Mercury (automobile)

Mercury is an automobile brand name of the Ford Motor Company founded in 1939 to market semi-luxury cars slotted between entry-level Ford and luxury Lincoln models. To this day, most Mercury models are based on Ford platforms. The Mercury name comes from the Roman god Mercury and during its early years, the Mercury brand was known for performance.

Related Topics:
Automobile - Ford Motor Company - 1939 - Lincoln - Roman - Mercury

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Mercury was its own division at Ford until 1945 when it was combined with Lincoln into the Lincoln-Mercury Division, with Ford hoping the brand would be known as a "junior Lincoln", rather than an upmarket Ford. In 1958, the Lincoln-Mercury Division and the ill-fated Edsel brand were joined into the Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln Division; with the demise of Edsel in 1960, it has been in the Lincoln-Mercury Division ever since.

Related Topics:
1945 - 1958 - Edsel - 1960

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Mercury, like the defunct Edsel, was created from scratch, rather than being a takeover of an existing company like Lincoln. Mercury's heyday was in the 1950's, when its formula of stretching and lowering existing Ford platforms was very successful. The brand has changed several times throughout its history. During the 40's and 50's , the make moved between as a "gussied up" Ford, to a "junior Lincoln" and even to having its own body designs. During the 1960's and early-1970's, Mercury began to distance itself from Ford and offered several different looking models such as the Cougar and Marquis. But in the late 70's to the early-1980s the brand was joined at the hip with Ford again and its image suffered as a result.

Related Topics:
1950's - 1960's - 1970's - 1980s

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The Mercury brand was used in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In 1999, Mercury models were renamed as Fords in both Mexico and Canada. As of 2005, Mercury's range is quite small and very similar to those sold under the Ford brand. Many industry observers have questioned whether Mercury will survive in the long term, but Ford insist that there is no intention of letting the brand die. Recent new model introductions would seem to bear that out. Its alliance with Lincoln has helped keep the brand alive; all Lincoln dealers also sell Mercury vehicles, and they desire some lower-priced vehicles in their showrooms.

Related Topics:
United States - Canada - Mexico - 1999 - As of 2005

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