MERCURY to shut down entire line??!!!!!

[juke-box-hero]

Hey guys,

Had a grrrrrrreat party over here at the ranch in CT today! :beer:

Anyways, one of my guests checked out my Cougar. Afterwards she told me that she read somewhere that Ford has intentions of closing down Mercury as early as 2009, similar to how GM ended their entire Oldsmobile line a few years back.

I was really looking forward to the new Cougars coming out in '08...then '09...then '10, but.......

Oddly enough, the Mercury dealership where I used to get some of my parts in Wallingford closed its doors forever just a couple of months ago.

Is there any truth to this or am I being the butt of a practical joke here? :kick:

Looks like we all could be driving Camaros and Mustangs 5 or 6 years from now.

[Buttermore]

The mercury dealership where I bought my car closed down as well aobut 1.5-2 months ago. Seems like something is going on.



Edit: "According to the Cleveland Leader, industry analyst Aaron Bragman of Global Insight believes "Mercury has one more product cycle left in it, and then will most certainly be retired as a brand."

Taken from http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/daily-news/080513-Ford-May-Shut-Down-Mercury-Brand/

[sonza68]

The rumors have been around for a few years now, but so far there hasn't been any confirmation from Ford.

[bubby]

There's new cougars coming out in 08/09/10?

[MOMO]

Ford can support more than one brand if they get their head out of their asses.

[Ldycgr99]

There's new cougars coming out in 08/09/10?

Yes heres a pic of the 2010 merc coug. Why make a new cougar if they are goin to shut down mercury?

http://www.edmunds.com/media/2003/naias/mercury.messenger/mercury.messenger.f34.500.jpg

[bubby]

Yes heres a pic of the 2010 merc coug. Why make a new cougar if they are goin to shut down mercury?

http://www.edmunds.com/media/2003/naias/mercury.messenger/mercury.messenger.f34.500.jpg


Not sure I like that. Reminds me of a Crossfire...

[ND4SPD]

http://www.edmunds.com/media/2003/naias/mercury.messenger/mercury.messenger.f34.500.jpg
yeahhhh... not sure about that one

[Ldycgr99]

Ya I ahte the new cars comming out. WAY to sci fi ish if you ask me. To many electronics, WAY to round. what ever happened to the good old muscle car? but thats just my opinion

[ND4SPD]

My biggest problem with new cars today, is that it always looks like designers took bodylines & panels of 3 different cars, and put them all together.
In that cougar, I see familiar side panels, roof section and rear area.

And then (and I understand) for costs, the same few engines are just moved around.
The GT has the Lightning engine, the new R8 has the RS4 engine... its like even the 'new' stuff isn't new anymore...

[azbobbybooshay10]

Yes heres a pic of the 2010 merc coug. Why make a new cougar if they are goin to shut down mercury?

http://www.edmunds.com/media/2003/naias/mercury.messenger/mercury.messenger.f34.500.jpg

That was the Mercury Messenger concept from several years ago. If anything was going to happen with that, we would have heard it by now.

[Ldycgr99]

Heres another the 2011.... See with this website crap you never know whats real and whats not.....
And like ND4SPD said They are takin parts from different cars!! this looks like the new mustangs....


http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c203/bigcat_customs/0ddbf24f.jpg

[luminous]

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m316/Luminandy/2010MercuryCougar.jpg

This is the latest possibility I found. The retro headlight design does not tickle my fancy. I like the rest. Nice contour with a touch of flare around the fenders. My only prob with the 99-02 cougars is they are a bit too long and the body and fenders could use a tad more flare, but, I like the style of the crossfire, sky, solistice, ect. Perhaps if they(cougars) were a bit meaner looking, senior citizens would have shied away from them a bit more. I could be wrong b/c every time I see a nice sports car it is usually an old couple or a young trust fund student, however that is higher end models. To each thier own.

[whitecat99]

Perhaps if they(cougars) were a bit meaner looking, senior citizens would have shied away from them a bit more.
What is wrong with a senior citizen wanting to drive an nice sports car. I own a few of them. I didn't know age had anything to do with the type of car we should drive. Then again my wife keeps telling me to grow up.

Should I be restricted to a Lincoln Towncar or Crown Vic? If so I will probably stop driving.

I would hate to see Mercury die out. I have owned many different ones since my first car (1955 Mecury Montclair 2dr Hardtop).

[carajo]

Ford also denied that they were going to sell Land Rover and Jaguar.

Kerkorian wants Ford to sell Mercury and Volvo. And Ford had a full page announcement in the Wall Street Journal on Friday that they were neutral on Kerkorian's ensuing purchase.

I'd be surprised if they DON'T sell Volvo and ax Mercury. From a business standpoint, it doesn't make sense not to pare them. Ford's been making some tough decisions lately, but they're taking things in the right direction. Headed for lean and mean.

[juke-box-hero]

Ford can support more than one brand if they get their head out of their asses.

You know when I first saw this post I agreed with it and laughed quite about it :biggrin: ...but then I thought about it a little bit.

What decides whether or not a car maker stays in business isn't how much people talk about liking their cars...it's what the American consumer BUYS. As much as I hate to say it, there ARE actually good imported cars....but there are also bad ones, too. The same is true for American cars, there are bad ones out there, but there are an AWFUL LOT of good ones if you look for them. Ford Taurus was the #1 car in the world for several years until about 2003...and there's a reason for that.

People vote for what they like not by how much they TALK about liking an automaker's cars...but by what they are willing to open their wallet and BUY! It wouldn't surprise me if Ford's Mustang and Explorer sold more than Mercury's entire fleet of cars they make (all but one begin with the letter 'M').

Bottom line is if Mercury folds it's not Ford's fault....it's the American consumer that turns away and buys all of these imported cars.

SAD BUT TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ldycgr99]

What Iam still confused about is why would they keep comming out with new lines of cars?!:confused:

If you think about it though compare cars. They are all the same like the mountaineer and the explorer, the taurus and the sable, the 500 and the MKZ. So maybe they are chosing the ford over mercury because Ford does sell more than mercury.

I just hope they dont sell out like i said before its hard enough to find parts for these cars. :banghead:

Also Why do you think ford products and parts are more inexpensive then mercury? People buy more fords then mercury. I dont know This is news to me and i just hope it doesnt happen.

:bowdown:

[aircougar1]

Mercury is just the higher line up of Fords, and lincolns are an upgrade above Mercury... Basically more perks going up the line, and more $$$ to go with it... That's why most people are choosing Fords over Mercurys...

BUT, as long as they keep selling Ford parts, we will have most of our parts available to us (with the exception of a few parts that have been obselete)

FORD = MERCURY = LINCOLN when considering drivetrain and suspension parts. The major differences are in the asthetic interior/exterior parts...

[MOMO]

You know when I first saw this post I agreed with it and laughed quite about it :biggrin: ...but then I thought about it a little bit.

What decides whether or not a car maker stays in business isn't how much people talk about liking their cars...it's what the American consumer BUYS. As much as I hate to say it, there ARE actually good imported cars....but there are also bad ones, too. The same is true for American cars, there are bad ones out there, but there are an AWFUL LOT of good ones if you look for them. Ford Taurus was the #1 car in the world for several years until about 2003...and there's a reason for that.

People vote for what they like not by how much they TALK about liking an automaker's cars...but by what they are willing to open their wallet and BUY! It wouldn't surprise me if Ford's Mustang and Explorer sold more than Mercury's entire fleet of cars they make (all but one begin with the letter 'M').

Bottom line is if Mercury folds it's not Ford's fault....it's the American consumer that turns away and buys all of these imported cars.

SAD BUT TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

obviously what you say is true.
but decision to design and produce a car is up to Ford. Ford has been concentrating so much time and money on their darling Mustang and F series trucks that they forgot about their other cars. Can you imagine what would have happened if Ford decided to make the Cougar a RWD with a V8? or maybe a AWD?
consumer will buy it... as long as Ford design something they want.

[ND4SPD]

Can you imagine what would have happened if Ford decided to make the Cougar a RWD with a V8? or maybe a AWD?
consumer will buy it... as long as Ford design something they want.
EVEN if that happened... more and more people are becoming tree hugging hippies and would probably avoid the big engine, and with gas prices going up, I can't really blame them.

Plus, if Ford made a RWD V8 Cougar, between the two, more people would STILL pick the mustang. If its AWD/turbo? I doubt it would compete with the likes of Subaru/ Mistubishis evo...

[Ldycgr99]

Exactly! Pontiac got rid of the V6 supercharged GTP and went with the G8. I have only seen one of those on the road!

My friend has a suby and more and more people are buying them and also Mustangs are a big hit cheap to hook up. I hate mustangs personally but alot of people like them.


thats would be sweet though because I would be the first to buy a V8 RWD lol. Who knows..... :confused:

[ND4SPD]

Sometimes I think that the only people who would buy another cougar, are the people who own a cougar NOW :rofl:

[Ldycgr99]

Hahahaha that is SO true!! :rofl:

We are the ones with the faith they will keep them around!

[carajo]

Cannibalism is also a big problem for Ford. For any company that rebadges their cars, basically. There's a give and take between brand differentiation and the benefits of economies of scope. In order to reduce costs by making parts interchangeable, you begin to lose differentiation. Mercury isn't different enough to attract different people than Ford. If Mercury weren't there, would most people who buy Mercury buy Toyota, or would they buy a different Ford product (be it upgrade to Lincoln or downgrade to Ford)? If the answer is the latter, the different brand isn't helping you overall to get more customers, it's just shifting your customers. Why spend the money for another brand if there's marginal or no benefit?

[Comando489]

Cannibalism is also a big problem for Ford. For any company that rebadges their cars, basically. There's a give and take between brand differentiation and the benefits of economies of scope. In order to reduce costs by making parts interchangeable, you begin to lose differentiation. Mercury isn't different enough to attract different people than Ford. If Mercury weren't there, would most people who buy Mercury buy Toyota, or would they buy a different Ford product (be it upgrade to Lincoln or downgrade to Ford)? If the answer is the latter, the different brand isn't helping you overall to get more customers, it's just shifting your customers. Why spend the money for another brand if there's marginal or no benefit?

i just read the first page and was about to post what you said when i went to page 3 and read your post. well said.

[luminous]

What is wrong with a senior citizen wanting to drive an nice sports car. I own a few of them. I didn't know age had anything to do with the type of car we should drive. Then again my wife keeps telling me to grow up.

Should I be restricted to a Lincoln Towncar or Crown Vic? If so I will probably stop driving.

I would hate to see Mercury die out. I have owned many different ones since my first car (1955 Mecury Montclair 2dr Hardtop).

I should have explained instead of writing such a generalized statement, but, I am too late in the thread. My first car was a 66 comet. I loved that car.

[madcustomz]

well i can tell you all the cougar isnt comiong out in 2010 because we have the whole 2010 line in our garage right now. And its dosent look like 2011 either. but as far as mercury not being a part of ford any more i can tell you they at least go till 2011 cuz we have a couple.

[whitecat99]

My first car was a 66 comet. I loved that car.My sister's first car was a black, 2 dr hardtop, 66 Comet. I don't remember if it was a 260 or 289 but it was the first car I ever drove with a 4-spd. It was not extremely fast but it felt fast going through the gears. She let me have it when I was on leave after my first tour Viet Nam. It got a good work out but I didn't break it. It was a nice car.

[juke-box-hero]

What is wrong with a senior citizen wanting to drive an nice sports car. I own a few of them. I didn't know age had anything to do with the type of car we should drive. Then again my wife keeps telling me to grow up.

This is about the funniest post I've seen since this one guy asked for advice on how to have sex in his Cougar last year! :rofl:


Should I be restricted to a Lincoln Towncar or Crown Vic? If so I will probably stop driving.

I gotta agree with you. When I'm a senior citizen (if I make it that far), I think I'll always have at least 1 sports car. You mentioned you have a few. Retirement must be good, my friend! Yeah, if I'm mandated to drive only cars that are at least 15 feet long, put me in a box! :flushed:

Speaking of the Crown Vic, I heard next year will be the first year that Ford will only make them for police departments. I guess when you find them used, they will be fast!

By the way, do you remember the Mercury Meteor?

[CougarXR02]

This is about the funniest post I've seen since this one guy asked for advice on how to have sex in his Cougar last year! :rofl:


umm, passenger seat, all the way back, guy on top........


sorry, keep it PG-13. :rofl:

[Ldycgr99]

umm, passenger seat, all the way back, guy on top........


sorry, keep it PG-13. :rofl:

Back seat.... If the girl is on the bottom the bucket seat gives her th eperfect angle for th eguy :tongue: And more comfortable. Not that I know or anything.

[juke-box-hero]

Back seat.... If the girl is on the bottom the bucket seat gives her th eperfect angle for th eguy :tongue: And more comfortable. Not that I know or anything.

Something tells me you'll be quite popular amongst some of the guys at our next meet. Not that I'm good at predicting things or anything like that, but.............:goofy:

[Ldycgr99]

Well what you will learn about me is I grew up with all guys and I was a tom boy but Iam quit feminine when I need to be!