercury,” Mark Fields said, declining to reveal the expected expense. “We’re very proud of Mercury’s history, but we’re now looking forward.”

Mercury was the creation of Henry Ford’s son, Edsel and was launched in 1938 as a midmarket brand intended to bridge the gap between the mass market Ford brand and the luxury Lincoln brand. Although a novel idea, Mercury vehicles often were little more than rebadged Fords, and sales have declined steadily since 1993.

“It is a storied brand,” said Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s global product development chief. “But what’s really important today is not the past. What’s important today is the future: the future of Ford and the future of Lincoln.”

The Ford brand has performed well over the past 18 months, benefiting from a new product lineup, but Lincoln has struggled to find its place in an increasingly crowded and competitive luxury market. Ford plans to redirect the resources invested in the Mercury brand into Lincoln. “We’ve made a lot of progress with the Ford brand,” said Ford Americas President Mark Fields. “Now’s the time to do that with Lincoln.”

Mercury now claims just eight-tenths of a percent of the U.S. car and truck market, Fields said. The Ford brand, by comparison, has gained more than twice that much share in the first four months of the year.  Fields said Ford’s recent success enabled the automaker to retire Mercury, providing the financial resources needed to wind down the brand without undermining Ford’s goal of being “solidly profitable” this year.

Ford will continue to honor warranty agreements and support Mercury owners with parts and service.

• Bookmark :
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Stumbleupon
• Redit it