Mercury Blues
Had my money
I tell you what I’d do
I would go downtown
Buy a Mercury or two
Cause I’m crazy ’bout a Mercury
–Steve Miller Band
Steve Miller better move fast. Media reports over the last few days have strongly suggested that Mercury’s days are over, the victim of muddled branding, poor sales and a general sense of irrelevancy. The idea that Mercury represented “entry level luxury” ended years ago, and it seems to make sense for Ford as it consolidates its resources.
Mercury is the last survivor of a marketing concept born roughly a hundred years ago by GM chairman Alfred Sloan, who came up with the “ladder of success.” In Sloan’s mind, he could get American buyers to stay with GM throughout their lives if he marketed specific car brands to represent specific stages in their lives–from the entry level Chevrolet for those starting out to the Cadillac to those who reached the professional pinnacle. It worked, and quickly put Ford and its Model Ts into second place. Edsel Ford finally established a bridge between Ford and Lincoln in 1939 with the Mercury.
But a funny thing happened over the years. America buyers don’t like to be thought as being in the middle of anything. We’re an impatient lot, and we aren’t willing to climb a “ladder of success” if we can jump a rung or two. In addition, GM, Chrysler, and Ford eventually sought to cut costs by re-badging all of their models, so there was very little difference between them. Oldsmobile, Plymouth, and now Mercury all fell victim to this syndrome.
Styling is the ultimate trump card, and Mercury did have a few winners over the years. I think the 1967 Cougar is a pretty cool car, partly because it’s based on another pretty cool car, the Ford Mustang. The Mercury Marauder is every thing the name suggests–menacing, mysterious, and mammoth. All black and secretive, these behemoths turned a few heads as they cruised down the highway in the middle part of the decade. Not bad for what was essentially a souped up stodgy Gran Marquis. The last Edsel model in development before Ford pulled the plug on this brand failure actually became a Mercury, and a pretty successful one, too. The Mercury Comet hung around for more than a decade and a half.
I never owned a Mercury, but have a lasting painful memory of one. One of my college era adventures involved selling books door-to-door in Oregon. To get there, I hitched a ride with three guys and a 1973 Mercury Capri. I spent more than 50 hours crammed in the back seat of that car and could barely walk when we finally arrived in Portland.
Mercury spent the last few years pleading customers to put them on their list. It appears their bosses at Ford are doing just that.
