Merkur (, '' Mercury'') is a defunct automobile brand that was marketed by the

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

- Mercury division of

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

from 1985 to 1989. Drawing its name from the German word for Mercury, Merkur was targeted at buyers of European

executive car Executive car is a British term for a large car which is equivalent to the European E-segment and American full-size classifications. Executive cars are larger than compact executive cars (and the non-luxury equivalent mid-size cars), and sm ...

s in North America, selling

captive import Captive import is a marketing term and a strategy for a vehicle that is foreign-built and sold under the name of an importer or by a domestic automaker through its own dealer distribution system. The foreign vehicle may be produced by a subsidia ...

s produced by the German division of

Ford of Europe Ford of Europe GmbH is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork, Ireland, with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. History Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 by the merger of Ford of Britain, Ford Germany, and Irish H ...

. Following the 1989 model year, Lincoln-Mercury withdrew Merkur, making it one of the shortest-lived automotive brands in the modern American automotive industry, lasting only one model year longer than Ford's earlier, more prominent failure, the

Edsel Edsel is a discontinued division and brand of automobiles that was marketed by the Ford Motor Company from the 1958 to the 1960 model years. Deriving its name from Edsel Ford, son of company founder Henry Ford, Edsels were developed in an eff ...

Background

During the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States and Canada, buyer preferences in the luxury-vehicle segment began shifting from once traditional Cadillac, Lincoln and Chrysler models towards more European-produced and inspired vehicles. As a response, the Japanese automotive industry launched luxury-oriented brands developed for North America, with Honda's

Acura Acura is the luxury vehicle, luxury and performance division of Japanese automaker Honda, based primarily in North America. The brand was launched in the United States and Canada on March 27, 1986, marketing luxury and performance automobiles. It ...

brand going on sale in 1985 and Nissan and Toyota bringing

Infiniti is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Nissan. Infiniti officially started selling vehicles on November 8, 1989, in North America. The marketing network for Infiniti-branded vehicles included dealers in over 50 countries in ...

and

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked among the 10 largest Japanese ...

, respectively, to market in 1989. In its own response, Ford announced the creation of the Merkur brand in November 1983 with an expected launch for the 1985 model year. Instead of developing all-new product lines, Merkur adapted vehicles from Ford of Europe to meet American safety and emissions regulations. During the 1970s, the

Mercury Capri Capri (later Mercury Capri) is a nameplate marketed by the Lincoln-Mercury division of Ford Motor Company on three distinct series of automobiles between 1970 and 1994. From 1970 to 1978, the Capri was a sport compact marketed in North America ...

had been imported from West Germany, becoming the most-imported car in the United States behind the

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

. In the initial launch of Merkur, approximately 800 Lincoln-Mercury dealers signed up to take on the Merkur brand. Advertising and PR materials strongly urged the proper

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

pronunciation of the brand name (German for Mercury). On Merkur vehicle badges was a script stating: ''Ford Werke AG-Cologne, West Germany'', indicating the car's place of manufacture (

Cologne Body & Assembly ''Cologne Body & Assembly'' is a Ford Motor Company automobile factory in the Nippes Merkenich district of Cologne, Germany, spanning . The plant, which currently employs approx 4,097, has manufactured the Fiesta (1976–2025) and Ford's B-class ...

Models

The Merkur model line consisted of two models: the three-door XR4Ti hatchback and the five-door Scorpio hatchback. North American regulations dictated a number of modifications to the design of the vehicles, which meant that a Merkur could not be identical to a European-market Ford Sierra or Ford Scorpio. To adapt a Merkur for sale in the United States and Canada, 5-mph bumpers were added, FMVSS 108-compliant headlamps, and an instrument panel with non-metric gauges.

XR4Ti

Introduced for 1985 as the introductory Merkur vehicle, the

Merkur XR4Ti The Merkur XR4Ti is a performance-oriented 3-door hatchback sold in North America from 1985 to 1989. A product of the Ford Motor Company, the car was a version of the European Ford Sierra adapted to U.S. regulations. The XR4Ti project was champio ...

was a performance-oriented hatchback. Sized nearly identically to the

Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...

hatchback, the XR4Ti was a slightly rebodied version of the Ford Sierra XR4i,Ford Merkur XR4Ti, el Ford Sierra americano
by Luis Bravo on Sexta Marcha, 27 May 2022 the mid-range sporting model of the Sierra. The XR4Ti name was chosen by Merkur as General Motors used the GMC Sierra and the

Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera The Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera is a mid-size car that was manufactured and marketed from the 1982 through 1996 model years by the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors. It shared the front-wheel drive A platform with the Buick Century, Pontiac 6 ...

nameplates. To comply with American emissions regulations, the 148 hp 2.8L V6 of the XR4i was replaced by a 2.3L turbocharged inline-4. Shared with the Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, Mercury Cougar XR7, and Ford Mustang SVO, the engine made 175 hp with a 5-speed manual transmission and 145 hp with a 3-speed automatic transmission. The body of the XR4Ti (modified for American regulations) was shared with the Sierra XR4i, it differed from the standard Sierra 3-door in its side profile appearance, in place of the long rear quarter windows of a standard Sierra 3-door, the Merkur is fitted with the C-pillar windows of the 5-door Sierra, with opening rear quarter windows behind the front doors. In line with the XR4i, the Merkur XR4Ti is distinguished by a large biplane rear spoiler (similar to the Ford Mustang SVO). As a result of the Merkur XR4Ti requiring adaptation for North American sale, final assembly was contracted to specialty manufacturer

Karmann Wilhelm Karmann GmbH, commonly known as simply Karmann, was a German automobile manufacturer and contract manufacturer based in Osnabrück. Founded by Wilhelm Karmann in 1901, the company specialized in a variety of automotive roles, includi ...

in Rheine, West Germany. Prior to the 1988 introduction of the Merkur Scorpio, the XR4Ti was the sole Merkur model. In early 1989, the XR4Ti was discontinued.

Scorpio

Introduced in mid-1987 as a 1988 model, the Merkur Scorpio was targeted for the executive sedan segment. Slightly smaller than the

Ford Taurus The Ford Taurus is an automobile that was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States from the 1986 to 2019 model years. Introduced in late 1985 for the 1986 model year, six generations were produced over 34 years; a brief hiat ...

(though longer in wheelbase), the Merkur Scorpio was adapted directly from the

Ford Scorpio The Ford Scorpio is an executive car that was produced by Ford Europe from 1985 to 1998. It was the replacement for the European Ford Granada line (although in the UK and Ireland the Scorpio was marketed under the Granada name until 1994). L ...

, the largest car sold by Ford of Europe. Competing against the

Acura Legend The Acura Legend is a mid-size luxury/executive car manufactured by Honda from Japan. It was sold in the U.S. and Canada under Honda's luxury brand, Acura, from 1985 until 1995 as both a sedan, which was classified as a full-size car, and a coup ...

Audi 100 The Audi 100 and Audi 200 (and sometimes called Audi 5000 in North America) are primarily mid-size/executive cars manufactured and marketed by the Audi division of the Volkswagen Group. The car was made from 1968 to 1997 across four generations (C ...

, Mercedes-Benz 190E,

Saab 9000 The Saab 9000 is an automobile produced by the Swedish company Saab from 1984 to 1998. Representing the company's foray into the executive car scene, it was developed as a result of the successes of the turbocharged 99 and 900 models. The 9000 re ...

, Sterling 827, and

Volvo 740 The Volvo 700 series is a range of executive cars produced by the Swedish manufacturer Volvo Cars from 1982 to 1992. The 700 series was introduced in 1982 with the luxurious 760, followed two years later by the lower priced 740 which capitalize ...

, in sharp contrast to most of its luxury competitors, the Scorpio was a 5-door hatchback (a bodystyle otherwise only seen in the Saabs and Sterlings in North America). Merkur Scorpios included many standard features and most were sold with the optional Touring Package upgrade. In contrast to the XR4Ti, the Merkur Scorpio was built directly on the Ford Cologne assembly line in West Germany, as its body was largely unchanged (with the exception of 5-mph bumpers and US-market lighting). Powertrain modifications were minimal, as the 2.9L V6 was an engine used in North America (by the Ranger and Bronco II). While a 5-speed manual transmission was standard, nearly every Scorpio sold was equipped with a 4-speed automatic transmission. One of the shortest-lived vehicles ever produced by Ford Motor Company, the Merkur Scorpio was discontinued at the end of the 1989 model year, marking the end of the Merkur brand.

Discontinuation

In the United States and Canada, Merkur was ultimately not considered a success by Ford. Initially projecting 15,000-20,000 yearly sales for Merkur, only 26,000 XR4Tis were sold in 1985 and 1986 combined, with sales dropping nearly 50% for 1987. On average, each Lincoln-Mercury dealer sold one to two Merkur vehicles. Several factors led to the slow sales of the Merkur line, including an unfavorable exchange rate between the dollar and the West German

Deutsche mark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

, leading to unstable pricing. By 1989, the Merkur Scorpio rivaled the Lincoln Town Car in price, despite its strong visual resemblance to the far more affordable Mercury Sable. At the end of 1989, the decision to drop the Merkur line was driven by future passive restraint requirements in North America. To bring the XR4Ti and Scorpio into compliance, the model lines would have needed airbag(s) or a passive restraint system (automatic seatbelts) to do so. As the slow sales of the model line no longer justified the expense of such a redesign (their European counterparts would not receive airbags until they were replaced in 1994), Ford chose to end the Merkur line, withdrawing the XR4Ti in early 1989 with the Scorpio following at the end of the 1989 model year.

References

External links

Merkur Club of America
{{Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company Ford of Europe Ford Motor Company of Canada 1980s cars American brands Defunct brands Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1983 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1989 1983 establishments in the United States 1989 disestablishments in the United States Ford Motor Company Marques Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers