Ford planning to "wind down" the Mercury Division

[XDCX]

Bloomberg is reporting that Ford is planning to wind down the Mercury line of vehicles. For the full report - click here

The report indicated that Mercury's sales have dropped by 74% in the past decade and two of the four models they currently offer will be eliminated next year. As we've discussed on DealershipForum in the past - the writing has been on the wall.

It will be interesting to see how Ford handles the wind down with their dealers. Since almost all the Mercury dealers are dualed with Lincoln they'll still have an existing franchise, but I'm not sure if a dealer could survive as a single-point Lincoln store.

[lsx only]

best of luck to everyone involved

[CJDman]

This writing has been on the wall a long time. We sold our L/M franchises back to Ford a couple years ago because we thought there would be no future for Mercury and Lincoln is such small volume in a small town. Ford was very generous and easy to work with winding down.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by CJDman

Ford was very generous and easy to work with winding down.

Thanks for the information - that's good to hear.

[XDCX]

There's speculation that Ford is close to making an announcement - has anyone heard anything?

[F&I Pro]

So far only speculation, GSM to speak with Inventory specialist today, perhaps more at that time...for now only what we see in the media. Gotta say being FLM and rate of sales for mercury, don't think it will hurt anything, if anything make for a stronger Ford brand without the dual like vehicles mercury builds to compete.
For a stand alone LM dealer, differant story I'm sure.

[XDCX]

It would appears the rumors are correct and the remaining time for the Mercury franchise is limited. Ford has a Press Conference planned for this afternoon and the topic is almost certain to be the elimination of the Mercury brand.

At this point, the biggest question is what will this mean for the dealers who have a Mercury franchise? How long will the "wind-down" period last and what are Ford's plans for compensation?

[F&I Pro]

Video starts in 8 minutes, will let ya know what they say.

[crowe]

There used to be a difference between a Ford & a Mercury.
I started as a salesman at a L&M dealership in 73’ when Merc had almost 8% share.
In 74' I broke 30k. (they added Honda) I had a new Mark IV for a demo & free gas.
One of my buddies was a bank branch manager & making 18k, so I thought I was rich.
My 1st GM drank whiskey from his desk at 9 am. I picked up my next GM from the state prison camp every morning & dropped him back at night. He was on work release & later pardoned. He was one of the best car guys I ever knew, but I wouldn’t want him balancing my books.

[F&I Pro]

Ok, Mercury to be gone by end of 2010, 1712 Mercury dealers will be receiving Fed-ex packages over next three days outlining the wind down with "settlement offers" SURPASSING franchise requirements...FLM will be offering sell down assistance in the coming months to be out of Mercury products by year end to avoid necessity of buy backs..Ford Lincoln dealers will remain authorized to service mercury warranty and parts...Each dealer will sign a resignation agreement and all LM signs will be replaced by manufacturer to be Lincoln only signs and Mfg. expense.
Lincoln to be redesigned to achieve highest MPG in luxury market going after Lexus and Cadillac, all new driveline coming out to maximise fuel economy. Early Oct. for Detroit show of upcoming Lincoln product with 6 new or fully redesigned Lincolns scheduled over next 4 years.

We'll see how this plays out.....

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by F&I Pro

Video starts in 8 minutes, will let ya know what they say.

Thanks for the re-cap of the Ford video - that was great.

It appears that Ford has a solid plan in place and I agree with your earlier comment that it will likely be a good thing for a FLM dealer but not a good thing from a LM dealer's perspective.