Are Mercury Dealers Getting Screwed?
The end of Mercury is looming: in less than two months the final Mercury models will roll off assembly lines. No more Mariners and Milans. The circular logo will cease to exist.
With that, 1700 Mercury-specific dealerships nationwide are either closing their doors or morphing into the Lincoln brand. 1000 dealers signed an agreement with Ford (Merc’s parent company) to take a moderate sum of money and walk on. But many of those 1000 are starting to feel like they’ve been a little stiffed.
Dealer lawyers claim compensation ranges from $100,000 to $800,000, depending on a number of factors. These include the dealer’s dependence on Mercury sales and the average amount of vehicles sold over a three year period.
Many fear it won’t help some of the dealers who count on Mercury for 50 percent of sales or more. Some dealers are in markets that cannot support a Lincoln-only store, but the company claims to be working with those dealers to get them to sell Fords, or even sell their remaining stock and franchise back to an existing Ford dealer.
While some dealers are picking up as many vehicles as possible, others have stopped ordering Mercury models altogether. One other stipulation – until they sell out of their Mercury stock, Ford won’t cut dealers that compensation check. Sounds like now is the time to get a great deal on an all new Mercury.
Source: AutoBlog
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