Debate: Did Ford pull the plug on Mercury prematurely?

[akirby]

Of the 1700 odd L/M dealerships, less than 300 are stand alone with no franchise for a nearby Ford dealership,

Most of those that saw the writing on the wall have already married up with nearby Ford Franchises.

 

Ford has been actively working to consolidate dealers for the last 2 years at least behind the scenes (quietly).

[jpd80]

Ford has been actively working to consolidate dealers for the last 2 years at least behind the scenes (quietly).

That's why most would have a sense that this was coming, I also suspect that confidential discussions or at least research with L/M canvassed the idea of invigorated Mercury Vs. invigorated Lincoln.

[fou_bleu]

Since when does a customer get treated like that? That sort of attitude is part of the problem.

I bought new F-Series, a vehicle that pays the bills in this company so does that mean the Ford universe revolves around me?

 

I think either a) I could probably re-word that statement (which I will) or B) you didn't get where I was coming from.

 

I easily see where you're coming from - but Ford HAD to keep Mercury open AND make a Tracer JUST for 2b2? Please....

 

BTW - Where did I say that was an opinion of Ford or anything to do with sales? I was only commenting on the mentality that Mercury's fate depended on him...

Edited June 20, 2010 by Aussie_Ford

[F250]

Please, the number of cars that Mercury dealers sell on average each month hardly adds up to shop rental, wages and utility costs. It's the service bays that make the money. Take a drive by sometime and check out how many Fords get serviced over at Lincoln/mercury dealerships...

 

Of the 1700 odd L/M dealerships, less than 300 are stand alone with no franchise for a nearby Ford dealership,

Most of those that saw the writing on the wall have already married up with nearby Ford Franchises.

 

By the end of this year L/M dealerships will loose Mercury which is 60% of their new car sales.

If they don't sell them then they will not service that 60% in the following months.

 

There are far more Ford dealers in more convient locations than L/M dealers for service. Most customers return to their original selling dealer for service. Very few Ford owners around here drive past a Ford dealer to go to a L/M shop for work...especially truck owners.

Around here there are 4 L/M dealers...2 are stand-alone without a Ford franchise, they had been holding their own since the market dropped but this should be the end.

[jpd80]

By the end of this year L/M dealerships will loose Mercury which is 60% of their new car sales.

If they don't sell them then they will not service that 60% in the following months.

 

 

It's not a 60/40 split.

As of May this year, Lincoln has sold 37,444 Vs Mercury's sales of 41,666.

 

Neither of those two marques sell in any volume so it was inevitable that

L/M dealerships would have to team with a Ford Franchise.

 

If you divide those sales numbers through the dealer outputs,

you'd be lucky to see an average of seven cars per month per dealership,

this has been coming for a while......

 

PS,

I realize that some areas the dealerships are extremely popular and

sell much larger monthly number than the above estimate, that means

that smaller dealerships must be struggling to turn 2 to 3 cars a month.

Edited June 20, 2010 by jpd80

[F250]

It's not a 60/40 split.

As of May this year, Lincoln has sold 37,444 Vs Mercury's sales of 41,666.

 

Neither of those two marques sell in any volume so it was inevitable that

L/M dealerships would have to team with a Ford Franchise.

 

If you divide those sales numbers through the dealer outputs,

you'd be lucky to see an average of seven cars per month per dealership,

this has been coming for a while......

 

PS,

I realize that some areas the dealerships are extremely popular and

sell much larger monthly number than the above estimate, that means

that smaller dealerships must be struggling to turn 2 to 3 cars a month.

 

And yet those dealers have not folded...remarkable business skills assuming your estimates wouldn't you agree.

 

Mercury: 41,680 with only 3 models

Lincoln: 37,444 with a full 6 model line

[AlRozzi]

I got my letter from Ford yesterday telling me that my Mercurys can still be serviced after the shutdown.

[jpd80]

And yet those dealers have not folded...remarkable business skills assuming your estimates wouldn't you agree.

 

Mercury: 41,680 with only 3 models

Lincoln: 37,444 with a full 6 model line

 

A magnificent effort.

Don't get me wrong, I would have been comfortable with Ford spending the loot to give Mercury a few more vehicles like Fiesta, Sable, "Edge" clone, Cougar and what the heck, a version of the F-150....

 

But they didn't so it's now up to Ford to give the buying public Titanium trim on as much product as possible and do the right thing by Lincoln and spend huge on top shelf products.

Edited June 20, 2010 by jpd80

[NickF1011]

And yet those dealers have not folded...remarkable business skills assuming your estimates wouldn't you agree.

 

Mercury: 41,680 with only 3 models

Lincoln: 37,444 with a full 6 model line

 

Please refer back to mine and jpd's posts about price difference. Mercury should be selling at least twice what it does.

[saintlaz1]

y s

Please refer back to mine and jpd's posts about price difference. Mercury should be selling at least twice what it does.

 

I think you are just reaching here. Mercury sells 47000 cars on loyal owners and word of mouth. Lincoln has fantastic ads out there and they still cant beat Mercury i think something is wrong with Lincoln wouldnt you say?

[jpd80]

I think you are just reaching here. Mercury sells 47000 cars on loyal owners and word of mouth. Lincoln has fantastic ads out there and they still cant beat Mercury i think something is wrong with Lincoln wouldnt you say?

Maybe it the extra $12,000 or more on the price tag and higher profit margins.....

 

I'm not defending Ford, just saying I understand if they absorb Mercury and give us a better Lincoln line up.

[akirby]

I think you are just reaching here. Mercury sells 47000 cars on loyal owners and word of mouth. Lincoln has fantastic ads out there and they still cant beat Mercury i think something is wrong with Lincoln wouldnt you say?

 

Go check Camry sales vs. ES350 sales. As price goes up, sales go down. Mercury sales are significantly fleet and employee sales. Lincoln has almost no fleet and lots of conquest sales. And with the higher transaction prices it's a fair guess to say that Lincoln was more profitable even on lower volume.

[NickF1011]

Lincoln has almost no fleet and lots of conquest sales. And with the higher transaction prices it's a fair guess to say that Lincoln was more profitable even on lower volume.

 

Significantly more profitable (to both dealers and FoMoCo) would be my guess, even if it is across more vehicle lines than Mercury.

Edited June 21, 2010 by NickF1011

[Ford Jellymoulds]

Significantly more profitable (to both dealers and FoMoCo) would be my guess, even if it is across more vehicle lines than Mercury.

 

Ford have only got themselves to blame they dumped crap like the mundane Mercury Mystique on Mercury to sell, it was destined to fail it was never gonna make No1 best seller thats when the rot set in at Mercury they became dull boring and totally unrelevant you could see the writing was on the wall back then when the the super dullness of Mystique hit the showrooms.

 

It's a shame they were not making something a bit more desirable like an I-Phone that costs 100 bucks to make, market etc and sells for $813 in the UK type of a car, the boring bland dull designs of American car companies have sent a lot of once great American brands to the wall this decade more than any other time in car making history, gotta say its been very sad watching it happen.

[30 OTT 6]

I think you are just reaching here. Mercury sells 47000 cars on loyal owners and word of mouth. Lincoln has fantastic ads out there and they still cant beat Mercury i think something is wrong with Lincoln wouldnt you say?

 

Damn right there's something wrong with Lincoln. Too many crankshafts spinning in the wrong axis.

[NickF1011]

Ford have only got themselves to blame they dumped crap like the mundane Mercury Mystique on Mercury to sell, it was destined to fail it was never gonna make No1 best seller thats when the rot set in at Mercury they became dull boring and totally unrelevant you could see the writing was on the wall back then when the the super dullness of Mystique hit the showrooms.

 

Oh yeah. The Mystique was such a horrible car compared to the Topaz it replaced. :rolleyes: Mercury was down the drain loooong before the Mystique hit the lineup. Wow, your hatred for the Mondeo sure runs deep. I swear one of them must have molested a family member or something!

[xr7g428]

Taurus = Tarnished but well established model

 

Keeping the Taurus name = Good idea

 

Mercury = Tarnished but well established brand

 

Keeping the Mercury name = Bad idea.

 

Right.....

[NickF1011]

Taurus = Tarnished but well established model

 

Keeping the Taurus name = Good idea

 

Mercury = Tarnished but well established brand

 

Keeping the Mercury name = Bad idea.

 

Right.....

 

Taurus - one name.

 

Mercury - an entire brand.

 

Which is easier to UN-tarnish?

 

If Mercury could have been fixed easily and without costing a fortune, I would have been all for keeping it. Keeping the Taurus name cost Ford absolutely nothing, since it only replaced the already existing Five Hundred.

Edited June 21, 2010 by NickF1011

[saintlaz1]

Taurus - one name.

 

Mercury - an entire brand.

 

Which is easier to UN-tarnish?

 

If Mercury could have been fixed easily and without costing a fortune, I would have been all for keeping it. Keeping the Taurus name cost Ford absolutely nothing, since it only replaced the already existing Five Hundred.

 

Its not like the Taurus is setting the world on fire so calm down.

 

I think you just cant see that a sale for Mercury is a sale for Ford, Mercury wasnt losing any money, it had no marketing budget at all and still sold more that VW, Mitsu, etc....n t

 

And the Mystique didnt start the downfall of Mercury, that started in 2002 when the Cougar was dropped aand no replacement came. the Milan and Mariner were another attempt to freshen the brand and the Milan won tons of award but instead of building on that sucess they just decided to kill the brand, plus the Milan stoled some of the spotlight from the 1st gen fusion with those awards plus its better looks.

[jpd80]

 

If Mercury could have been fixed easily and without costing a fortune, I would have been all for keeping it. Keeping the Taurus name cost Ford absolutely nothing, since it only replaced the already existing Five Hundred.

My only regret is that Ford didn't persist with the Sable and failed

to even try a C170 based Tracer in the past four years....

[NickF1011]

Its not like the Taurus is setting the world on fire so calm down.

 

It's the best-selling non-fleet whore fullsize car in America. :shrug: Setting the world on fire? No. Sustaining itself and rebuilding the Ford brand's image in the process? Seems to be doing so just fine.

 

I think you just cant see that a sale for Mercury is a sale for Ford, Mercury wasnt losing any money, it had no marketing budget at all and still sold more that VW, Mitsu, etc....n t

 

Yes, a Mercury sale was a sale for Ford. But a Ford sale is also a sale for Ford. The benefit of offering a Ford under a different name with a different grille outlived its usefulness. Ford doesn't need Mercury anymore to grow or sustain volume. The growth of the Ford brand alone so far this year is double Mercury's entire volume.

[akirby]

The problem with these arguments is that we don't know to compare it to because we haven't seen the future plan for Ford and Lincoln together. And that includes the dealerships and dealer experiences. This is just step 1 - consolidate and eliminate.

 

I trust that the plan for Ford/Lincoln is better than the plan would have been for Ford/Mercury/Lincoln. Any speculation as to how keeping Mercury would have been better is not only pointless - it's way too soon.

[Chester]

The problem with these arguments is that we don't know to compare it to because we haven't seen the future plan for Ford and Lincoln together. And that includes the dealerships and dealer experiences. This is just step 1 - consolidate and eliminate.

 

I trust that the plan for Ford/Lincoln is better than the plan would have been for Ford/Mercury/Lincoln. Any speculation as to how keeping Mercury would have been better is not only pointless - it's way too soon.

 

 

Agreed. What we really need to focus on is Ford/Lincoln five or ten years down the road. I think stronger ford dealers, with less but better Lincoln dealers is the ultimate goal. We will see how it plays out.

 

I frequent a tractor forum besides this one as I have a small compact John Deere Tractor. The tractor market is also consolidating dealers. You should here how ticked off some people are that the small local John Deere store is shutting down as they just built a huge new showroom two towns over that will server a broader area. It's better for John Deere and the larger dealers, but the small town dealers are going away. Same thing is happening to the car dealers. You really do not need 1700 Lincoln Mercury dealers. You need 400-500 good Lincoln dealers. People are more mobile than ever before, and the internet makes it possibel to shop more location without leaving the home.

Edited June 22, 2010 by Chester

[Ron W.]

the small town dealers are going away. Same thing is happening to the car dealers. You really do not need 1700 Lincoln Mercury dealers. You need 400-500 good Lincoln dealers. People are more mobile than ever before, and the internet makes it possibel to shop more location without leaving the home.

 

So then the question becomes, how far is a person willing to drive to purchase and or service their vehicle. I;ve seen first hand when the small town Ford dealership I worked at folded the truck sales went to the GM and Mopar dealers that were still in town. Location and convenience are very important to some people.

[NickF1011]

So then the question becomes, how far is a person willing to drive to purchase and or service their vehicle. I;ve seen first hand when the small town Ford dealership I worked at folded the truck sales went to the GM and Mopar dealers that were still in town. Location and convenience are very important to some people.

 

But does that small town still have a GM and Mopar dealer? Probably not in most cases. Everybody is consolodating, and the small towns are being left in the dust by everyone. The volume just doesn't exist to justify them anymore - especially luxury car dealers.

Edited June 24, 2010 by NickF1011