Wake Me When It's Over: Mercury's demise has been reported/predicted more than that of Fidel Castro but it looks like the End Is Nigh. Bloomberg has reported that Ford Motor Company plans to wind down the Mercury line "after sales plunged 74% since 2000."

"The automaker's top executives are preparing a proposal to kill Mercury to be presented to directors in July, said two sources, who asked not to be identified revealing internal discussions. Mercury, losing two of four models next year, will be starved of products and promotion."

Mercury sales peaked in 1978 at 579,498, when it had the slogan 'The Sign of the Cat.' Deliveries fell to 92,299 last year. As the U.S. auto market recovers, Mercury's sales are up but far less than Ford Motor's overall gain, according to researcher Autodata Corp. Mercury had 0.9% share of the U.S. market through April, unchanged from 2009.

John Wolkonowicz, an auto analyst with IHS Global Insight, said, "The reason Mercury failed throughout its existence is because Ford never wanted to spend any money on it. Ford always wanted to do it on the cheap and the results were what you'd expect." (added 5/28/10, permalink)

Update: On 6/2/10, FoMoCo made it official - Mercury will be discontinued in the fourth quarter of 2010. After too many years of brand neglect, marketing indifference, badge engineering and falling sales, Ford is putting The Big Cat to sleep.

Recipe For Failure: In 2006, there were 619 Lincoln-Mercury dealerships nationwide. Now, the number had dwindled down to just 357 at the beginning of 2009. How does one achieve such marvelous efficiencies? Simple. Choke off product development money. Decimate the product line. Move both brands downscale. Start rumors about discontinuing one of the brands. Stir lightly.

Sit back, let everything percolate and wait for the inevitable. (added 11/11/09, permalink)

Mercury sales peaked/plateaued in the late 1970s. And began to seriously decline around the dawn of this century. Sales in 2007 were about 168,000 units, down over 70% from peak. Mercury's sales have dropped more than 30 percent since April 2006 and show no sign of improving.

These days, the average Mercury buyer is 55, according to J.D. Power, well above the industry average of 47. Purchasers of the Grand Marquis model average 72 years of age.

Brand loyalty is flagging as well, with only 35% of Mercury owners opting to buy another one compared with the 45% industry average.

When introduced in 1939 as Ford's first foray into the mid-priced field, Mercury was priced about 50% higher than a Ford. The Lincoln Zephyr was priced 50% higher than Mercury. About 2.5 Fords were sold for every Merc. Mercury outsold Lincoln by roughly 3 to 1 in 1939. The Merc was priced in between Oldsmobile and Buick.

In the postwar era, FoMoCo prices began to converge. A 1950 Mercury cost about 30% more than a Ford. A Lincoln cost about 35% more than a Mercury.

In 1950, there were about 4 Fords sold for every Mercury and 10 Mercuries sold for every Lincoln.

My dad once owned a '47 Merc (bought used in 1949). He liked it but said that Mercuries were just "gussied-up Fords." In those days, Buick was a doctor's car, Pontiac was a flashy salesman's ride, Oldsmobile was an engineer's vehicle of choice. Mercury was ... "well I wuz gonna get a Ford and had some money left over ..."

In the mid-Fifties, a decontented, entry-level Mercury Medalist model was introduced at a price which was only about 20% more than a comparable Ford Mainline stripper. By 1956, six Fords were being sold for every Mercury.

In 1958, FoMoCo's mid-price situation was further muddied by the introduction of two new products. The Edsel was priced about 10% below Mercury, cutting into Merc's low-end Medalist/Monterey segment. The new four-seater Ford Thunderbird was priced near the top of the Mercury range, undoubtedly stealing some of Merc's high-end Park Lane hardtop coupe sales. 1958 Mercury sales were about 45% lower than the sales figures for the '56 Big M. In 1958, about 38,000 T-Bird's were sold (jumping to 67,000 in 1959); less than 10,000 Park Lanes were produced.

The Mercury Cougar was a handsome car when first unveiled in 1967. It was priced 15-20% above its Mustang sibling and, while the super-popular 'Stang outsold it by 3 to 1, the Cougar was considered an initial success. And it added a halo to the Mercury brand.

Over time, the Cougar's popularity slipped as did Mercury's as the brand increasingly became a rebadged Ford with a tweaked grille and taillights. Mercury is a virtually unknown brand outside of North America; Ford stopped selling it in Canada a couple of years ago. By early 2007, the average Lincoln-Mercury dealer sold only six Mercs per month.

Today, the Mercury Milan is priced very close to its Ford Fusion sibling. The other sibling, the Lincoln MKZ, costs about 25% more than a comparably equipped Ford Fusion - a premium much like Mercury used to command fifty-some years ago.

Lincoln has, therefore, become the new Mercury. And taken away Merc's reason for existence. No wonder the brand is in its final throes. (That odd racket emanating from a Mercury is not caused by build-quality problems. It's a death rattle.)

Mercury is not alone as a marque with no raison d'être.

The pricing and product differences between Buick, Pontiac, Chevy and Saturn are largely insignificant to most consumers. GM offers four brands when one could easily handle the task.

The Plymouth brand died when Dodge moved downscale to become the new cheap Chrysler Corp. brand. Or a Jeep with a gunsight grille.

Many years ago, Chrysler was a luxury brand; it now straddles between being a Plymouth substitute and a slightly gussied-up Dodge. The now-neglected Chrysler PT Cruiser was initially designed to carry Plymouth badges.

Mercury's demise seems inevitable but other brands from Detroit automakers will surely follow it to the grave. (added 5/29/08, permalink)

Whither Mercury? Or Wither Mercury? Ford is reporting that its Lincoln luxury brand will overtake Mercury in sales sometime in 2008. While this statement was intended to convey positive things about Lincoln, it telegraphs a more ominous message about Mercury.

Mercury had a decent November but overall sales are still very low. Buick sells more vehicles; that's nothing to brag about and is an indication of how far the Buick brand has fallen. Pontiac - another troubled brand - sells twice as many vehicles as Mercury. Even perpetual loser brand Saturn outsells Mercury, despite a drop in Saturn's November sales.