Ford Retires 72-Year-Old Mercury Brand

DEARBORN - Ford Motor Co. today confirmed that it is killing its mid-market Mercury brand to focus its resources on its luxury Lincoln marque, The Detroit News reported. "We are very proud of its history, but we are now looking forward," said Ford Americas President Mark Fields, who promised that the nation's 1,712 dealers would be fairly compensated for the loss of their Mercury franchises. He said the company would work with them to make sure their remaining Ford and Lincoln franchises make up for the lost sales. "We absolutely remain committed to working with our dealers." There are no standalone Mercury dealers left. However, 276 of those stores are paired only with Lincoln, and Ford acknowledged some may have a hard time surviving alone. Ford said no employees will lose their jobs as a result of the decision, which was ratified at a meeting of Ford's board of directors this morning. It had been expected for some time; the brand has been losing market share in the United States since the 1990s. "Our total market share for Mercury is eight-tenths of a percent," Fields said, noting that Ford's mass market Blue Oval brand has increased its share of the U.S. market by more than double that amount since the beginning of this year. In fact, he said, Ford's success is a big reason for the decision, as it gives the automaker the financial resources it needs to wind-down Mercury without undermining its stated goal of being "solidly profitable" this year. Ford made $2.1 billion in the first quarter. The decision also is motivated by the need to invest more resources in Lincoln, which has struggled to hold its own in an increasingly crowded and competitive luxury marketplace. "We've made a lot of progress with the Ford brand," Fields said. "Now's the time to do that with Lincoln."