dwasson
10-08-2006, 07:17 PM
Mercury aims for stylish niche
From: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061006/AUTO01/610060343/1148
http://vh10924.moc.gbahn.net/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C3&Date=20061006&Category=AUTO01&ArtNo=610060343&Ref=H3&Profile=1148Q=100&MaxW=250
The brand Edsel Ford founded takes a new direction with reinvented Mariner and Mariner Hybrid vehicles.
MIAMI -- Ford Motor Co. will pull the curtain back on the future of Mercury today with the unveiling of the all-new-for 2008 Mariner and Mariner Hybrid at the South Florida International Auto Show.
Challenged to refocus the brand as part of its North American restructuring effort, Ford is reinventing Mercury as a niche marque designed to appeal to more women, minorities and shoppers who typically don't consider Ford products. Mercury will have fewer models than in the past, but they will be lavished with more design attention inside and out.
"We've targeted a new audience with Mercury," said Kim Irwin, brand manager for Mercury. "The new Mariner is the first vehicle that really hits the new direction dead-on."
Ford is steering Mercury away from its traditional role as a mid-market brand designed to bridge the gap between economical Fords and luxurious Lincolns. That strategy made sense when Edsel Ford launched the brand in 1935, but Mercury lost its focus in recent decades as foreign imports crowded into the middle of the market.
Ford now wants Mercury to do for automobiles what companies like Target and Ikea have done for home furnishings and furniture: put stylish design within the reach of middle-class sophisticates. Its target market is sophisticated Gen-Xers who are technologically savvy and have a sense of style.
"We did ethnographic research," Irwin said. "We went into these peoples' homes to see what they buy and how they live."
more at link
From: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061006/AUTO01/610060343/1148
http://vh10924.moc.gbahn.net/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C3&Date=20061006&Category=AUTO01&ArtNo=610060343&Ref=H3&Profile=1148Q=100&MaxW=250
The brand Edsel Ford founded takes a new direction with reinvented Mariner and Mariner Hybrid vehicles.
MIAMI -- Ford Motor Co. will pull the curtain back on the future of Mercury today with the unveiling of the all-new-for 2008 Mariner and Mariner Hybrid at the South Florida International Auto Show.
Challenged to refocus the brand as part of its North American restructuring effort, Ford is reinventing Mercury as a niche marque designed to appeal to more women, minorities and shoppers who typically don't consider Ford products. Mercury will have fewer models than in the past, but they will be lavished with more design attention inside and out.
"We've targeted a new audience with Mercury," said Kim Irwin, brand manager for Mercury. "The new Mariner is the first vehicle that really hits the new direction dead-on."
Ford is steering Mercury away from its traditional role as a mid-market brand designed to bridge the gap between economical Fords and luxurious Lincolns. That strategy made sense when Edsel Ford launched the brand in 1935, but Mercury lost its focus in recent decades as foreign imports crowded into the middle of the market.
Ford now wants Mercury to do for automobiles what companies like Target and Ikea have done for home furnishings and furniture: put stylish design within the reach of middle-class sophisticates. Its target market is sophisticated Gen-Xers who are technologically savvy and have a sense of style.
"We did ethnographic research," Irwin said. "We went into these peoples' homes to see what they buy and how they live."
more at link