What is he talking about? Kill off Mercury? I want to see more of that hot model, Jill they use for their commercials on TV… not less!

I can’t see who would want Mercury as it has no brand equity outside the Americas and a very weak product portfolio. Mercury should just import and sell European and Australasian Fords. These could be higher priced than if they were Ford badged.

ford better keep volvo. it’s the one bright spot in that company.

i like the idea of mercury importing rebadged euro fords, but i’m not sure the idea would work because of mercury’s reputation (or lack of one) in the states. virtually no one knows about the brand anymore. but if they could turn it into ford’s version of saturn (imported opels), then good for them.

mazda and volvo is the only thing they have.

Jerry York wouldn’t know a good car if it ran over him. His job is to trash the latest company Kirk has bought into, scare the stockholders and sell when a small bit of good news raises the share price to the level thyey need to “cash in”.

No, Mercury has no value outside Ford, but with a little lovin’ it could be a good niche brand. Say, like, oh SAAB is for GM now. Not a lot of volume, but extra sales of the Trailblazer with a console mount key and different logos! Oh, I’m sorry, you mean the Swedes DIDN’T design an SUV? Oh, my bad………………..

Sell Volvo, rebadge it as “Vulva,” then maybe it would have some reason for existence.

I think York is right about Mercury, but Volvo is a cash cow and source of design and engineering talent for Ford. All those hot Fords in Europe that we can’t put our mittens on are Volvo based and some even include Volvo engines. You sell Volvo in 5 years or less you run out of products for Ford of Europe. It rose after Volvo acquisition, not before.

Ford needs to do the exact opposite of what this clown says. Mercury still has a lot of cache as a recognized brand and I guarantee you if they had a distinctive lineup a comeback would not only be a success story but a real sign Ford is serious about reestablishing itself in the North American market. They have some great names to draw from: the Cougar, Marauder, Cyclone, Montego. Start by giving them the Australian Falcon and re-skin the Mustang using late ’60s Cougar cues, hideaway headlights and all. Add a Euro Focus and you’ve got the makings of a lineup that might get more than the clinically dead into their showrooms. Show some balls Ford. We’ve already lost Plymouth, Oldsmobile and everything from American Motors. It’s time to wake the dead.

They need volvo…or else were we get a 5cyl turbo to shove in the new focus ST? also mercury was once a powerhouse in the musclecar days. I say import the AUT. falcon and design it as the new X-100 Marauder.

Problem with Volvo in North America is that it isn’t making money like it should be due to the high value of the Euro. I think the brand lost a lot of its ‘uniqueness’ when Ford started ripping off their technology and then adding Ford’s crappy tech into their cars. Volvo is nowhere as “reliable” as they used to be (they were always quirky but overall quality is going down …)

My folks used to be diehard Volvo people are gonna move over to Lexus (sigh). My uncle, who’s been pro-Volvo since 1972 has stayed far far away from Volvo after the Ford acquisition. Although Volvos look far sexier than the boxy models from the 70s-80s, the ‘feel’ to them has been lost along the way.

Maybe it is better that Ford sell Volvo and possibly turn a profit from it.

I agree that Mercury has no value outside Ford. They best kill it off, but I think Ford’s doing the right thing now. I bet they will kill Mercury, but right now, they have the Milan and the Mariner kinda going for it, and Ford should milk Mercury for all it’s worth before they toss it. If they announce they’ll kill Mercury now, it’ll die a slow painful death like Oldsmobile did, and they’ll lose sales on Mercury models. When the milan’s ready to go, and when they’re down to 2 models, pull the plug!
As for Volvo, Ford needs it. It needs the safety technology, it needs the Ford brand to be associated with safety, & there are a lot of paranoid buyers who just want to be safe on the road. Volvo doesn’t sell a lot of cars, but it makes up for that in other ways.
So I propose….instead of Lincoln Mercury dealers, Lincoln-Volvo dealers. Lincoln-Volvo has kind of a ring to it.

johnny, the problem is … $$$$$$$$. Ford does not have much and despite some bright spots around the globe it is loosing more then it is making. To bring those models into US Ford needs resources for certification and re-engineering. They can’t afford differnt models for Ford and Mercury, that is why Ford is selling the same car (like Neon) from 2 different dealerships. The motive and reasons are identical as with old Chrysler. New Chrysler guys got it. I suspect they will survive. If Kerkorian will be able to bring in alliance with Renault-Nissan, and I think it is his goal, he’ll save the company is some shape. But if GM board was tough nut to crack, at Ford he has to wrestle control from Ford foundation and all the Ford and Firestone scions (yes they are inbred). They together own 5% of shares value and have 60% voting rights.

Who the **** wants Mercury, my bad maybe Avis or Enterprise.

autonut: if I had a vote I’d say sell Ovlov and revive Mercury. Then again, I’m too old to have to worry about practising safe sex anymore.

The shame here is that Ford has treated its Mercury Divison the way GM has treated their Buick, Ponitac, and the now Defunct Oldsmobile brand. And that is to say they have’nt given Mercury a leg to stand on. Model aside. Mercury is not what it use to be. They had some of the nicest cars outside
of Ford. They had distinction with the 1969 Mercury Grand Marque and Maurauder. Their are two other cars that I would like to mention plus they had the best station wagons going in Colony Park. But my vote for the best Mercury of all time was the 1967 Mercury Cougar. This car was hot. Ford did’nt know how to improve it and before it went away, came back and went away again. It became a Blimp or whale of a car. And who wants that. And I think maybe the time has come that Ford needs to think about closing up shop on Mercury since the Ford’s kids mismanaged and neglected this totally. They Should strive to achieve the Best Quality through Ford products, and the Best Luxury through Lincoln. I tell Ford this if you keep one Mercury redo the 1967 Mercury Cougar you won’t regret it. I think you need to make it somewhat of a caracature of what it was and or modernize and make it a contemperary rendition of that lingeage. That is what you need to do!

As far as GM is concerned they should Close Buick’s, Pontiac’s, Saturn (New Olds), GMC(rebagded Chevy),Hummer, Holden, Vauxhall Doors for good and concentrate on just Chevy and Cadillac. But you know GM is too stupid like Ford. No I take that back their Dumber than Ford because all of the divisions are essentially the same damn thing. Their Dumber than Ford because they have more rebadged Chevies in more divisions than Ford does in its brands.

And before you open your mouth 400HorsesAss my father had plenty of the GM brands I mention and they were all POS.
Rebadged Chevies. Yeeeuck.

Kerkorkian pisses me off. He couldn’t force GM to partner with Renault now he’s trying to break Ford up and make money on the pieces. He is the epitome of the greedy heartless stock trader.

Jazz, Kerkorian is doing what everyone is trying to do: make some money. He did not try to merry GM & Renault for sport, it was to make money and perhaps revive the company. He made some money for me as well. Look at the price of GM today and look what it was when Kerkorian bought it. I bought at 23 and sold at 34 and today it is 23. For investors Kerkorian was good news. If you think Ford is not trouble - think again. Investors, like Kerkorian, move in on undervalued companies not overvalued ones. What makes companyt undervalued? Bad, bad management.

I would like to see Volvo as an independent company like Audi, BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche.

I also feel that Volvo should not be owned by an american company that specializes in bad habits.

The 89-97 Mercury Cougar was the best built vehicle by Ford. It was one of the most reliable too. I think Ford should bring back the Cougar and some new models, and make it compete with Buick and Lexus. Make it the Buick of Ford.

I agree car watcher and so does Mulally. He wants to sell off the Volvo brand. The unfortunate part of it all. Ford does’nt want to do any work to bring forth new technology like GM which is a master in laziness and the epitome of stupidty.

They much rather someone else do and they just buy it and be done with it and call it theirs. That is unfortunately the american way. Take a look at Lawyers. Ford has managed to suck away alot of the good ideas they inherited from Volvo without ever using their own brain- or what little Ford has of them. Lol. I’d say the same for Mazda too

Carwatcher… Audi isnt an independent company. Heard of VW?

That’s a pipe dream, Carwatcher! Everyone owns a piece of someone else in the auto industry.

Who really cares what Jerry ****nuts thinks anyway?? Their only purpose in having interest in Ford is short term money gain. The press releases out of this trading company usually result in a stock spike up and then a selloff of the short term investment. If Ford does sell off Volvo or kill Mercury it will NOT be a result of two old men and their love of cars!!

What makes you to assume that anyone on board of directors at Ford loves cars? Or Chrysler or GM? The CEO comes from Boeing, he spend his life building commercial airplanes, we even don’t know if they drive cars. I assure you they all are driven. Coming from very successful Boeing to very ill managed Ford wasn’t act of loving cars large sums of money exchanged hands and even larger largesses were promised based on financial turnaround by Ford family and their hand picked board of directors. Building ‘Tangs and Pintos for the faithful was not part of the deal.

Ford does not need to sell or kill the Mercury brand. Mercury will never be a cash crop for Ford but it allow them to offer something different. For example some people like the Milan than the Fusion, the Mariner than an Escape, it’s a piece of the market that Ford might have lost if they didn’t have something that look different. Make Mercury the rebadger -Rebadge Euro Fords, Mazdas, Volvo and then Bring back a kick ass Maurader on the rear wheel drive platform to give the brand some image. By the way Focus RS would be a good Cougar.

Ford, stuff the 5.4L Triton under the Grand Marquis’s hood and you earned a customer out of me.

frylock, you can do it yourself: 5.4L engine interchangeable with 4.6 in most of applications, meaning the mounts are identical. The rest is matter of hummer and saw

The idiots at Tracinda are already trying to screw Ford up like they tried with GM before they were thrown out. Kick these morons out. How the hell is Ford supposed to “sell” Mercury?

Tracinda idiots are putting a lot of cash where their mouth is. What is they know something, we all don’t? Nah, could not happen.

How could having less vehicle choices help Ford?
Make a cool Cougar and that will drive sales up. Just not like the ‘99 Cougar POS.

Mercury has been dead man walking for over 15 yrs, sorry FordTaurusForthelast2years.

Ford does not make money selling cars. Mercury is a franchise mostly associated with cars. Development for a new car cost 1 billion today (probably more). Ford does not have billion to gamble with. Cutting bureaucracy of a division that sells identical products will save money.

I disagree that killing Mercury will help Ford.
Case in point: My father-in-law a, Lincoln customer for years, replaced his town car with a Montego (and then a Sable).
I don’t know if he would have bought a “Ford”. They need a middle division.
Put some unique cars in it already!

Ford tried selling rebadged euro Fords in the ’80s under their short-lived Merkur brand. It was a failure because nobody knew who Merkur was. Perhaps if they tried it again using the already-known Mercury name they would have more success. Take a euro Focus convertible and sell as a Capri here, or something like that.

Kerkorian’s little puppets are making a stink already. I told you guys he’s a snake. While I don’t see a problem killing off Mercury, selling Volvo seems stupid. On second thought, why not redo a lineup for Mercury, it’s somewhat of a storied brand. Stop it with the badge engineering, (think GM) and create some new exciting cars.

Ford will not have “euro Fords” by the time the Milan/Fusion and Focus come up for replacement.. the new models will be the same as their Euro Mondeo and Focus counterparts. So what exactly would Mercury sell? If the MKZ continues to share the next Fusion platform, it will become a heavily restyled Mondeo as well.. so a third restyle for the Milan seems redundant.

Mondeo=new 2010 Taurus. Look at the two cars and dream.

Mercury just might become Fords Crown Jewel with the right products. Just changing sheet metal wouldn’t be too expensive! Everyone else does it! I believe Farley is way too sharp to let Mercury go. New products, back to the Mercury God logo and the skys the limit. If Ford can’t support three car divisions in one of the worlds largest car markets, they’re in bigger trouble than I thought. Mercury will be 70 years old in 2009, it’d be a shame to let it die! They really need three distinct divisions: Toyota has 3; Chrysler has 3; GM has 5 or 6 (Hummer) so to compete Ford really needs three also!

Ford should move the Taurus X into the Mercury stable when the new Flex hits the showrooms, this would give Lincoln Mercury dealers a very good vehicle to sell and shouldn’t compete with the new Flex. Those looking at the new Lincoln MKT but can’t afford it just might find their way into a Mercury Sable X +/-. A new grille, new badge, new name and upgraded interior and a great vehicle for Merc. Personally I see more Taurus X’s on the road than Taurus and Sable combined, and its a great looking ride! Merc turns 70 next year…..give it something to celebrate with.

Ford should keep Volvo and wether give Mercury dedicated models or kill it.