Mercury auto news

Top search on Ford's Cash-for-Clunkers site is... the Mercury Milan?

On June 25, Ford launched its "Recycle Your Ride" website. The site is an easy guide to determine if your vehicle is eligible for Cash-for-Clunkers, and which Ford family vehicles are a good fit as a replacement. So far, Ford says it's had over 250,000 potential customers fill out the short form, and surprisingly, the modest-selling Mercury Milan is in a statistical dead heat with the Ford Fusion for the top replacement vehicle chosen.

To test out the site, we chose a 1997 Ford F-150 with a 4.6-liter V8 engine. Ford's site brought up 16 vehicles eligible for the $4,500 incentive, including the Focus, Escape, Mariner, Taurus, Fusion and Milan. The picking-up-sales-steam Fusion and the underrated Milan currently account for 30% of overall selections, and Ford tells us that the public is split right down the middle on which vehicle they prefer.

While it's quite surprising that the Milan is garnering as much attention as the more popular Fusion, the real proof is in the sales data. We're guessing that the Milan won't outperform the Fusion's 19,000 June sales any time soon.

REPORT: Mercury Sable reaching the end of the line Thursday

Mercury's born-again Sable sedan is dead again - or, more accurately, it will be come so on Thursday. According to The Detroit News, Ford's gussied-up Taurus (itself a gussied-up Five Hundred) will expire later this week, leaving Mercury with just four models: the Milan, Mariner, Mountaineer, and Grand Marquis.

And while the Taurus is getting a brand-spanking new replacement model for 2010, a Sable stablemate is apparently not in the cards, in large measure because Ford reportedly chose to spend more money on developing and marketing its Taurus replacement.

Ford's middle-tier brand is expected to lose both the Mountaineer and Grand Marquis within the next couple of model years, and the only new product mooted for the waterfall-grille brand is a new small car that has yet-to-be confirmed.

Eerily, the Blue Oval recently tested the small car waters for its Lincoln luxury brand with its Concept C showcar that debuted at the Detroit Auto Show in January. The presence of the tidy Euro-look hatchback once again set tongues wagging that Ford may be pondering whether or not to axe the Mercury marque altogether. For its part, Blue Oval officials dismiss such plans, but there is no denying that Mercury's stable is getting smaller, and at the moment, little product appears to be in the replacement pipeline.

According to the DetNews, Ford sold just 1,158 Sables in April, a drop of nearly 40% year-over-year versus 2008.

Gallery: 2008 Mercury Sable

VIDEO: Letterman meet Musk, Musk meet Letterman. Got it? Good. Let's all hate on Chevrolet's Volt

Elon Musk brought out the Tesla Model S for its big New York debut last night, and Late Night talk show host David Letterman got a real "charge" out of it. Musk appeared on the Late Show and it was kind of strange to watch. Letterman had some kind of throat ailment that left his voice sounding remarkably like Bob Lutz. In spite of that, Dave's trademark style left him showing little sympathy for any automakers when discussing why after more than 100 years no one has really developed the electric car.

Dave didn't spare any kind words for efforts to develop hydrogen fuel cell technology, but he really ripped into General Motors and its baby, the Chevrolet Volt. Apparently the idea of being able to go a mere 40 miles on a charge is not appealing to him, and to his discredit, he didn't bother to mention the range extender. For his part, Musk does nothing to correct this oversight.

Check out the video after the jump for as long as it stays live on YouTube.

Continue reading VIDEO: Letterman meet Musk, Musk meet Letterman. Got it? Good. Let's all hate on Chevrolet's Volt

REPORT: NHTSA investigating if 2002-05 Ford Explorers/Mercury Mountaineers can slip out of park

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has begun looking at Ford Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers from the 2002-2005 model years. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, out of some 1.4 million SUVs produced, more than 200 complaints have been filed with the government agency regarding transmission issues: 11 owners have said that the vehicle will go from park to reverse on its own, and 61 have said that the gearshift mechanism has failed when trying to get the SUV into or out of park.

NHTSA's action isn't a full-on investigation, and there is no recall - it is a "preliminary evaluation... to assess the scope, frequency and potential safety consequences of the alleged defect and any relationship of the alleged gearshift lever mechanism failures to the alleged vehicle rollaway incidents." For its part, a Ford spokesman has said, "We do not see a safety risk and we will be fully cooperating with the government with the investigation."

NY Mets choose Lincoln-Mercury as Official Vehicle

Like the deal that placed Ford with the Yankees (but unlike Audi's partnership with the same team), the contract wasn't brokered by corporate headquarters but by the association of Tri-State Lincoln Mercury dealers, and amounts to about as much fun as you can shake a Louisville Slugger at. All it boils down to is that they'll be parking display vehicles outside the Mets' new home at Polo Grounds Shea Stadium Citi Field, so the next time they hit a home run it's more likely to go through the windshield of a Lincoln or Mercury. Details in the press release after the jump.

Continue reading NY Mets choose Lincoln-Mercury as Official Vehicle

Ford Advantage Plan guarantees job loss protection for new vehicle loans

It isn't even noon yet here in Detroit, but already it's been a busy day thick with bailout fallout and new consumer loan guarantee programs introduced by General Motors and the Ford Motor Company.

The Blue Oval has just unveiled its new Ford Advantage Plan, which can be thought of as a riff on Hyundai's much talked about Assurance Program. Ford's new initiative will cover payments of up to $700/month for up to 12 months on any new Ford, Lincoln, or Mercury vehicle if the loan holder loses his or her job.

We hope to learn more specifics about the program soon (conditions/exclusions, etc.), but for now, the program takes effect immediately and runs through June 1. Buyers will be able to take advantage of the program as well as a new round of zero percent financing offers through Ford Motor Credit.

As part of the announcement, Ford is also preparing a new dealership-level assistance program "to assist local charities impacted by the economic downturn," the details of which will be announced in April. Official press release after the jump.

Continue reading Ford Advantage Plan guarantees job loss protection for new vehicle loans

"Marquis DeSoto" wins NY Times' Collectible Car of the Year award

It is neither a Mercury Grand Marquis nor a DeSoto, but perhaps it could be considered a kind of royalty. Furniture maker Steve Heller wanted to build a car of his own design, and possessed of a love of Fifties car details, he swiped the things he liked and built what he calls the "Marquis de Soto." It can also be called the New York Times Collectible Car of the Year.

The Marquis is based on a 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis. The Marquis' wings have been poached from the rear of a 1957 DeSoto, along with 1959 Cadillac taillights, the front fenders and lights from a 1958 Lincoln, 1955 Cadillac bumpers, a 1965 Buick Skylark hood, chrome from a 1957 Buick, and a grille glommed built from two 1957 Corvette pieces.

Heller spent 20 years collecting all the parts - he makes furniture using vintage car doodads - and spent four months building the car in back of his furniture shop. We dig it... but we dig it even more when it was just wearing primer. It has The Riddler written all over it. For more on the Marquis DeSoto, you can watch a great Heller-narrated slideshow or check out the gallery of photos below. Hat tip to Avinash

Gallery: Marquis deSoto

Ford will shut down 10 N.A. plants in early January

A bitingly cold wind is sweeping through the Motor City this day, but the bigger chill continues to be the rapidly increasing number of idle plants from Detroit's automakers. As part of a previously-announced bid to trim first-quarter output by nearly 38%, Ford now says it will shut down ten North American factories the week of January 5. Unlike Chrysler's planned one month downtime (where they eerily won't commit to start dates), the Blue Oval has confirmed plans to re-light the fires in eight of those plants beginning the week of January 12.

That means that during the week of January 5, Ford's only active North American plants will be in Dearborn (F-150), and Kansas City (F-150, Escape/Mercury Mariner). The week of January 12 will see all facilities up save Hermosillo, Mexico (Fusion, Milan, Lincoln MKZ) and Oakville, Ontario, where the Flex, Edge, and MKX are built.

Ford is angling to cut down its quarterly output to just 430,000 vehicles, and shutdowns at staggered intervals are expected to continue throughout early next year.

Mercury Sable dies along with Taurus X

Next month Ford is expected to unveil the all new 2010 Ford Taurus at the Detroit Auto Show, but don't expect the large sedan to be accompanied by a new Mercury Sable. Ford spokesman Mark Schirmer told Automotive News that the spacious sedan will take a dirt nap in April, one month after the Taurus X drives off into the sunset. The Sable never did make inroads with customers despite of its unoffensive sheet metal, smooth ride, and spotless safety ratings, and sales are down 20% for the year through November. Schirmer stated that part of the reason for the Sable's departure was that Ford was readying itself for lower industry volume levels, which makes multiple nameplates more difficult to justify. Dealers will need to order their last Sables by March 6th, and production comes to a halt on April 30. In a letter to dealers, Ford stated that it was discontinuing the Sable to "have a laser sharp focus on delivering the products that consumers want the most." Fair enough.

We never quite understood why the Sable performed as poorly as it did. The Sable was no standard bearer, mind you, but even the Grand Marquis regularly kicked the Sable's arse on the sales charts. And it's been around since Jimmy Carter was president.

Mercury Cougar transformed into convincing Audi R8

The seventh-generation of the Mercury Cougar broke with tradition, switching from Detroit's classic front-engine, rear-wheel drive architecture to the more common front-engine, front-wheel drive design. Its styling was also considered pretty radical for the times, with swoopy curves replacing its predecessor's formal roof lines. We'd wager that the last Cougar's designers would never have believed that their humble compact would someday be the basis for an Audi R8 replica. We've examined the various shapes of the ReplicaAudiR8, as its designer refers to it - we prefer CougaR8 ourselves - and we've concluded it's not too shabby in the least. Take a look at our galleries below to judge for yourselves. Note our comparison shots of the CougaR8 and Audi's version in profile, front, rear and in three-quarter view (again, front and rear), which we've also pasted after the break all together. As we see it, the rear-view is the least successful in mimicking its four-ringed inspiration.

Of course, even if the styling of the replicar is decent, there's just no disguising that Cougar interior, despite the addition of a lone R8 badge on the steering wheel and the fact that these two cars share similar dash shapes. Even the interior, however, pales in comparison to the lack of power from Ford's 2.5L Duratec V6 engine, which at 170 horsepower is down by more than half to the Audi's burbling V8. Lastly, while the brakes and suspension components are fine for an entry-level coupe, they aren't quite up to snuff for a real-deal R8. In any case. Nevertheless, those who are more concerned with appearances than performance can get their own CougaR8 for about $50K - less than half what it would run to drive home in the real thing. Thanks for the tip, everyone!

Gallery: CougaR8 and Audi R8 side-by-side

Gallery: Cougar-based Audi R8 replica

Continue reading Mercury Cougar transformed into convincing Audi R8