Ford Mercury Lincoln - What should they do
10-16-2007, 05:10 PM
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Ford Mercury Lincoln - What should they do
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/10/16/m...cury/#comments
Read this interesting article. I only post it up because Ford owns a stake in Mazda. Reading all the comments on the article, people were suggesting to make Mercury a mid luxury and Lincoln high end.
I wonder what Ford is doing half the time with their crazy thinking.
GM has saturn, which is their brand that appeals to the european buyer; Pontiac, which I'm assuming is their sporty brand; Buick which is mid luxury, but more for seniors than anything; Caddy's which is 'high' luxury... see my point?
Maybe Ford is too cash strapped to do anything right now? A comment from the article was that maybe Ford should bring over the Euro Focus and rebadge it as a buick.
Just want your input and see some good discussion on Ford! Thanks!
Read this interesting article. I only post it up because Ford owns a stake in Mazda. Reading all the comments on the article, people were suggesting to make Mercury a mid luxury and Lincoln high end.
I wonder what Ford is doing half the time with their crazy thinking.
GM has saturn, which is their brand that appeals to the european buyer; Pontiac, which I'm assuming is their sporty brand; Buick which is mid luxury, but more for seniors than anything; Caddy's which is 'high' luxury... see my point?
Maybe Ford is too cash strapped to do anything right now? A comment from the article was that maybe Ford should bring over the Euro Focus and rebadge it as a buick.
Just want your input and see some good discussion on Ford! Thanks!
10-16-2007, 05:29 PM
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I really don't see the point of Ford having Mercury.
They need a youth brand like Scion and I heard rumblings about a year ago that they were working on this. I think that Ford is on the right track and they are offering vehicles that are very reliable compared to cars of the past.
Toyota - the number one US brand has the right idea. They have a 100 year business plan. I am 100% serious. And this is part of it
Toyota - Parents drive the car and when they are ready to move to Lexus they hand the Camry off to their 16 year kid because it was a great reliable car. The kid drives it until or just after college
Scion - Ready for their first car, the young adult buys the hip car that all the young adults think is cool and in style. It's still a Toyota and the buyer is attracted because they still get a decent amount of money trading or selling their near 200,000 mile hand me down that has never let them down.
Toyota - Becoming an adult now and needing something a little more family oriented the Scion owner steps into the Toyota brand and buys the Camry or Highlander or something of that nature. Again getting a great price for their ultra reliable Scion.
Lexus - The now successful Toyota owner knows that after watching mom and dad and seeing them as role models driving their Lexus L400 H is now making enough cash to step into the luxury side of things and again trades the Toyota and buys Lexus or hands the Toyota off to the kids and the cycle starts again.
They need a youth brand like Scion and I heard rumblings about a year ago that they were working on this. I think that Ford is on the right track and they are offering vehicles that are very reliable compared to cars of the past.
Toyota - the number one US brand has the right idea. They have a 100 year business plan. I am 100% serious. And this is part of it
Toyota - Parents drive the car and when they are ready to move to Lexus they hand the Camry off to their 16 year kid because it was a great reliable car. The kid drives it until or just after college
Scion - Ready for their first car, the young adult buys the hip car that all the young adults think is cool and in style. It's still a Toyota and the buyer is attracted because they still get a decent amount of money trading or selling their near 200,000 mile hand me down that has never let them down.
Toyota - Becoming an adult now and needing something a little more family oriented the Scion owner steps into the Toyota brand and buys the Camry or Highlander or something of that nature. Again getting a great price for their ultra reliable Scion.
Lexus - The now successful Toyota owner knows that after watching mom and dad and seeing them as role models driving their Lexus L400 H is now making enough cash to step into the luxury side of things and again trades the Toyota and buys Lexus or hands the Toyota off to the kids and the cycle starts again.
10-16-2007, 08:31 PM
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Actually Ford would be in their right mind to keep Lincoln and Mercury. According to a survey released by Consumer Reports Toyota has dropped from #1 to #5 and "Among overall brands, Ford's Mercury brand ranked 11th, the Ford brand ranked 13th and the Lincoln luxury brand ranked 14th. Other than Buick, they were the highest-ranking domestic brands." Consumer Reports also said that unlike GM and Chrysler, Ford and its sub brands have been consistently improving in quality year after year.
Personally I think this is good news and will wind up meaning good things for Mazda.
Personally I think this is good news and will wind up meaning good things for Mazda.
10-16-2007, 08:44 PM
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I know what Ford should NOT do...
They shold not buy anymore of BMW's castoffs. The worst thing that ever happenned to Ford was Buying Land Rover.
BMW buys Rover, inc for $1B.
BMW "steals" 4WD technology for it's X5.
BMW designs new Range Rover- It's a hit, with a BMW engine.
BMW dusts off MIni namem and retains.
It's a hit.
BMW sells Land Rover to Ford for $4B + an engine contract.
Ford loses BAD in that exchange.
Ford should sell off; Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volve. It should sell it's stake in Mazda and the Lions.
Get back to what made them successful in the first place. Everyday Cars trucks and SUV's for everyday people. Also, bring some of the Ford Europe and Cossworth technology stateside for the "Youth" brand prescribed by above posters.
They shold not buy anymore of BMW's castoffs. The worst thing that ever happenned to Ford was Buying Land Rover.
BMW buys Rover, inc for $1B.
BMW "steals" 4WD technology for it's X5.
BMW designs new Range Rover- It's a hit, with a BMW engine.
BMW dusts off MIni namem and retains.
It's a hit.
BMW sells Land Rover to Ford for $4B + an engine contract.
Ford loses BAD in that exchange.
Ford should sell off; Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volve. It should sell it's stake in Mazda and the Lions.
Get back to what made them successful in the first place. Everyday Cars trucks and SUV's for everyday people. Also, bring some of the Ford Europe and Cossworth technology stateside for the "Youth" brand prescribed by above posters.
10-17-2007, 09:44 AM
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I thought Ford had sold off LR and Jaguar. They got totally screwed in that deal. LR's aren't what they used to be and Jag's, well same thing.
I think they should keep Mercury and Lincoln. It would be smart of them to keep their stake in Mazda, a company with a bright future. It would give them Japanese 'technology' (for lack of a better word).
I think this is what they tried to do with LR and Jaguar but it went bust. Have the LR badge for it's jeeps/off-roading suv's line, and Jaguar for Sporty/Sport Luxury Line, and appeal to the European buyers.
Lincoln can be their answer for high end luxury, and Mercury for mid level luxury.
They might have had a great vision but things didn't turn out for them.
I think they should keep Mercury and Lincoln. It would be smart of them to keep their stake in Mazda, a company with a bright future. It would give them Japanese 'technology' (for lack of a better word).
I think this is what they tried to do with LR and Jaguar but it went bust. Have the LR badge for it's jeeps/off-roading suv's line, and Jaguar for Sporty/Sport Luxury Line, and appeal to the European buyers.
Lincoln can be their answer for high end luxury, and Mercury for mid level luxury.
They might have had a great vision but things didn't turn out for them.
10-17-2007, 10:14 AM
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Unlike with Jag and LR, Mazda has vehicles and technology that Ford can platform swap with and still sell to the average person. I don't know what they use for Volvo though. I think the only thing Ford has gotten from them is their anti-roll system for SUVs.
10-17-2007, 10:19 AM
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volvo and mazda are the ones doing ALL of the platform work. they need to keep volvo. hell mazda just got the blind spot monitoring for cx-9 from volvo. probably the roll stability too. ford needs to keep volvo.
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