28 July 2019

Mercury USA Sales : 1980's

The 1980 US Mercury Capri, complete with Bond girl

This period could not have started worse, with sales collapsing by one third. It's hard to see how that could happen. Various factors contributed but that someone with more knowledge of that may wish to leave a message to clarify The question now is could the problem be turned around?

The Grand Marquis became a distinct model, replacing the Marquis, which in turn went down a size to replace the Cougar, which in turn was downsized and took over from the Monarch. All of that had the effect of lifting sales.

The medium sized Zephyr was replaced by the Topaz in 1984 and the Mercury Lynx did like wise with the Bobcat in 1980/81, the Lynx being a European Ford Escort and more popular than the car it replaced. The Capri was on the way out.

LN7: One totally new model was this, a 3-door sporty hatch model which didn't last long nor sell in huge numbers. I guess it was a halo car.

The good thing was Mercury brand sales had really taken off again after the 1980 disaster.

Model 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980
Grand Marquis 143,594 96,659 77,348
Cougar/Monarch 120,964 87,933 56,438 75,456 83,567
Marquis 103,722 65,184 10,645 53,145 52,644
Topaz/Zephyr 73,454 53,379 42,363 50,603 87,032
Lynx/Bobcat 67,725 78,876 95,959 94,978 45,017
Capri 17,739 22,708 31,280 47,151 62,592
LN7
4,694 13,107 18,217
Total US Sales 527,198 409,433 327,140 339,550 330,852

It was a case of steady as she goes for these five years with sales dropping slightly. The Sable name replaced the Marquis and the Mazda 323/Protege sourced Tracer model came in for the Escort based Lynx. The first Tracer model had poor sales as a new model usually lifts sales. The Capri finally was put to bed.

Model 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985
Grand Marquis 111,575 114,385 116,482 123,096 135,202
Sable/Marquis 110,962 119,218 104,518 108,773 90,274
Cougar 99,673 100,961 110,722 114,270 119,225
Topaz 85,732 92,723 63,200 67,499 73,098
Tracer/Lynx 57,966 58,921 68,938 65,497 85,871
Capri


12,647 15,389
Total US Sales 465,908 486,208 463,860 491,782 519,059

Summary:
Mercury was doing OK but couldn't afford to slip further back in sales if it was to remain a viable brand worth retaining.

For the 70's coverage in this series, simply click here.
For the 90's coverage in this series, simply click here.

1984 Mercury Lynx

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