Looks like Mercury (and Pontiac) are gonna get the axe

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Looks like Mercury (and Pontiac) are gonna get the axe

December 02, 2008, 10:07:28 PM

I don't know why this didn't occur to me before today, but when the reporter who was discussing the auto manufacturers coming back to Washington - with real proposals this time - mentioned Mercury & Pontiac likely getting the axe, I knew that this time it isn't just an idle rumor.

So, not only have I lost most of my retirement $$, but now my childhood muscle car (GTO) and adult muscle car (Cougar) will never be produced again because the brands are to be permanently terminated.

Looks like Mercury (and Pontiac) are gonna get the axe

Reply #1 – December 02, 2008, 10:24:45 PM

awww,, comon,,,

its just the news:D that big bail out plain is suppose to fix everything., all 850billion dollars worth.

I have contemplated the same thoughts the past week or so thinking of a time not so far off in the future when some young peep asks me,, "whats a mercury"?

Looks like Mercury (and Pontiac) are gonna get the axe

Reply #2 – December 02, 2008, 10:31:34 PM

Uggh, that's what I was thinking. I'll be like my dad who loves to talk about the DeSoto which was terminated by Chrysler the year I was born. I don't know about DeSoto's - lol.

Quote

Termination factors

Despite being a successful mid-priced line for Chrysler for most of its life, DeSoto's failure was due to a combination of corporate mistakes and external factors beyond Chrysler's control.

Sound familiar? :punchballs:

Looks like Mercury (and Pontiac) are gonna get the axe

Reply #3 – December 02, 2008, 10:37:06 PM

That's the first I've heard about Mercury...do you have a reference? They're still being referred to as a major part of Ford's plan for the next few years.

GM has announced they'd axe Saab, Saturn and Pontiac, or at least scale back plans for them. Hummer would likely be spun off.
More here: http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081202/AUTO01/812020404/1148

Why the eff GM would kill Pontiac or Saturn and keep the redundant GMC division, I'll never figure out.

Of all 3 automakers, the only one that's really in halfway decent shape is Ford. They have only three major domestic divisions, and just about the right amount of vehicles, with none of them really cannibalizing from another division. It seems that Mulally is doing what he said he'd do: streamline, solidify products, focus on energy consumption and alternative fuels, expand hybrids, and finally bring the company back into profitability. The problem is, it takes time for this stuff to pay off, and just when it was starting to we hit this financial situation. But still, he has stated that with the government's help, Ford can be profitable in 2011. That's only two model years away.

More here: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20081202/FREE/812029992

Mulally has stated that he'd take a $1 yearly salary (a la Steve Jobs at Apple) if it would help. GM's Rick Wagoner immediately joined that sentiment. The difference: Mulally is actually doing something at Ford. I don't feel that a "fixer" should have to sacrifice salary when he or she is getting the job done and keeping the company on track. Then again, they do make more in one year than most of us would make in an entire lifetime...

Looks like Mercury (and Pontiac) are gonna get the axe

Reply #4 – December 02, 2008, 10:39:23 PM

Its like splatter eric,,

Its the third or fourth time ive heard these words and not from the same news source either.

leme see what was said today..the BIG 3 plans

ford- they will put xxx dollars into renewable energy plans and expand thier green cars,, delete mercury, sell off mazda and jaguar.

GM- layoff people, sell hummer ,,,lol

Chrysler- humm,, well,, they will just be forced to go bankrupt.

thats the news in a nutshell,,,

Remember the last time big gov't got involved with the auto makers,, Chrysler got help several years ago when they got in bad shape. Well, look where it got them.

Looks like Mercury (and Pontiac) are gonna get the axe

Reply #5 – December 02, 2008, 10:44:01 PM

Also, Ford has already been retooling one facility to make their "green" cars, and GM and Chrysler haven't yet. Plus they're selling their corporate jets. I shudder the thought of Mercury and pontiac falling by the wayside. Studebaker, International harvester, packard, AMC, etc... all have been staples in the history of automobilia, and It actually frightens me these two would join their ranks. Boy, I hope it don't go that far.

Looks like Mercury (and Pontiac) are gonna get the axe

Reply #6 – December 02, 2008, 10:44:59 PM

I hope this guy's conjecture was wrong. I actually wanted to reach into the radio and strangle the jerk when he described the Mercury division like it was some sort of weight pulling Ford down :flame: I hope he just equated "Mercury" to "Pontiac" in his little pea brain and made the leap without any facts. But the times we are in are historic (bad) and getting worse by the day - it's hard not to imagine "this time, for real!" :(

Looks like Mercury (and Pontiac) are gonna get the axe

Reply #7 – December 02, 2008, 11:12:46 PM

these times are repetative,, they (the times) have been here before without you!.

It will all come out in the wash.

Looks like Mercury (and Pontiac) are gonna get the axe

Reply #8 – December 02, 2008, 11:14:27 PM

,,,

Looks like Mercury (and Pontiac) are gonna get the axe

Reply #9 – December 02, 2008, 11:30:42 PM

Well....either way I'll still have my old barges....I'll only hang onto em even tighter if the Big 3 are ever gone. Still love em way more than ANYthing new...don't really care what happens. Dont need new ones.

If it were to survive until then, if I could be driving the crown vic as a DD in the year 2025 I'd DO IT. That would be awesome. Everyone at my job in their silent floaty spaceships or whatever the hell it is....and me in a 1987 Crown Vic. That would be sick.

Looks like Mercury (and Pontiac) are gonna get the axe

Reply #10 – December 02, 2008, 11:57:49 PM

Yeah. I was pretty bummed when the Krauts axed Plymouth. I've got two 69 road runners, and no one knows what a Plymouth is.....much less "The Car with the Beep Beep Horn"

Looks like Mercury (and Pontiac) are gonna get the axe

Reply #11 – December 03, 2008, 02:14:48 AM

you've got two friggin road runners???????

wow!!!

Looks like Mercury (and Pontiac) are gonna get the axe

Reply #12 – December 03, 2008, 03:01:09 AM

if companies like ford pulled their head out of their arse and stopped doing this seperate market bullshacka, then they might come out ahead. they have cars sold here, canada, mexico (actually i think all south america), then they have cars sold....everywhere else.

thats two farkin lines they dont need. make it all one line, let everybody get the same cars. that right there cuts production costs.

stop dillydallying around playing circle-jerk on the diesel's and just bring that fiesta over here as it is over there. EVERYONE i know would take that car over any other new car right now. and i know....a LOT of people....

that right there would be a good start. then of course there is always more they can do, like sell the corprate jets (which they've already started doing....why the fark do they need them anyway, coach airfare aint that expensive...), murder half the executives (seriously, they dont do a thing except talk. i wanna hear talk..i'll flip on the radio...) and more.

-562

Looks like Mercury (and Pontiac) are gonna get the axe

Reply #13 – December 03, 2008, 08:12:13 AM

I just heard a guy at the local deli talking about this last night. I still haven't seen or heard any "official" word on it yet. The last info I got at work, straight from Ford, was that Mercury is a big part of their restructuring plan. Mercury will be the line with the most fuel efficient cars. Mercury will have the Hybrid Mariner, Hybrid Milan, and possibly more. I worked at the #1 new car volume Lincoln-Mercury dealership in my area... and 12 of us were just laid off in the past month. Pretty sad when you are still #1 while the year to date amount of cars sold in 2008 (up to November) is exactly half of what was sold in all of 2007. I can remember rumors of Mercury being dropped for the past 20 years or so. There are a lot of rumblings going on that there will be no more Lincoln-Mercury dealerships, just Ford-Lincoln-Mercury stores, which may be closer to the truth. I know Holman in NJ recently moved their big Ford store to the same location as their main Lincoln-Mercury store, so that it is now a Ford-Lincoln-Mercury store. I also heard that they "had" to sell their other Lincoln-Mercury store to the Chapman organization and it will be another Ford-Lincoln-Mercury store (but I don't know that for sure, just what I heard from someone on the inside). It makes sense for Ford to have all three brands under one roof. There were plenty of times that I had customers that could not afford a new Mercury, but they could have gotten a Ford Focus if my store had the Ford line. The problem with having them under one roof is that it basically puts the "little" dealers out of business. Most Lincoln-Mercury stores won't be able to get the Ford line because a bigger organization has that line in their territory. So, the little guys will end up going out of business, or being bought up by the big guys.

Looks like Mercury (and Pontiac) are gonna get the axe

Reply #14 – December 03, 2008, 09:16:05 AM

Ford has already stated that they don't even need the money. They just want access to it in case they do later. I don't think Mercury is going anywhere. Pontiac is a different story, but still, I think they'll hold on to it. Selling Saab and Hummer would make a lot more sense, since these two brands don't have the kind of brand equity that Pontiac has.