(June 2010) Unlike its fleet-footed symbol which disappeared years ago Mercury’s time has come to join the likes of 10,000 other auto brands that have come and gone. And emotional attachment aside it seems the smart thing to do.

The handwriting has certainly been on the wall with ever declining volumes and the shortage of vehicle models that make a brand a brand; Mercury was anything but a complete car company.

But a recent clue was a sign that Mercury was done. Not long ago Lincoln announced that the luxury marque was to offer the MKZ as a hybrid, joining the Ford Fusion and the Mercury Milan to offer the technology and that alluring 40-mile per gallon highway mileage.

Now some would say that people who buy luxury cars deserve class leading technology, and gee whiz Lexus has all those hybrid cars, why can’t Lincoln have one?

Well they can, but in this case Lincoln shares a showroom with Mercury, unlike Lexus and Toyota. Compound that when you realize that most Lincoln-Mercury dealers are also paired with Ford — all three sharing the same showroom in many cases. That puts three same-size hybrid sedans side-by-side creating a dilemma for buyers — why is this technology priced so differently in these three cars? Good question and really no good answer comes to mind, and “Lincoln is a luxury brand,” just doesn’t cut the mustard.

Another clue, perhaps more obtuse, is the upcoming redesign of Escape. The add-on cost to do Mariner was a pretty price to pay to keep a declining brand somewhat afloat. Take that same vehicle and dress it really nice and fill it with good stuff and you now have expanded the Lincoln hybrid line-up to two. Use the same technology to turn the new MKT into a multi-line-up vehicle and now you have enough muscle to talk hybrids to Lexus customers.

Well you say, “how about two Escape size vehicles on the same showroom floor?” How about this – now that Mercury is gone Ford presses the dual dealer into creating separate showrooms, a scenario that makes perfect sense.

This situation now allows for real customer focus in both showroom; it allows Lincoln to really design and built really high quality luxury cars and sell them to an appreciative audience who want extraordinary care and a car to match.

So with Ford moved next door and Mercury gone it keeps the mass-market merchandise away from the Lincoln customers and any confusion down to the minimum.

And on the Ford showroom, just to prove that the company loves equally, some better interiors and even more attention to detail that the Mercury customers seemed to expect. Wouldn’t a Milan interior look really good on that top-of-the-line Fusion?

— Ted Biederman