Business Monday: Mercurial
In an extremely unscientific poll conducted by industry authority AutoNews recently, 125 auto dealers responded to questions about Ford’s Mercury brand. According to their site, two thirds of the respondents said they sell less than 15 new Mercuries per month, and almost eighty percent said they worried that Ford Motor would drop the brand. polled 125 # Nearly 4 out of 5 said they are concerned that Ford Motor will drop Mercury.
With the only new Mercury product for a model year after 2008 being the 2009 Milan hybrid, and the apparent decision to limit the 2008 offerings to updated versions of the Sable and Mariner, those dealers have reason to be concerned, especially since most of Mercury’s line is made of re-badged clones of existing Ford-branded designs.
So, is Mercury on the chopping block? The president of Ford Motor’s American division, Mark Fields, said that there’s still a place for Mercury in the Ford rehabilitation plan, but that the company is focusing on the Lincoln side of Lincoln-Mercury.
Seems to me like Mercury’s orbit is seriously degraded.
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