Detroit Concepts Show Lincoln Isnt About to Lie Down and Let Cadillac Take All the Attention

DETROIT--Ford Motor Company showed that it is pressing forward to rebuild its languishing Lincoln Mercury division by introducing three new concept vehicles at the 2004 North American International Auto Show, two of which are slated for production.

The full-size Lincoln Mark LT luxury pickup truck joined the stage along with the Mark X two-seat convertible hardtop roadster and the new Aviator crossover wagon. The new 2005 Mercury Mariner compact sport utility vehicle was also rolled out, but it was the concepts that grabbed most of the attention.

For

The stage was set at Cobo Hall in Detroit for Ford Motor Companys Lincoln Mercury division to roll out its new production prototypes and concept vehicles during the 2004 North American International Auto Show. Ford has nearly exclusively rented the arena, where the Detroit Pistons basketball team used to play, for its auto show unveilings for four years. (Photo: Ford Motor Company)

The new 2005 Mercury Mariner compact sport utility vehicle was unvieled at the 2004 North American International Auto Show. (Photo: Ford Motor Company)

"Lets face it, before we brought these two brands back to Dearborn, from their lost weekend in California, things at Lincoln Mercury really werent working that well," OConnor said.

More Than a Lost Weekend

After General Motors purchased Detroits Renaissance Center in the late 1990s, the Lincoln Mercury division was forced to move out, and Ford decided to relocate its sales and marketing offices to California (Henry Ford II had built the RenCen as

In the past couple years, the Lincoln Mercury division was taken out of Fords Premier Automotive Group and most of its personnel returned to Dearborn. (Photo: Ford Motor Company)

Instead, the division got folded into Fords Premier Automotive Group (PAG), placing it with Jaguar, Aston Martin, and Fords recently purchased Volvo Cars and Land Rover marques.

The PAG brands are a large part of the automakers profitability strategy, but Lincoln started getting lost in the shuffle and some car journalists and Wall Street analysts began opining that

After years without solid product planning, Mercury has been reenergized. (Photo: Ford Motor Company)

After the fall of Ford President and CEO Jacques A. Nasser three years ago, the Lincoln Mercury division was taken out of PAG and most of its personnel returned to Dearborn.

"It was longer than a couple weeks... there clearly wasnt a lot of Lincoln Mercury product planning and was taking a back seat to a lot of the emerging brands (Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo) and then we brought them back home," OConnor said. They are North American products, with some sold in Canada and Mexico, but they are not international products. And, I think the key is that they are back home where the focus is North America and the people know how to put the products together and know what the Lincoln Mercury customer wants--which

Lincoln Mercury President Darryl Hazel explains the features of the 2005 Lincoln Mark LT full-size pickup truck. This is Lincolns second attempt to launch a luxury pickup following the sales failure of the Blackwood. (Photo: Joe Cabadas, American Auto Press)

Returning Passion to the LM Division

In the past year, Mercury has been reenergized with the new Monterey minivan, based on the new Ford Freestar, and with the new Mariner SUV coming out, OConnor said. Plus, the Mountaineer SUV, Grand Marquis, and the Marauder, which is a variant of the Marquis, have been selling well. Sable sales have languished, however.

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