Dealers shrug off reported demise of Mercury brand
2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid. Mercury sales fell 84 percent last year and the brand could be in trouble.
Local Mercury dealers say they've heard nothing officially about a phaseout of the troubled brand, which has been rumored for years and was reported Thursday by some news organizations as virtually a done deal. But at least three say that, if it happens, they'll cope.
Ford Motor Co.'s website says four of the nine dealers handling Mercuries on Long Island also handle the Ford brand, whose vehicles are nearly identical and are much stronger sellers than Mercury's three models - the Milan and Grand Marquis sedans and Mountaineer SUV.
At one dealership that doesn't also handle Ford, Valley Stream Lincoln-Mercury, owner Joe Vultaggio says he is counting on new, smaller and less expensive Lincoln models to be introduced to fill the gap if Mercury is phased out. "I believe the stand-alone Lincoln-Mercury dealers will survive with Lincoln," he said. "They're going to expand the brand."
At Stevens 112 Ford Lincoln-Mercury in Patchogue, sales manager Michael Governara said, "We're in the car business and we adapt to what the situation calls for. I'm confident in Ford doing what it needs to do so we can all survive." At a third Long Island dealership, L & B Lincoln-Mercury in West Babylon, general manager Chuck Cappelli declined to comment except to say, "They haven't said anything to dealers yet."
In Wantagh, general manager Lou Evans of Hassett Ford Lincoln Mercury Subaru says Mercury has faded to account for only a small fraction of his Ford Motor Co. sales, not including Subarus, as Ford has, obviously, been de-emphasising the brand. "I think we'll be all right," he said, "but we will need more Fords to sell."
Created in 1939 to fill a gap in price and luxury between Ford and Lincoln, Mercury serves little purpose now, said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends and insights for the auto information website Truecar.com. "I think it's the right decision to eliminate Mercury," he said. "The cost of maintaining the brand, the distribution channels and, particularly, the market are simply not justifiable."
Even with new Lincoln models, Toprak believes it will be nearly impossible for dealers to survive selling only that brand. Some, he believes, will be given Ford vehicles to sell, while others will be shuttered.
Although sales of Mercury cars and SUVs are up by 20 percent this year through April from the same period last year, the brand accounts for less than 1 percent of the U.S. market, researchers J.D. Power and Associates said.
Ford isn't confirming reports of the phaseout.
Citing two sources familiar with the plans, Bloomberg News said the matter would be voted on next month by Ford's directors. Bloomberg said Mercury sales peaked in 1978 at 579,498 and had fallen by 84 percent to 92,299 last year.
