- The last Mercury ever built — a white 2011 Grand Marquis — came off the line at 7:46 a.m. on January 4 at the St. Thomas, Ontario assembly plant.
- The car is bound for an unidentified U.S. fleet customer.
- The brand was established in 1939 by Bill Ford's grandfather, Edsel Ford.
DEARBORN, Michigan — The official death watch for the Mercury brand ended in an unceremonious manner at 7:46 a.m. on January 4 when a white 2011 Grand Marquis rolled off the line at Ford's St. Thomas, Ontario Assembly Plant.
So low-key was the event that Ford told Inside Line it didn't even take a picture of the car for its historical archives.
"Unfortunately, there is no photo of that specific unit — sorry," wrote Christian Bokich, Lincoln public relations manager, in response to an e-mailed query from Inside Line on Wednesday. "Regarding the Mercury brand wind-down, we are on plan."
The last Mercury was built for an unnamed U.S. fleet customer.
Ford announced elimination of the brand in June, saying that Mercury captured only 0.8 percent of the U.S. market and that its share had been in decline. The brand — named for the Roman messenger of the gods — was established in 1939 by Chairman Bill Ford's grandfather, Edsel Ford.
The Mercury brand was set up as a slightly more expensive and upscale sibling to the Ford brand. But it battled image problems for decades. One of the most "unfortunate advertising bloopers" of the 20th century was the short-lived Mercury slogan, "Only $50 more than a Ford," according to the 1969 Booton Herndon book Ford: An Unconventional Biography of the Men and Their Times. Ford President Lee Iacocca reportedly told Herndon, "Who the hell wants a so-called luxury car that only costs $50 more than a Ford?"
Mercury had grappled with rumors of its demise for 20 years and often seemed to be in the midst of an identity crisis. In 2003, it tried to get back into the performance end of the market with the Mercury Marauder. Recently, the Mercury Milan, a sibling to the Ford Fusion, and the Mariner, a companion to the Ford Escape, were among the brand's best-selling models.
Inside Line says: Will any tears be shed for the demise of yet another old-school Detroit brand? — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
Add A Comment »
transport10 says:
09:06 AM, 11/30/2011
I just purchased a 2005 mercury marquis What A car. Ford motor co. if you do any thing. keep this line of auto. What a mistake you will be making. WHAT A CAR
jagmeisterr says:
03:48 PM, 10/20/2011
I don't understand why some people don't/didn't think of Mercury as a better car than the Ford.
It certainly looks better!
The way I've always looked at it is:
Ford's want to be Mercurys, Mercurys want to be Lincolns, and Lincolns want to be Rolls Royces.
But Rolls Royces want to be Fords so that everybody will stop staring at them all the time!
I own a Red Jaguar Vanden Plas AND a WHITE Mercury Grand Marquis LS.
I LOVE them both!
The Mercury is anything but bland. I'm always getting compliments on it. People apparently find it rather beautiful.
Just a few dollars more, and it looks so much better!
People don't know what they missed.
As to that last Mercury going to a Fleet buyer...
Some one some time down the line may search it out, if they haven't already, and pick it up, put it back into the shape it was when it rolled off the assembly line, and make a pretty penny on her when they roll her out at Barrett Jackson in a few years.
And BTW, American Motors is gone.
Was Imperial a brand, or just a model made by Chrysler?
ford_flexer says:
12:22 PM, 07/20/2011
I HATE CHEVY IT'S A WANNA BE FORD ALL IT'S CARS ARE THE SAME EXCEPT WITH A DIFFRENT EMBELM
chevylover229 says:
12:25 PM, 07/07/2011
The mercury was designed to surpass ford because Edsel was sure ford wouldn't make it... Oh the irony.
chevylover229 says:
12:22 PM, 07/07/2011
i hate ford with all my might and i hate mercury to but it's sad that there gone i mean they've been around since the 1930's so. poor mercury. poor decrepit, cheap mercury.
northsparrow says:
07:12 AM, 02/25/2011
sblock
It is good to see someone looking at the larger context of industrial decline. Ford certainly did make a callous oversight by failing to officially commemorate or even photograph the last Mercury. We are just lucky IL picked up the story.
sblock says:
06:11 AM, 02/09/2011
The point I wish to make, that nobody has thought about is this:
One-by-one Americia is losing it's automobile industry. How many more brands
need to br put to sleep, before GM, Ford & Chrysler Corporation, themselves
are "discontinued"? Most of you are not really aware of how many brands
- BRANDS, not just models have been dropped in the last 20 years. Here is the listing:
Oldsmobile
Pontiac
Saturn
Imperial
Plymouth
Mercury
GM of today is Cadillac, Buick & Chevrolet, while the new Ford is only Ford & Lincoln.
Chrysler Corporation is Chrysler, Dodge & Jeep.
WE (the USA) now have but 8 exesting brands. Do you know how many FOREIGN brands are
being sold in the USA? I have not verified it, but a co-worker told me it's 26.
Now then, take a baseball team of 26 players VS a team of 8 players. Who's gonna win ? See ?!!
Take the tip top model of a Toyota Camry - The Limited, and compare it to the entry level Lexus - an IS-250 and you will have 2 cars much closer to one & other than a Mercury & a Ford are. yet both sell for Toyo ! How be that ?? Evercompare a tip top Nissan Altima to a base model Infiniti ?
Same beast, the Infiniti is $1,000 more - yet both sell ! Yes, there IS an ass for every seat and with proper planning, posistioning in the market, advertising, quality retail dealers and competitive pricing and superior servicing, all of the buried brands above would & could still be profitable. You don't yet know it - but you are slowly watching the demise of the American Automobile Industry, as you also missed the demise of the American clothing industry.
Recall the depression ????
p1800 says:
04:47 PM, 01/08/2011
I have been selling the Grand Marquis for 35 years, and now in with-drawal.
Have told my clients call it anything as long as the Lincoln Brand would
come out with a car like this, up-date, and it would still sell.
HOPE
agnh says:
12:27 PM, 01/08/2011
I think it would have been some great PR for Ford to auction the last Mercury at Barrett-Jackson. Perhaps paint it a special color, donate the proceeds to charity. There is someone out there that would have paid 50 or 75k for it.
jscion says:
10:40 PM, 01/06/2011
Ford could have definately prevented the demise of Mercury had it just created Mercury brand exclusive vehicles. The current Mustang platform may have served as a great basis for a revived Cougar. All they would've had to do is come up with a new body and interior. What about all those cool Ford of Europe and Australia models?!?!? The options were endless.
The big three American brands have had a bad habbit of rebadging the same freakin car over and over across brand after brand after brand all aimlessly in the same crowded market for decades now and for what? I'd be hard pressed to find any Mercury Lynx, Mercury Topaz, or Mercury Capri fan club. Not many even remember those models.