Mercury's 71 Year Run Coming to End.
in [Technical]
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From: hls on 6 Jun 2010 08:36 "bob" <sound(a)inetnebr.com> wrote in message news:hu9f3l$fo5$ >> > personally, i don't see how this is going to work out long term. > Most Lincoln dealers are Mercury dealers. Kill Mercury, that does not > leave them enough to sell to maintain franchise. Unless ford kills > the stand alone Lincoln dealer and folds it into a ford franchisee. > Time will tell how smart at decision it was. > > bob From what I read, most Ford dealerships handle Ford, Lincoln and Mercury, so there will be a lower impact that one might think. Some 1600 dealerships may be involved initially. IIRC, Ford will try to expand these with the Ford and Lincoln lines. Warranty, service, and parts for Mercury will continue at these dealerships.
From: cuhulin on 6 Jun 2010 13:42 Nightmare Alley, old 1947 movie is on the FMC movie channel.Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell riding in a DeSoto taxi cab.Those old DeSotos were some of the best looking cars ever with the waterfall grill and the square headlight openings, in my opinion.I need to find me one of those old DeSoto cars, in resonably good condition and the price is right and if I don't have to travel too far to check it out. Chrysler ought to resurect (bring back) the DeSoto cars. cuhulin
From: aemeijers on 6 Jun 2010 16:32 hls wrote: > > "bob" <sound(a)inetnebr.com> wrote in message news:hu9f3l$fo5$ >>> >> personally, i don't see how this is going to work out long term. >> Most Lincoln dealers are Mercury dealers. Kill Mercury, that does not >> leave them enough to sell to maintain franchise. Unless ford kills >> the stand alone Lincoln dealer and folds it into a ford franchisee. >> Time will tell how smart at decision it was. >> >> bob > > From what I read, most Ford dealerships handle Ford, Lincoln and Mercury, > so there will be a lower impact that one might think. Some 1600 > dealerships > may be involved initially. IIRC, Ford will try to expand these with the > Ford > and Lincoln lines. > > Warranty, service, and parts for Mercury will continue at these > dealerships. > > There are very few stand-alone L-M dealers left- most have other brands. (They had to, to have a full line and a full lot.) And most are owned by parent companies that also own Ford dealerships. In this town, the local Ford dealer picked up the L-M franchise (and the then-controlled-by-Ford Mazda franchise as well) a couple of years ago. The previous franchise owner was heavily into his Mopar franchise down the street, and the old L-M store was tiny and landlocked, so when Ford leaned on him, he said the hell with it and sold it. The building is abandoned now. Ford will have to throw some money at some dealers, especially in towns where a new Ford store would poach sales from the guy down the street. And there will be some shotgun weddings. The days of every small town having a dealer for every brand are pretty much over. The Japanese brands showed that a business model of one store every 30-40 minutes of driving time, is plenty. And if sales don't support that many, cherry-pick the dense urban areas, and forget about the real small towns. Nearest German-brand dealers are now an hour from here. Not many German cars in this town any more. -- aem sends...
From: hls on 6 Jun 2010 21:46
"aemeijers" <aemeijers(a)att.net> wrote in message > There are very few stand-alone L-M dealers left- most have other brands. > (They had to, to have a full line and a full lot.) Heard yesterday that Mercury sales had dropped from an alltime high of about 500,000 units per year, to less than 100,000 last year. That still sounds like a lot of money, but many not in today's world. It is not a brand I will personally miss. |