scottie1113 said:
Frankly, I think Bill Ford should take Mercury out back behind the barn and put a bullet in its brain. It's a drain on Ford and I can't recall many memorable cars in its history. It's a redundant brand and deserves to go away like Oldsmobile and Buick.
Opinionated? Yes I am. I'm just sick of seeing our car companies throwing away good money after bad.
OK. Take your best shots..
What Ford probably should have done (but it's too late now):
1) Build a large RWD production version of the 427 with a selection of powertrains ranging from the Duratech30 through a 300+ hp version of the 4.2L Jaguar V-8. Had that been done on a moderate time schedule, it would have beaten the Chrysler 300 to the punch and Ford would be profiting like crazy right now. SOMEBODY really dropped the ball on that.
2) Figure out what to do with Mercury. They could have used two very different, yet equally-effective strategies here. They could have either differentiated Mercury from Ford so that the marque would have a few distinct, performance-oriented cars of its own, justifying the separate network of dealerships currently in existance for Lincoln-Mercury; or they could have severed Mercury from Lincoln and start selling Mercury as upscale-trim versions of stock Fords... which is, in the end, really what they currently are.
3) Make Lincoln competitive. With the DEW98 platform, a link was established between Lincoln and Jaguar (via the Lincoln LS and the Jaguar S-Type, respectively). The top brass at Ford didn't want to have Lincoln follow Cadillac in the quest for world dominance. That's all well and good, but Lincoln could have competed in the mid-lux segment by making a new Continental based on a steel version of Jaguar's aluminum XJ chassis (sort of like what VW did with the Phæton, but with substantially more distinction)... which would give Lincoln a RWD car that could obliterate the Town Car and used their new styling direction to annhilate Buick and potentially snag some sales from Daimler-Benze and Chrysler. Instead, the Town Car is staying around until 2007, when it, and the LS, will be replaced by a pair of big FWD sedans with AWD options. How many Acura RL's do you see on the road? Yeah... that's what I thought...
Ford's skill at managing international marques is very impressive. Volvo has become 'hip', Mazda is dipping heartily into the young adult demographic, Jaguar has become much more profitable, and Aston-Martins sell well enough to keep the marque out of yet-another bankruptcy!
But, back in the USA, I'm somehow beginning to think that this whole "year of the car" marketing BS exists simply to hurl 3 distinct models (Five Hundred, Freestyle, and, later, the Fusion) at the Toyota Camry, hoping one of them will outsell it in their eternal quest to avenge the unseating of the Taurus as "America's Family Sedan".
*Climbs into flame suit* Okay, let 'er rip!