Then again - why shouldn't it?
Mercury is the lower-cost half of Ford's "Lincoln-Mercury" division. There is but one independent Mercury dealer in the entire nation. All the rest are Lincoln-Mercury of Ford-Mercury dealers or sell all three brands. The thing for which it's so criticized - it's cars are near-clones of Fords - makes it appealing from a business standpoint. The added cost of making a Mercury instead of a Ford is practically nil. And without seperate dealerships to fill, Ford can be selective about which models make sense for Mercury.
Besides, even if the similarity is starkly obvious to some of us who look closely, the changes are enough to attract unique buyers who wouldn't otherwise buy a Ford product. Mercurys are targeted more toward female buyers with a sophisticated fashion sense.
But, while Ford insists Mercury is here to stay, it will be moving more to the background. Ford has not unveiled a new Mercury product since 2006 when it rolled out the redesigned Mercury Mariner.
Ford is now shifting the product emphasis to Lincoln, Ford's luxury brand that has been languishing for ages. In recent years, Mercury has far-outsold Lincoln, but the gap is already narrowing quickly as new Lincoln products start to enter dealerships. The plan is for Mercury to begin falling behind as a resurgent Lincoln takes the lead.
