Cleaning Up the Mercury Spill

 
When Ford announced in mid-2010 that the storied Mercury brand was being put out to pasture, the buying public responded with a flat "what took so long?". There were questions, however, as to how Ford would recuperate Mercury's small, but not insignificant, volume. The last retail Mercury rolled off the production line before Dick Clark awkwardly counted down the new year, and we now have 5 months in the books in this post-Mercury era.

Was FoMoCo able to replace Mercury's volume? Let's take a look at the numbers.

 

Through May of 2010, Mercury had sold 14,236 Milans. In the same period, Lincoln sold 9,414 MKZs, and Ford sold 92,763 Fusions. This gives us a total of 116,413 CD3-based sedans.

This year, through May, Lincoln has sold 11,556 MKZs, and Ford has sold 110,878 Fusions, giving us a 2011 YTD total of 122,434 CD3-based sedans. CD3 sales, after the discontinuation, have grown by 6,021 units.

Through May of 2010, Mercury had sold 11,997 Mariners. In the same period, Ford had sold 83,440 Escapes. This gives us a combined total of 95,437.

So far this year, 100,333 Escapes have been sold. Ford has sold 4,896 more compact utilities this year than last, even without the Mariner. 

Through May of 2010, Mercury had sold 2,467 Mountaineers (which was already confirmed to be dying that model year). In the same amount of time, Ford sold 25,164 Explorers (this being before the 2011 model launched), giving us a 2010 YTD total of 27,631 midsize utilities.

So far this year, the Explorer nameplate has sold 55,401 units, nearly doubling the combined YTD figure from 2010.

I'm not including Panther figures (this years Crown Victoria numbers are quite skewed as police agencies stock up before the model is discontinued), but Mercury's Grand Marquis volume is more than replenished by a jump in CV sales.

Looking at brand sales, the evidence is clear: Ford brand vehicles YTD are up by 138,989 units, Lincoln brand sales are down YTD by a minuscule 2,802 units, and YTD Ford + Lincoln sales have improved by 136,187 units. Mercury, from January thru May last year, sold just 41,680 units.

Are the same buyers spending their dollars on Fords or Lincolns instead of Mercury? Not necessarily. But Ford has shown that their plan was a sound one: They've discontinued an entire brand, yet replaced that brand's volume more than threefold.