[mackinaw]

From today's Automotive News:

"Ford Motor Co. will begin the wind-down of Mercury production in late September."

"According to three dealers informed of the automaker's plans, Ford will end production of the rear-wheel drive Grand Marquis sedan on Sept. 30, the Mountaineer SUV on Oct. 1, the Milan mid-size sedan on Oct. 2, and the Mariner small SUV on Oct. 3."

"Mercury dealers submitted their final factory orders last month. Those vehicles will arrive at dealerships in about 30 days. If dealers want additional stock after that, they must acquire vehicles from other dealers, according to several dealer sources."

[FordBuyer]

mackinaw, on 11 July 2010 - 09:31 AM, said:

From today's Automotive News:

"Ford Motor Co. will begin the wind-down of Mercury production in late September."

"According to three dealers informed of the automaker's plans, Ford will end production of the rear-wheel drive Grand Marquis sedan on Sept. 30, the Mountaineer SUV on Oct. 1, the Milan mid-size sedan on Oct. 2, and the Mariner small SUV on Oct. 3."

"Mercury dealers submitted their final factory orders last month. Those vehicles will arrive at dealerships in about 30 days. If dealers want additional stock after that, they must acquire vehicles from other dealers, according to several dealer sources."

I thought St. Thomas was set to run through to end of 2011 like Twin Cities buiding the Ranger? With their largest volume GM ending so soon, that doesn't leave much work for St. Thomas building a few CVs and TCs. That makes no sense to me to end a vehicle that is based off the two other vehicles you are making in same plant. Just end the GM with the other two vehicles when you close up St. Thomas as planned. Looks like 10,000 Ford sales are going away very quickly. Ford isn't going to catch GM and keep ahead of Toyota in sales this way. At least wait until Fiesta production ramps up along with new Focus production and get the new Explorer going before you throw away good auto sales for good.

[BORG]

I'm glad to see Ford shuttering Mercury so effeciently, it's happening quicker than I expected.

STAP will continue to be idled frequently, Ford has got to be loosing its shirt on those cars because of shrinking volume and over capacity.

Ford hasn't officially addressed the discontinuation of the Town Car, unlike the CV. Would like to hear definitive plans on that vehicle, they could stop production on the TC earlier than 2011.

This post has been edited by BORG: 11 July 2010 - 11:35 AM

[NickF1011]

BORG, on 11 July 2010 - 12:32 PM, said:

I'm glad to see Ford shuttering Mercury so effeciently, it's happening quicker than I expected.

If you're going to do it, may as well do it quickly. It would be a waste of dealer and marketing resources to have a tiny trickle of deliveries and sales continuing long after the announcement. I don't want to see the Mercury section of the sales charts still there throughout all of 2013 because they sold one random leftover Milan in December 2012.

[ausrutherford]

NickF1011, on 11 July 2010 - 02:10 PM, said:

If you're going to do it, may as well do it quickly. It would be a waste of dealer and marketing resources to have a tiny trickle of deliveries and sales continuing long after the announcement. I don't want to see the Mercury section of the sales charts still there throughout all of 2013 because they sold one random leftover Milan in December 2012.

Good thinking...like how they are still selling leftover Trailblazers over at GM.

[NickF1011]

ausrutherford, on 11 July 2010 - 02:17 PM, said:

Good thinking...like how they are still selling leftover Trailblazers over at GM.

Or how they were still reporting GTO sales over 2 years after the last one was shipped here.

[akirby]

FordBuyer, on 11 July 2010 - 11:26 AM, said:

Ford isn't going to catch GM and keep ahead of Toyota in sales this way.

:happy feet: I certainly hope not. Ford doesn't need or want to be #1. They just want to build great vehicles and make money. The GM contributed to neither of those goals.

[tjl]

NickF1011, on 11 July 2010 - 11:21 AM, said:

Or how they were still reporting GTO sales over 2 years after the last one was shipped here.

Or how they did a short additional run of Saturn Outlooks and Hummer H3s in 2010:

http://www.autoblog....mmer-h3-produc/
http://www.thecarcon...he-dead-briefly
http://wot.motortren...-suv/index.html

[Ford Jellymoulds]

It's a shame Mercury has no place in the Auto world today they have been a going concern that has worked since 1939 handed down passed on from one generation to the next, its sad to watch so many once great brands go under in this last decade.

[jpd80]

FordBuyer, on 12 July 2010 - 01:26 AM, said:

I thought St. Thomas was set to run through to end of 2011 like Twin Cities buiding the Ranger? With their largest volume GM ending so soon, that doesn't leave much work for St. Thomas building a few CVs and TCs. That makes no sense to me to end a vehicle that is based off the two other vehicles you are making in same plant.

It enables Ford to rebalance the line and personnel down to about 250-270 cars/day,
they actually pick up a lot of "small plant" efficiency by fine tuning people and supplier deliveries.
That way the plant can go to building pre ordered vehicles only and know exactly when/how
many will be needed for how long.

This post has been edited by jpd80: 12 July 2010 - 02:34 AM

[NickF1011]

FordBuyer, on 11 July 2010 - 11:26 AM, said:

Ford isn't going to catch GM and keep ahead of Toyota in sales this way. At least wait until Fiesta production ramps up along with new Focus production and get the new Explorer going before you throw away good auto sales for good.

Even with Mercury's added volume entirely removed from Ford's sales figures for the year, they are up significantly. Fiesta will be more than ramped up before this fall. Focus and Explorer follow by literally a few months. Why keep vehicles in production that will quickly require huge discounts to get rid of?

[2005Explorer]

FordBuyer, on 11 July 2010 - 10:26 AM, said:

Ford isn't going to catch GM and keep ahead of Toyota in sales this way.

I guess Ford has decided that catching GM will never be a possibility at this point. You can't catch GM with just Ford and Lincoln when GM sells Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC. Maybe Ford doesn't really care about being number 1. They haven't been for most of their history.

[PREMiERdrum]

2005Explorer, on 12 July 2010 - 11:13 AM, said:

I guess Ford has decided that catching GM will never be a possibility at this point. You can't catch GM with just Ford and Lincoln when GM sells Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC. Maybe Ford doesn't really care about being number 1. They haven't been for most of their history.

Build the very best products and sell them profitably. Let the other fools chase sales numbers.

[lfeg]

2005Explorer, on 12 July 2010 - 12:43 PM, said:

I guess Ford has decided that catching GM will never be a possibility at this point. You can't catch GM with just Ford and Lincoln when GM sells Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC. Maybe Ford doesn't really care about being number 1. They haven't been for most of their history.

Depends on how you define Number one. By total unit volume. By gross profits. By profitibility. By reputation.

Remember, Ford, GM, and Chrysler were nearly done in by just focusing on total unit volume, and doing anything, up to and including moving some cars at a net loss (zero/zero subsidised financing and other hefty incentives) and ignoring all else. I think management, the family, and most other stockholders would be happy with number one in profitibility.

[FordBuyer]

2005Explorer, on 12 July 2010 - 11:13 AM, said:

I guess Ford has decided that catching GM will never be a possibility at this point. You can't catch GM with just Ford and Lincoln when GM sells Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC. Maybe Ford doesn't really care about being number 1. They haven't been for most of their history.

It's kind of cool when Ford gets within 20,000 sales/month of GM and sometimes even closer than that. With Mercury and Ranger leaving soon, GM will pull way ahead again and leave Ford in the dust. Sport Trac also leaves along with Town Car making for three RWD trucks gone and three RWD cars. Ford may live to regret discarding so many vehicles that did have lots fof brand identity and followers. Sentimentality is not always a bad thing. And don't forget there are auto companies below Ford that will be putting the pressure on. Chrysler has as many brands now as GM and maybe more if you count the mini Fiat 500. And no I'm not stating that more brands is always better. I will state though that Ford needs a new Ranger or F-100 and it should be RWD based. Again, Ford is giving away a valued name in Ranger and with Exlporer/Sport Trac another venerable RWD truck. The huge F-150 will barely fit into smallish garages and carports. It's kind of odd to me that Ford being known as the truck company now has all its bases covered in its car line which is good thing, but soon will have big gap in its truck line that it never had before. F-Series is about it now for Ford in trucks with Ranger, RWD Explorer and Sport Trac gone. The days are really numbered for Ranger now, so I will start assuming its gone now.

[FordBuyer]

lfeg, on 12 July 2010 - 11:30 AM, said:

Depends on how you define Number one. By total unit volume. By gross profits. By profitibility. By reputation.

Remember, Ford, GM, and Chrysler were nearly done in by just focusing on total unit volume, and doing anything, up to and including moving some cars at a net loss (zero/zero subsidised financing and other hefty incentives) and ignoring all else. I think management, the family, and most other stockholders would be happy with number one in profitibility.

Sure, I think everyone understands that. But Ford is a full line manufacturer, and should not have big gaps in its lineup such as no RWD cars other than Mustang, and no small RWD trucks like Ranger, F-100, SUV, and four door small truck. I also understand that Ford has conentrated on its hign volume lines that offer the most promise, but at same time seem intent on giving up some rather important areas of the market as already stated.

[RichardJensen]

2005Explorer, on 12 July 2010 - 10:13 AM, said:

I guess Ford has decided that catching GM will never be a possibility at this point. You can't catch GM with just Ford and Lincoln when GM sells Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC. Maybe Ford doesn't really care about being number 1. They haven't been for most of their history.

If for no other reason than their captive finance arm, Ford will probably book more revenue, more profit, and a higher net than GM, as a corporation.

Chasing sales crowns is part of the specious "business as sport" notion that is, long term, self destructive.

[NickF1011]

FordBuyer, on 12 July 2010 - 01:18 PM, said:

It's kind of cool when Ford gets within 20,000 sales/month of GM and sometimes even closer than that. With Mercury and Ranger leaving soon, GM will pull way ahead again and leave Ford in the dust. Sport Trac also leaves along with Town Car making for three RWD trucks gone and three RWD cars.

Fiesta all by itself should make up all of Mercury's monthly contribution to recent sales totals (albeit likely at a smaller profit -- which lends weight to the entire argument that sales numbers alone really don't mean anything.)

I do agree that there needs to be a replacement for the Ranger and Town Car down the line though.

As for the Sport Trac, since Ford never broke out its numbers individually we really have no idea what it is still contributing. My guess is under 1000 units a month, which I hope will eventually get absorbed with the availability of a 4-door Ranger.

This post has been edited by NickF1011: 12 July 2010 - 12:35 PM

[Edstock]

NickF1011, on 12 July 2010 - 01:33 PM, said:

I do agree that there needs to be a replacement for the Ranger and Town Car down the line though.

IMHO, the MKT is the TC replacement: large luxo barge.

Let Chrysler have the stretch-limo market.

[NickF1011]

Edstock, on 12 July 2010 - 01:40 PM, said:

IMHO, the MKT is the TC replacement: large luxo barge.

Let Chrysler have the stretch-limo market.

Well, while I agree that it kind of fills the current niche that the Town Car has in the retail market, I think that the Town Car lost its way and really should have been appealing to a more aspiring audience than either it or the MKT currently does. So in that sense, I'm talking a more legitimate "flagship"-type vehicle as its replacement. Perhaps the MKS could evolve into that, but it's not there yet either.