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Ford reportedly to charge $700 premium for Ecoboost
Filed under: Green, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury 
Ford has been touting Ecoboost as an economical alternative to hybrid technology, and word from Automotive News is that the price tag could be $700 per vehicle. Ecoboost is said to deliver 20-30% fuel economy gains by combining turbochargers and direct injection technology with down-sized engines. The automaker also estimates that owners will pay off their Ecoboost premium in two year's time at $3.25 per gallon gasoline and 15,000 miles of driving per year. Since $3.25 is at the optimistic end of the gas equation, we're thinking Ecoboost could likely pay for itself before that. While hybrids might be able...
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Spy Shots: 2010 Mercury Milan is up next
Filed under: Spy Photos, Sedans/Saloons, Mercury 
Click above for high-res gallery of 2010 Mercury Milan spy shots
It seems like the Mercury Milan's lot in life is to follow the Ford Fusion, go wherever the Fusion goes and do whatever the Fusion does. Thus it's no surprise that when spy photographers happened upon prototypes of the 2010 Ford Fusion out being tested, the 2010 Mercury Milan was not far behind. Comparing the two sets of spy shots, the Milan appears to be making a bigger departure from its previous look than the Fusion. Its grille retains vertical slats, but the grille itself is much wider pushing the...
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Mercury Sable and Taurus X dead next year?
Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Crossovers/CUVs, Ford, Mercury 
Mercury, after nearly being introduced to oblivion, was rescued from the void because Ford needs a brand that could be devoted to small cars. The Ford brand, still fighting off oblivion itself, has recently been devoted to fresh, new designs that provide consumers the flair and features they've been looking for.
 Two of the hitches in those plans are the Mercury Sable and the Taurus X. The Sable, sister of the Ford Taurus, has remained so unloved that even Jill Wagner couldn't save it (through no fault of her own). In...
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Mercury repositioned to complement Lincoln, new small car coming in 2010
Filed under: Coupes, Sedans/Saloons, Hatchbacks, Mercury 
What's a Mercury? That's a question that's been on the lips of senior execs at FoMoCo for some time. Positioned between Ford and Lincoln, the badge-engineered brand has been lacking defined products for over a decade, but according to the Derrick Kuzak, Ford's global product chief, that's going to change.
Mercury will be repositioned as an entry-level premium brand that will still slot in below Lincoln, but will be made up entirely of small vehicles and crossovers. Lincoln dealers, on the other hand, will be stocking mid-size sedans and larger vehicles, while Mercury will focus on smaller, more fuel-efficient products.
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Mercury rising: Thursday announcement expected to lay out Euro-infused future
Filed under: Euro, Plants/Manufacturing, Ford, Mercury, Rumormill  Mercury has been languishing over the last several years with badged-engineered products barely distinguishable from their Ford brethren. As the market shifts towards smaller cars with higher fuel efficiency, there may be a golden opportunity for the Mercury brand to actually prove its worth as Ford's outlet for European-designed vehicles for the American market. In a move akin to what General Motors has done with Saturn, importing Opels to the U.S. in an attempt to revive the marque, Ford could bring its highly-desirable Euro-only models to the States badged as Mercurys.
According to unnamed sources, the New York Times...
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Mercury dying: No updates planned past 2010
Filed under: Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Rumormill There's further proof that Ford's planetary division could soon wave goodbye, according to Automotive News. While we've already reported on the apparent lack of supplier deals for the ailing upmarket brand from Ford, some further dissection reveals just how close Mercury may be to the brink of extinction. For instance, no Mercury vehicle currently exists which isn't a mild rebadge of a Ford product. While we have had hints of new models wearing the Blue Oval badge, not a peep has been provided regarding future Mercury products. Lincoln too has gotten some love as of late with its new MKS sedan,...
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Ford moving to three-year redesigns to keep things fresh
Filed under: Concept Cars, Etc., Ford, Lincoln, Mercury 
Back when it was virtually guaranteed 20% US market share, Ford would redesign its vehicles every five or more years. The Ford Ranger, Focus, and Crown Victoria changed even slower, with mostly only new lights and grilles. When competitive pressures started to put the Blue Oval into an anaconda death grip, that once guaranteed share began to shrink. To battle those competitive forces, Ford is looking to do a major redesign on its vehicles every three years from now on. Ford design director Peter Horbury told Automotive News that minor styling changes just aren't effective, and that...
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In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Mercury Mariner Hybrid [w/VIDEO]
Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Crossovers/CUVs, Ford, Mercury, First Drive 
Click the image above for more high res pics of the 2009 Mariner Hybrid
Ford took pride in being the first automaker on the planet to offer a hybrid utility vehicle when it introduced the first battery-assisted Ford Escape in mid-2004. The Escape hybrid has had mixed success over the past few years, but with gas prices hitting $4 per gallon, the Blue Oval is selling every unit it can produce. For the 2008 model year, one in eight Escape sales are hybrids, which is impressive when you consider that it averages $30,000 per...
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We got nothin': Supplier says no more Mercury past 2012
Filed under: Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Rumormill 
Ford's mouthpiece continues to deny there's any plan to smother Mercury with its own pillow, but a Ford supplier has whispered something different in the ear of Inside Line. According to IL and its source, the last Mercury to die will likely be the handsome and likable Milan sedan, which will receive a mid-cycle refresh that shall carry the model through to 2012. The Sable will likely expire in 2010 when the new Taurus rolls out without a Mercury counterpart. Ford rhetoric, however, still holds that Mercury and Lincoln are being repositioned, with Abe's brand taking over as the volume-seller...
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Autoblog Podcast #96
Filed under: Podcasts, Hybrids/Alternative, Minivans/MPVs, Trucks/Pickups, Wagons/Estates, Crossovers/CUVs, Cadillac, Chrysler, LLC., Ford, GM, Mercury, Saab  For three weeks in a row, now, we've brought you a new Autoblog Podcast courtesy of the B-Team. Here's episode #96 of the Autoblog Podcast, where Chris Shunk, Sam Abuelsamid, and Dan Roth kibbitz over some morsels of recent news. There's the requisite trip to the Autoblog Garage to start things off, then we move into actual discussion points like the CTS Wagon, a gasp of life on the Ford Ranger front, the massive confusion around Cerberus and Chrysler, and...
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