Merkur

E8610

Merkur was a short-lived automotive marque created by Ford in the 1980s to sell European-designed performance and luxury cars in the North American market.

Aliases (2)

Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Ford Motor Company division
automotive marque
executive car model
passenger car model
basedOn Ford Scorpio
Ford Sierra XR4i
bodyStyle five-door hatchback
three-door hatchback
countryOfOrigin United States
endTime 1989
introducedModel Merkur Scorpio
Merkur XR4Ti
layout front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout
front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout
marketedAs European-designed luxury car brand
European-designed performance car brand
marketedBy Merkur
Merkur
nameLanguage German
nameMeaning Mercury (German name of the Roman god)
notableCharacteristic European engineering for North American buyers
operatedIn Canada
North America
United States
parentCompany Ford Motor Company
positionedAgainst Audi
BMW
Saab
positionedAs import alternative sold by domestic manufacturer
productionEnd 1989
1989
1989
productionStart 1985
1985
1988
reasonForDiscontinuation federalization costs
poor sales
unfavorable exchange rates
relatedBrand Mercury
salesChannel Lincoln-Mercury dealer network
segment luxury cars
performance cars
shortLived true
soldThrough Lincoln-Mercury dealers
startTime 1985
targetMarket North American market
usedDesignsFrom Ford of Europe
usedPlatformFrom Ford of Europe


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