Sunset Mercury: Ford is preparing the funeral of his brand

Over the past two years, stocks of U.S. car brands is seriously diminished. Suffered most of all General Motors, forced to stop proizvodsvto Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer. Swedish Saab had to give up on the cheap Dutchmen. Ford kept a stiff upper lip, profitable selling foreign ownership: Aston Martin - the Arabs, Land Rover and Jaguar - Indians, Volvo - the Chinese. "Blue Oval" the only one of the Big Three did not ask for state aid and avoid bankruptcy. Nonetheless, Ford is the last black sheep - the brand Mercury. Sources in the Group Ford told the agency Bloomberg, that the fate of loss-making divisions Mercury will decide on the board of directors in July. Ford representatives or refute the rumors on the Elimination of advertising or refuse comments. Mercury brand was invented by Henry Ford's son Edsel in 1939. Edsel, who served as president of the company, invented a car that would occupy a niche between the most expensive and cheapest Ford Lincoln. New car called the Mercury, in honor of the god Mercury, patron of trade and theft, wearing a winged helmet and winged sandals. True, there were other options names - "Cyclops," Faraon. Mercury cars were more expensive than Ford, but it looks a little different, especially "waterfall" grille with vertical slats frequent and more chrome. They were sold in the same dealerships that cars Lincoln. In the most successful years, 1978 and 1993 were sold 580 and 480 000 vehicles respectively. First post-war model of Monterey was chosen hot Roder. They cram under the hood of the monstrous motors, understated suspension. Notoriety of the best car to convert a hot-rod this model brought the film in 1955 "Rebel without a cause." In it, James Dean travels at such a modified Mercury. In addition, the hot kind Monterey moves and Sylvester Stallone in the movie "Cobra". Also, Americans love built on Ford Mustang oil car Mercury Cougar with hiding behind grille lights. Under the hood of the car were eight gasoline output to 410 hp Mercury sold under a label not just Fords. For example, the Nissan Quest minivan sold in the U.S. in 1990 as the Mercury Villager. A first-generation Mercury Tracer (1987-1989) was a perelitsovanny Hatchback Mazda 323. However, Ford has paid less attention to their unit. Over time, interesting models for a label Mercury was becoming less and, consequently, falling demand. If in 2000 it was sold 359,143 cars, in the past - three hundred dealers managed to implement only 92,299 cars. Thus, the percentage of marks in the U.S. market was only 0.9%. Now the model number of companies including four cars, two of which will soon withdraw from production. The main candidate for the flight - an ancient sedan giant Grand Marquis, Lincoln Town Car Double and Ford Crown Victoria. Production of the trinity will be discontinued next year. Will also stop production of SUVs and Mercury Montaineer Ford Explorer. A new generation of the Explorer is unlikely will get a twin with waterfall grille. Remain the Mercury Milan, perelitsovanny Sedan Ford Fusion (not to be confused with the European hatchback), and crossover Mariner, a copy of the Ford Escape. If Fusion starts at $ 19,695, over the better equipped Milan asking $ 21,860. A more powerful twin luxury Lincoln MKZ will cost $ 34,225. All three of the sedan, incidentally, are built on the previous Mazda6. Everyone has a hybrid version of the license toyotovskogo benzinelektricheskoy power plant. Average consumption of such vehicles - 5.7 liters per 100 kilometers. Fate of Mercury has not yet been resolved, but analysts have already buried the brand. True, the first four months of this year, Mercury sales grew by 23%. But this is not enough. American automakers too much attention to badge engineering, producing cars devoid of individuality, differing only in "noses" and icons. Many Americans think that the production of cars under the brand name Mercury has been terminated. And most of the fans of these machines are as old as the brand and - in his seventies.