When Edsel Ford persuaded his father to launch the Mercury brand in 1939 as a step up from the Ford product line, national ads trumpeted the new premium model as “the car that dares to ask `Why?’ “
The question seems even more appropriate in 1995, half a century after the creation of the Lincoln-Mercury Division as Ford Motor Co.’s premium franchise.
The division’s current boss, Keith Magee, wants to reposition the Mercury brand not against Oldsmobile, Buick and Dodge, its original rivals, but against Toyota and Honda, two of the toughest competitors in the $15,000 to $25,000 bracket.
“With more contemporary products like the Mystique and the new Sable, which is coming later this year, we’re trying to shift the focus of Mercury to younger, more affluent buyers, especially import buyers,” Magee says. “We’ve figured out that our older customers will sometimes accept more youthful styling-but young people will not buy an `old man’s’ car.”
Magee says a key element of that strategy is to create more separation between the Ford and Mercury product stables.
“You’re going to see a dramatic shift in the next few years,” he says. “There will be more visible differentiation and, in the case of vehicles like the new Sable, some breakthrough styling. In the future, we may even use separate platforms for some models that used to share (underpinnings).”
Though he refers to the division’s unfolding brand strategy as “a work in progress,” Magee uses such adjectives as “distinctive,” “upscale,” “sophisticated,” “responsive” and “fun to drive” in describing his vision of Mercury.
Ben Lever, Lincoln-Mercury’s general marketing manager, says he wants to see Mercury repositioned “in the top half of every segment, like Saturn or Toyota, not in the bottom half like Chevrolet.”
“Mercury’s like a lump of clay,” Lever says. “It doesn’t have a negative image, but it doesn’t really have a positive one either. We can make it anything we want.”
While Lever and Magee decline to provide details, other Ford insiders say Mercury’s future product line could look dramatically different. Magee has said, for instance, that a premium sport-utility vehicle is under consideration.
The division is looking at not one, but two upscale sport-utilities-a compact Explorer-based model and a larger four-door, based on the next-generation full-size Bronco that debuts in 1997.
A new front-wheel-drive Cougar, smaller than today’s car and based on the next Mazda 626/MX-6, is to be assembled by Auto Alliance International in Flat Rock, Mich., as a ’98 model. A convertible companion could arrive in ’99.
And a smaller, front-drive edition of the Grand Marquis sedan, built on a stretched version of the new Sable and aimed at premium Japanese sedans such as the Toyota Avalon, is rumored for ’99.
The division will pay more attention to performance, too. The Sable will get its own spinoff of the Taurus SHO in ’97-a low-key “stealth” model powered by the new Yamaha-built 3.4-liter, dual overhead cam V-8. Other future products will be powered by a new line of modular twin-cam V-6 and V-8 engines.
The strategic thinking is taking a different tack for the Lincoln brand, which marks its diamond jubilee in 1995.
“Lincoln is pretty well-defined,” Lever says. “It has fairly positive imagery and a loyal owner base. But they’re mostly traditional luxury car buyers. We need to find a way to expand the image to encompass a broader range of vehicle, including more contemporary products.”
Lever and Magee point to the growth spurt in smaller “entry luxury” vehicles in the $30,000 to $35,000 segment, including imports ranging from the Lexus ES300 to the BMW 325i. Even Cadillac expects to be a player in that bracket in ’97 with its new German-built LSE.
Lincoln will counter in ’99 with a new rear-wheel-drive sport sedan code-named DEW98, a vehicle known internally as the “Legend fighter.” It will be about the size of the Infiniti J30 and powered by a 3.5-liter, dohc, V-8 coupled with a five-speed automatic transmission.
An all-new Mark IX is in the works for 2001, but few major changes are in store for Lincoln’s volume leader, the Town Car, before 2003.
“The luxury-car market is a lot more diversified now, with a lot more players,” Lever says.
“Ford 2000 has provided a rallying cry to get more focus in the company-to become more efficient, more aggressive,” Magee says.
He adds: “You won’t see Lincoln become a Jaguar or a Mercedes, and probably not a Lexus or an Infiniti. But our customers still want cars that are fun to drive, with adequate power and good handling. In the case of Lincoln, they also want the luxury appointments.”
