Mercury News...
Mercury In Overdrive For A
Younger Set
It wasn't
long ago that you could set off a cannon in a Mercury dealership without
striking a customer or a car.
Prophets were forecasting that Mercury, like Oldsmobile, would disappear and
take Lincoln with it. The cars offered were old, and so, too, were the folks who
bought them. The division was kept afloat by new sport utility vehicles, but
there were no new cars for those who preferred sedans.
That was two years ago, and now Mercury, along with its Lincoln partner, is
talking about selling a total of 500,000 units, if not more, by the end of the
decade. That's up from 300,000 in 2004. And it plans to do so with new cars to
attract younger customers.
It's off to a good start. The 2005 midsize Mercury Montego is in short supply
without offering rebates, and more than 40 percent of its buyers traded in a
non-Ford product, mostly Japanese imports. The sedan, available in front-wheel
and all-wheel drive, the latter a feature the Japanese generally don't offer in
their sedans, replaces the Mercury Sable.
Even Lincoln-Mercury president Darryl Hazel is a bit overwhelmed with Montego's
success. "It's a car people want, not a car we have to work hard to sell," he
said in an interview.
More are coming, and that's important because, as Jim Padilla, chief operating
officer of Ford and president, said, "Mercury gives Lincoln reason to exist."
Translation: Mercury is the step-up car for Ford buyers and Lincoln is the top
rung, once incomes rise high enough.
Equally important, the high-priced and high-profit luxury cars help pay the
bills for the entry-level divisions.
Mercury's expanded lineup includes a new compact Mariner SUV on sale now, a
high-volume midsize Milan sedan this fall along with a gas/electric Mariner and
a redesigned Mountaineer SUV. A Mercury derivative of the Ford Freestyle
crossover arrives for 2007.
But Lincoln isn't sitting idly by. It offers a new Mark LT derivative of the
Ford F-150 pickup, and an entry-level midsize Zephyr sedan comes out this fall
as a 2006. They will be joined in 2007 by a crossover rendition of the Aviator
sport utility.
Lincoln reportedly is considering replacing its rear-wheel-drive Town Car and LS
sedans with derivatives of Montego in 2008-09, but Hazel won't comment.
"A certain number of people are wedded to keeping it rear-drive, but AWD would
create more buzz," he said.
Some observers feel Hazel could use a few novelty items. Lexus, for example,
unveiled a $125,000 sports car concept at the recent Detroit auto show. Hazel
dismissed a Lincoln rival to it: "We'd be more into volume products."
But he doesn't dismiss low-volume, image-building vehicles such as a convertible
and/or roadster. "When our core products are done, I'll start spending some
capital on other products," Hazel said. "If I wanted a Lincoln convertible I
might have gotten a convertible, but I felt the Mark LT would be more mainstream
and do more for the franchise."
Hazel also cites two reasons that the Mark LT will succeed where the short-lived
Lincoln Blackwood pickup failed: LT will offer four-wheel drive, which Blackwood
lacked, and LT has an open bed for hauling.
Hazel said that dealers are eager for the Zephyr this fall. Zephyr gives Lincoln
a model in the $30,000 segment. The Lincoln LS is rear-drive and starts at about
$33,000 with a V-6, about $40,000 with a V-8.
- Jim Mateja,
Chicago Tribune, Newsday, Sunday, February 6, 2005
This page was last updated on
02/07/05.
