The following information includes personal speculation on my part, filling in the gaps on what the Ford Motor Company has already mentioned about its Mercury brand.

When it comes to automotive brands, a number of them are “damaged” having been neglected for many years. General Motors, has several including Pontiac, Saturn and Hummer while the Ford Motor Company has Mercury, a line of vehicles its sells alongside its Lincoln line. As recently as 2007, Ford appeared prepared to consider dropping Mercury but reconsidered that move at the insistence of its current CEO, Alan Mulally. Mulally has insisted that Ford keep Mercury going, changing the brand into a small car retailer which will take Mercury in a fresh direction.

To that end, we offer the following thoughts on how Mercury will look by 2013:

Good-Bye Large Vehicles – Mercury still sells several larger vehicles but that will soon change as the brand transitions to a small car brand. The aged Grand Marquis, capable Mountaineer and stylish Sable will all go away. The Sable will end production in 2009, the Mountaineer in 2010 and the Grand Marquis by 2011. Read the rest of this entry »