It was announced in early June that Ford plans to discontinue the Mercury brand at the end of this year.

To those in the auto industry, this is not surprising news as Ford has alluded to its desire to concentrate on its more popular brands. It also shouldn’t be surprising since the Mercury brand currently accounts for less than a 1% market share in the US.

As part of Ford’s refocus, the company announced plans to expand the Lincoln lineup over the next four years.

Ford appears to be adopting the strategy used by both Chrysler and GM by aligning quality/status more with brand than with make or model.

I think the idea is that Lincoln would represent the luxury brand of the Ford Motor Company. Currently there are around 1,700 Mercury/Lincoln dealers in the United States (which will likely turn into Lincoln dealers soon).

Do you think the Lincoln brand, with an expanded lineup, can compete with the likes of Cadillac to be the king of American-made luxury cars?

Bookmark It

Hide Sites