In a press conference this afternoon with Ford’s president of the Americas, Mark Fields, it was announced that the Mercury brand, in existence for the past 71 years, will be shuttered at the end of this calendar year. According to Ford, this allows them to enhance the Lincoln brand, with Lincoln-specific powertrains and vehicles, without straining the resources of the Ford brand itself, which has seen major growth in sales, customer satisfaction, and reliability over the past few years. Read on for more details.
Lincoln is reportedly going to be offering EcoBoost engines in every vehicle in its lineup, from the Navigator on down. EcoBoost is Ford’s name for an engine technology which allows them to use smaller engines in place of bigger ones, leading to better fuel economy without sacrificing power. Lincoln is also said to be in the process of creating or releasing 7 all-new or redesigned vehicles, including a small car previewed by the Lincoln C concept car late last year.
Ford is positioning Lincoln to be a true luxury competitor, whereas in recent years its vehicles have been perceived as superior trim levels to what Ford and Mercury offered. With the MKS and MKZ sedans growing Lincoln’s business in the past few years, it looks like Ford’s luxury brand will stay around, and with the demise of Mercury, Ford will have the resources to do with Lincoln what GM did with Cadillac, albeit several years behind their cross-town rivals.
It’s no surprise that Mercury is being killed off, but at least Ford is going to be putting the extra resources into making Lincoln a real threat to Cadillac, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz.
If you’re worried about your current Mercury vehicle, or any Mercury vehicle you may purchase until they run out, don’t be. Ford says it is standing behind all Mercury vehicles currently on the road, and that you’ll be able to get them serviced at any Ford or Lincoln dealership.
Looks like another good choice by Ford’s executives, now let’s see if they can follow through to give Cadillac a real domestic rival.
by John Suit
Source: Ford