Until the early 1960s, Mercury's catalog consisted of full-size, mid-priced models developed on Ford and Lincoln platforms. There was nothing outstanding about them, except some stylistic tricks (such as the Breezeway's reverse tilt down rear window) and useless gadgets that suited American tastes. Then came compact (Comet), mid-size (Montego, Cyclone) and sports (Cougar) cars; some were successful in NASCAR, NHRA and Trans-Am races. Mercury sales remained strong during the fuel crisis, peaking in 1978, but began to decline in the following years, mainly due to unification with Ford. Since Mercury had always been represented only in the North American market, it became increasingly difficult for it to Because Mercury was always limited to the North American market, it became increasingly difficult for it to compete with foreign automakers. In 2008, production volumes reached a historic low, and after three years Ford abandoned the redundant brand.
In 2003, the Grand Marquis sedan was lastly restyled, and it got a high-performance version Mercury Marauder, equipped with 4.6-liter Modular V8 DOHC engine with output of 302 hp. Because of low sales it was canceled in 2004. Besides these vehicles, smaller front-wheel drive full-size sedans Montego/Sable (2005-2009, twin Ford Taurus), minivan Mercury Monterey (2003-2007, twin Ford Windstar), full-size SUV Mercury Mountaineer (2002-2010, twin Ford Explorer), crossover Mercury Mariner (2005-2011, twin Ford Escape) and mid-size sedan Mercury Milan (2006-2011, twin Ford Fusion) were produced under the Mercury brand. All of them featured a waterfall grille with the Mercury emblem. The Mercury Mariner and Mercury Milan had hybrid versions, which came with a four-cylinder Duratec series gasoline engine, an electric motor, and a continuously variable CVT transmission.
The economic crisis of 2008-2009, the years-long policy of duplicating models and the Mercury advertising launched in 2008 as a women's car has led to a decline in sales from 360000 units in 2000 to 95000 units in 2010. Further existence of the brand did not make sense, as it had only 1% of the U.S. car market. At the end of 2010, Ford announced that it was liquidating the Lincoln-Mercury division and spinning off Lincoln into an independent subsidiary. The last Mercury rolled off the assembly line in St. Thomas, Canada, on January 4, 2011. Do not forget to use Mercury VIN decoder in order to avoid potential problems when buying a used car.
VIN Examples
2014 SMART FORFOUR
2014 NISSAN ALMERA 1.8
2014 RENAULT MEGANE
2014 PEUGEOT 205 GR
2014 RENAULT R. CLIO
2014 FORD FIESTA 1.25
2014 MAZDA MAZDA3
2014 MERCEDES-BENZ 1935 S
2014 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 1.6
2014 NISSAN ALMERA 5P 15
2014 MITSUBISHI MONTERO
2014 SEAT TOLEDO 1.9 TDI
2014 SUZUKI SJ-410JHT
2014 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF
2014 RENAULT TWINGO
2014 SKODA YETI
2014 OPEL ASTRA
2014 OPEL CORSA-B
2014 RENAULT RENAULT ESPACE
2014 OPEL KADETT 1.6 S
2014 FORD FIESTA 1.1
2014 CITROEN SAXO 1.6I VTS 3P
2014 RENAULT MEGANE
2014 MINI COOPER MAN
2014 ROVER ROVER 45
2014 FORD MONDEO 4PUERT PORTON 2
2014 CITROEN XANTIA 1 8 I