Where Will All The Mercury’s Go?
The end of Mercury has come and gone. With thousands of vehicles (Sables, Mariners, and more!) left on dealership lots, what is a car dealer supposed to do? As far as money is concerned, the cash flow originally going into Mercury for 2011 (and beyond) is being absorbed by Lincoln. Yes, the updated luxury Ford brand will take on funds and put them into the concepts, which will hopefully assist new models attract a fresh audience to the stereotypical old-people’s car.
Other dealerships, which are shedding the Mercury signs to read “Lincoln” only, are selling 2009 and 2010 models Tens-of-Thousands of dollars under original MSRP.
But not all Mercury dealers are going to be o.k.: 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.
In the end, it’s a tough transition. Leftover Mercury models will spend time jumping around car lots, to auction blocks and donations, to eventually the scrap yard. maybe by then you can get a “new” 2010 Mariner for your teenage son or daughter. But we’ll miss you, dear Merc. Travel well.
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