FORD MOTOR CO. ANNOUNCED WEDNESDAY that they will be shutting down production of the Mercury automobile in the 4th quarter of this year and they will also discontinue the brand.
The Mercury line was introduced in 1939 as a mid-priced alternative between the Ford and the Lincoln brands. Now it is being sent to the parking lot where the Pontiac, DeSoto, LaSalle, Edsal, Oldsmobile lines are found. Farther back in the lot you will find Hudsons, Kaisers, Nash’s, and Packards to name a few. The glory days of American automobiles are mostly memories now.
1976 Mercury Cougar
The New York Times reports today:
Through May, Ford said Mercury’s market share was only 0.8 percentage points, while the Ford division has gained 2.2 percentage points of market share in 2010 alone. Over all, Ford has about 17 percent of the American car market.
Mercury sales peaked at 580,000 in 1978, which also marked record hourly employment for the Detroit auto companies. But in 2009, Ford sold fewer than 93,000 Mercury models.
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