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