Ford to Kill Mercury

Ford plans to kill off Mercury, Jaguar's owner Tata hints at the next generation of cars which includes a potential sport roadster called the F-Type, and Infiniti launches a new performance division called the Infiniti Performance Line. Hosted by Derek DeAngelis.

Ford to Kill Mercury Another American brand or should I say planet is about to get the axe, but don’t worry. It’s probably the one you thought was dead already. Also Infinity looks to expand into the performance car market to rival AMG and M while there’s news on Jaguar’s future portfolio. What’s up everybody? I’m Derek D., you’re watching Fast Lane Daily. I hope you had a happy Memorial Day weekend and in between barbecue and crushing beers, a took a moment to thank all the good folks who have served and currently served our country. So thank you. This year, Black Magic is sending us on the 2010 Bullrun Live Rally from July 9th to 16th, New York to Last Vegas. We’re going to be driving the 2011 Shelby GT500 convertible and here’s your chance to come hangout with us the Bullrun launch party in New York. All you do is go to blackmagicshine.com and design your own racing livery using the tools they give you and the best design ends up on our car for Bullrun and Black Magic is going to pay for your trip to New York to come hangout with us in the kickoff party. So go to blackmagicshine.com and be sure to watch all our videos almost live from the Bullrun Rally right here on The Smoking Tire. Bloomberg news is reporting today that Ford could soon kill-off Mercury as early as next month. The brand initially created a 1939 by Henry Ford’s son only sold 92,000 vehicles last year compared to 1978 sales figures of half a million, it’s easy to see the company is in trouble. But it comes as no shock, Mercury only sells four models now, two of which are due to be phased out within the year with no plans for replacements. Plus why buy Mercury anyway? It’s simply a re-badged Ford. Just buy a Ford. That’s my opinion. Now there’s no official plan yet but Ford executives are reportedly preparing a proposal to submit to the board of directors in July and will effectively cut all budgets for the brand and kill if off. The reason? Alan Mulally wants to focus on one brand and build-off the one Ford plan. That said, Mulally has stressed that no such decision has been made on the fate of Mercury, but Bloomberg reports that even dealerships are already preparing for the shutdown. Listen, cars named after planets are probably not a good idea. Hey Saturn, how are you guys holding up? What, too soon? You’re right, Saturn is dead. Auto Week has reported Infinity has plans to create a performance division for the now international brand. It was only this year that Nissan decided to start selling Infinity models in the places outside of the United States. Now according to reports, they want to expand their lineup to include vehicles with an IPL badge. IPL stands for Infinity Performance Line and will basically be like BMW’s M Division or Mercedes’ AMG. US Patent and Trademark office received the IPL trademark documents which stated that brand’s identity to include “Vehicles with high performance motor vehicle parts, including turbo chargers and super chargers for engines as well as Cat-back exhaust, suspension parts, brakes, sport seats, and off road headlights.” We have no idea when these upgrades will be introduced for the brand. But heads-up M, AMG, SGT, and Quattro GmBH, Nissan just don’t make mistakes like the Lexus ISF. Now before you fan boys go crazy, I’m not saying the Lexus ISF is a bad car. Okay maybe I am a little. Okay crazy fan boys, go. Perfect. First seen in 1998 as a concept named the XK180, the Jaguar F-type was thought to be the company’s saving grace from a decade of staggered sales. As the company rolled through bad financial times, new management structures, end of sale to Indian brand Tata, nothing that special came out of its design shop until only recently with the XF. Now that Tata has rebuilt the company from the inside out, it’s time for a focused shift towards new cars the first of which will be the F-type described as a driver-focused sports car featuring cutting-edge engines and technologies. Though the car has been given the green light, it’s still in the design phase according to Auto Express, so we still may not see the new car for a few more years. Also interesting to report, the Tata chief has revealed that the vision of Jaguar Land Rover is to include a new 3 Series competitor as well as a fourth range rover model to the lineup. In related news, JF has petitioned Jaguar to call the car the JF-type instead of the Jaguar F-type, right JF? I actually spoke to a Jaguar official and he said, “I’d rather eat bull testicles and marry this chick than name a car after JF.” Ouch, that hurts. Also yesterday’s episode, I know we said airplane porn but we gave you a little more Leo porn, okay? I’m so sorry about that. Well that’s it for Fast Lane Daily today. I’m Derek D. And you know what they say, it’s just another manic Monday. I wish it was Sunday because that’s my fun day. My “I don’t have to run” day, it’s just another manic Monday. It’s Tuesday, that’s right. Wow. I had a great weekend. Wow.