Ford have announced that they plan on killing off their 71 year Mercury project, which forecasters have said could cost them over £320 million.
Mercury was set up in 1939 as a mid-level luxury car producer but with no new models being produced since 2008 Ford has decided to cut the brand to concentrate on its other ventures.
Many believe that the downfall of the brand was due to Ford moving into making its standard cars luxury models, for example the 2008 Sable Premier is very similar in shape to a 2008 Ford Mondeo.
Company CFO Lewis Booth also confirmed that Ford had spent somewhere in the region of £159 million in the first six months of the year to begin closing down factories and dealerships.
Sales of the Mercury brand had plummeted over recent years (selling fewer than 90,000 a year) and as Ford now have the Lincoln brand in North America it is believed that the closure of Mercury will allow Lincoln to attain ‘best-seller’ status.
Despite Ford announcing that there would be no updates on the Mercury brand past 2010 the closure has come on the back of the American manufacturer announcing recently that it had no intentions of “letting the brand die". Despite many industry experts questioning whether the brand could survive.
A large portion of the money that is being put aside to close down the project will be used to buy out 700 of the 1700 US dealers, forcing them to close their businesses in return for the financial compensation. Various reports have suggested that each dealership could receive around about £130,000 as a settlement.
Ford has not yet announced how support for owners will be worked due to the closure, but it is likely that any parts may be difficult due to the halt of production.
If you own a Mercury and need spare parts have a look at CarSpareFinder which will search breakers nationwide to find the parts you need at the best price.