Mercury division killed off by Ford
Ford’s overcrowded stable of brands just got smaller, with an announcement that the Mercury brand will be killed off by the end of 2010. The signs were already there, considering how the model range shrunk over the past few years.
The rather pointless Mercury brand was started in 1939 as a slightly more upscale division when compared to Ford, but still below Lincoln. After decades of churning out rebadged Ford models which are barely any different from their Ford counterparts, the parent company will be shuttering the brand in favor of Lincoln. Lincoln already lost its premium positioning years ago, and its current range is already nothing more than a bunch of rebodied upscale Ford models. With the demise of Mercury, Lincoln is said to be benefiting from a larger model range in the near future.