Kind of old news:
REPORT: Ford To Kill Mercury
Remember the last Marauder? Yea, we used to have cars called "MARAUDERS!" :D
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Kind of old news:
REPORT: Ford To Kill Mercury
Remember the last Marauder? Yea, we used to have cars called "MARAUDERS!" :D
I'm glad they are gone. I'm tired of seeing mercury vehicles that have the same design as ford vehicles. The only difference is that they throw a mercury badge on it, throw in some leather seats and put a compass in the mirror :lol:
Saw one just the other day...black as night, one BAAAAAAD lookin' car!
What? I thought they had been gone a long time already.
Oh well, good riddance to another crappy American car company. Build quality and you will sell cars; Build crap and you will go out of business.
X2. I should also note that there are a few more turds rolling around out there as well. That should go without saying, but it impresses me every time I see someone purchase a dud, and are proud of their "steal" from Bob's car lot. You can pick up dog crap and form it into different shapes, but its still $hit.Quote:
Originally Posted by Obsidian
But the cloning works for Bel/Escort. :lol:
Mercury should have been dead a long time ago; the dwindling quantity of their badge-engineered vehicles on the road suggests they haven't been here in at least a decade. Mercury has been more of a trim package (leather, grille, geriatric first aid kit) for Fords than a true upmarket brand with its own identity anyways, no significant loss.
Mercury's problems aren't build quality, they are brand marketing, differentation and lack of imagination issues, IMHO. Sort of like much of Japanese luxury car rebadging of the non-luxury versions. Bunch of idiots paying way too much for a Honda with a different badge and overall the same car with tweaks, same thing with Mercury.
Ford has been in the top 3-three build quality for quite some time and the Mercs/Lincolns are made on the same lines. That's why Ford is doing so well (I made a killing buying stock at $1.65 last year and riding it up to $13/share). Then you have folks who will bury their heads about Toyota's problems. They aren't recent, they have had serious issues with their small and full size trucks for a long, long time and still have not addressed them (the rotting frame issues) AFAIK. And Hondas... just ask any body shop man when they are like underneath it all (really cheap assembly).
LOL X3. Apparently they think so highly of their rebadged overpriced fords that they refuse to buy the same car with a ford badge on it :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by StraßenkriegerX2. I should also note that there are a few more turds rolling around out there as well. That should go without saying, but it impresses me every time I see someone purchase a dud, and are proud of their "steal" from Bob's car lot. You can pick up dog crap and form it into different shapes, but its still $hit.Quote:
Originally Posted by Obsidian
The japanese learned to badge engineer their products, but far better. Park a Camry/ES350 or Accord/TL or 4Runner/GX470 next to each other and start looking for similarities. Under the skin, there are many but they are not so obvious. Try the same with Dodge/Chrysler minivans or the Escape/Mariner twins or the Explorer/Mountaineer clones or any GMC next to its Chevy counterpart and someone who doesnt know much about cars can tell you they are the same cars with different trim pieces tacked on and finished with a different name.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Chariot
Looks like the industry is moving toward the Japanese two-tiered model, with one "bread-and-butter" line and one "luxury" line and that's it.
We already have:
Honda - Acura
Toyota - Lexus
Nissan - Infiniti
What we may soon have:
Chevy - Cadillac
Ford - Lincoln
Dodge - Chrysler
All the other brands will go away. Maybe there will be a niche brand here and there, but this sort of brand consolidation will save money and improve focus.
Yes, I coulda been an auto industry consultant, but I refused to move to Detroit. :lol:
The markets are simply moving to the natural progression of the laws of 3 in capitalist markets. Most markets, over time, progress to 3 competitors and in capitalism that is enough to keep competition healthy.
Warehouse clubs for instance:
Sams, Costco, BJs
We have 3 domestic non-luxury brands. Moving towards 3 domestic luxury brands. Same with imports, dominated by 3 non-luxury brands and 3 luxury brands. Hummer, Mercury, Buick, etc. are all prey to this basic capitalist trend.
Take a look at the jammer market: Escort, Blinder and LI are the vast majority of the sales.
The RD market has, for the most part, 4 players: Cobra, Bel/Escort, Whistler and V1. If the margins weren't so high there would likely only be three. All others in the market are non-players, share-wise.
Keep an eye on Europe. If the Euro reaches parity with the $ then German cars will become a lot more competitive price wise.
Soooo, do you wan't to spend your $$ on a car with some UAW benefits tacked on or do you want to buy a bimmer and pay some Greek dudes welfare :D