Mercury Falling

You gotta cross Mercury off your list.

The Ford Motor Company has announced its decision to drop the Mercury brand, a story that must have been greeted in Detroit with one big, collective yawn. Because the truth is, the Mercury brand has been dead for a long time.

Unlike the Lincoln brand, which it shares showroom space with, Mercury was never a real company; it was an invention of Edsel Ford to provide a lineup of medium-priced cars to sell between the basic Ford brand and Lincoln luxury cars. Originally a separate division when launched in 1939, Mercury was merged with Lincoln into a single sales network in 1945. Mercury was once known for innovative features, and some Mercury vehicles have been distinctive - the Turnpike Cruiser, various generations of the Cougar. But more recently, many if not most Mercs have been slightly more expensive variations of vehicles found in Ford dealerships, and with different grilles. Even though Mercury was supposed to be a medium-priced brand, Ford occasionally sold entry-level cars with that nameplate, most likely to use up extra capacity at its plants. There's no other reason to explain why Lincoln-Mercury dealers would be given the Bobcat, which was a Ford Pinto with nicer trim, or why the Mercury Lynx, a badge-engineering variation of the original American Ford Escort, was conceived.

Unlike General Motors, which had far more brands and were so limited in making the cars of one brand distinguishable from those of another, Ford could theoretically have made Mercurys more distinctive than Fords because there were only those two nameplates to differentiate - Lincoln's status as a luxury car was a given, and fewer Lincolns were built off Ford's platforms than Mercurys. There was some success with the Cougar coupes of the 1980s and 1990s - though based on the Thunderbird, the Cougar had a different roof line, a different interior, and a personality that emphasized luxury as much as sportiness, if not more so. Yet, as automotive analyst Maryann Keller noted at the time, both cars were the same under the hood, with the same engines. The last Cougar was a final attempt at distinction; it was a domestically produced 2+2 hatchback based on a Ford of Europe product, yet it drew little notice here. Less successful were Ford of Europe products directly imported from Germany and sold by Lincoln-Mercury dealers, although the old Ford Capri attracted some attention.

I would have suggested that Mercury sell some of the small, edgier Ford of Europe product - made here, of course - and have in its lineup cars based on only one or two of Ford's North American platforms with different styling and, where feasible, different engines and suspension, but hey, too late. Anyway, Ford apparently stopped trying to make its Mercury vehicles distinctive long ago, and the lines between the Ford and Mercury brands only became more blurred. You may disagree, but I challenge you to tell me the difference between the Ford Crown Victoria and the Mercury Grand Marquis.

Incidentally, brand consolidation isn't limited to Detroit. In Europe, rumors abound that Volkswagen, which bought the Spanish automaker SEAT in 1990 and continued it as a separate brand, may discontinue it because its image is blurred between itself, Škoda, and the parent VW brand. The Volkswagen Group has seven brands now, including Bugatti and Lamborghini. (Audi and Bentley round them out.)

Apart from Lincoln in North America, which needs the kind of re-invention that Cadillac underwent recently, Ford will concentrate on its namesake brand worldwide. As for Mercury, I doubt anyone will really notice its departure from the automotive scene. And I think it's time for actress and Mercury spokeswoman Jill Wagner to move on to bigger and better things.