We had so much fun at The Garage digging up the old Eagle brand, it was hard to stop there. If you thought the Eagle brand was short-lived, consider the fate of Merkur. These cars only met our side of the Atlantic from 1985-1989.
To make sense of these misunderstood cars, let’s take a step back in time. Reagan had been in the White House a few years, the economy was going strong, and we had this strange new breed of buyers called “yuppies.” Said group were buying BMW 3-series as fast as they could make them, and Ford sensed that this demographic weren’t responding to the Tempo. What Ford did know at the time, was that they had two model lines that were raging sales successes in Europe. Surely, if they simply brought those cars here, everything would be OK. Wouldn’t it? Here are the two Merkurs:
1985-1989 Merkur XR4Ti
The XR4Ti was based on the hugely successful Ford Sierra, and it was the closest car in their vehicle portfolio at the time to compete against the E30 BMW’s. The car was powered by a 2.3L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine sourced from the Ford Mustang SVO, its drivetrain either a three-speed automatic or a five-speed manual. Perhaps the most recognizable feature of the XR was its bi-plane rear spoiler. Car and Driver claimed a top speed of 130mph, and 0-60mph in 7 seconds.
1988-1989 Merkur Scorpio
The Scorpio, another successful seller in Europe, found few buyers in North America. Unlike the XR4Ti, the Scorpio had a 2.9 liter V-6 instead of a four cylinder. At the time, the Saab 9000 owned the premium five-door hatch market, and the Scorpio never made a dent.
What is interesting about Merkur is that it was by invitation to Lincoln-Mercury dealers. 800 signed up. The XR and Scorpio did not fail because they were awful cars-they were failed by Ford, who had no clue how to sell a car to the customer who might consider one instead of a BMW. Salespeople accustomed to pushing Town Cars out the door to seniors were no match against young, educated buyers who were cross-shopping BMW’s and Audi’s. Perhaps the biggest mistake was naming a brand that no one knew how to pronounce. Merkur is said Mare (like a horse) coor (like the beer). Merkur is actually German for Mercury, but no one in North America cared about that, and it showed.
This story is relevant now, because right now, Ford of Europe are building great cars that meet our needs in a declining economy. If you haven’t, get a copy of the November issue of Automobile Magazine. Ford had a chance with Merkur, and blew it. Time for a second chance.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
You know, those were both good cars which sold well in Europe but it was just a mess when Ford brought them across the pond. As you said, the dealers didn’t know how to market them, and perhaps worse than that, they didn’t take care of the customers who had purchased them. Owners would walk into the dealership looking for a common everyday service part, and the guy behind the parts counter would say, “Sorry, don’t have that in stock at the moment, we could order one in for you, but it could take a few weeks”!!!
Merkur owners were treated by Ford dealerships like they had purchaesd some other weird and mysterious brand and now strangely wanted service from them.
I honestly think that the dealerships wanted to kill off the Merkur brand, and they basically succeeded. It’s a shame because if you talk to anyone who owned one, they loved the vehicles. In fact, the few that are still in existence demand great respect, especially the XR4Ti.
I personally think that the big wigs at Ford have always had a bit of a problem admitting that its European counterparts make some equally fine automobiles. It’s a bit of the old, “America is the best at everything, and nobody else can build cars as good as us”. Admittedly, Ford has always been as American as apple pie, but nowadays it is a “worldwide company playing in a worldwide market” and needs to think like one. There is still a place for the American designed automobile, but if the company’s Euro division has designs which would work here, then jump on the idea. When the industry is suffering, that’s not the time to let egos get in the way. After all, Europe’s not moaning about all the U.S. steel which is heading their way nowadays. I say better to used whatever strengths you have within the whole company than to go broke and end up owned ruled from japan!
Being with Ford for the past 30 odd years, In my opinion Merkur was the biggest missed step in Fords history. These cars were fantastic and could have led the way. The very few dealers that GOT IT, where not supported by Ford. In the showroom cookie cutter sales staff had no idea what these cars represented. Only a few car guys really knew.Too bad, its huge catch up time now. P.S., I put 200000 ks on my Scorpio, loved every one of them!
Crash
I could not have sad it better. From the repair shop point of view because of all of the above (hard to get parts) if every one of them fell off the face of the earth it would have been fine by me.
What years and models had the Michelin metric wheels and tires. What a disaster that was.
I was at a Ford media event this week and there was a little talk of what is coming in soon from Europe. The Transit Connect was mentioned, as was the Ford Fiesta, and the new (The real) Ford Focus. It was laughs all round when I asked whom I should give the check to for my new Focus RS!
That’s the problem with Ford. They may have seen the light now and are starting to bring over Euro-models, but what will we get? The ordinary plain jane models. When are we going to see the interesting ones, the ones which will make buyers stop and have a rethink about the brand?
I covered the UK show and was actually there when they revealed the Focus RS, what a car! Of course, Ford say that N.A. is not yet ready for a premium small performance car.
Wait a minute! Isn’t that what everyone said about the BMW Mini. You know the one, the one which is selling like crazy! And what about the VW GTI, has VW been taking a loss on those for all these years!
GM has the same problem understanding this, because while I was in the UK I saw their high performance Astras! What did we get, well I’ll tell you…GM Canada put only automatic versions on its press fleet. Think about that for a moment? In Europe, most drivers go for the stick shift, hence, they make really good gearbox’s. Automatic versions are almost an afterthought, and if you drive the N.A. Astra auto you’ll soon realize that. The Astra is a great car, but it could be so much better! Check out some of the UK websites and see what’s available for the Astra in Europe.
Then of course, we have the Transit. Are they bringing in the full size Transit? No, even though they have a diesel van which is exactly sized exactly like the hugely successful Mercedes, oh sorry that’s a secret, I meant “Dodge” Sprinter, we get “the little one”??? Work that one out? You have a van in Europe which could seriously undercut the expensive Mercedes model over here, but you don’t bring it over?
Oh, by the way, GM also has the same style of Van over there, so they aren’t any smarter than Ford!
What’s with this? I personally think that the N.A. companies don’t want their Euro-partners to get all the praise for the new models, what do you think?
Crash, I think your last paragraph hits the nail on the head. The same arrogance that brought the traditional domestics to their current situation continues to bear it’s ugly head. The North American product planners just can’t admit that someone from another shore is capable of building better, more relevant vehicles.
It’s hard to believe how misunderstood one of the largest markets for automobiles are. For years, Subaru and Mitsubishi refused to believe there was a market here for WRX’s and Evo’s. To this day, Honda’s Type-R models are for Japan and Europe only. Despite a HUGE tuner market here in North America.
I confess that I’m incredulous that Ford’s PR folks can say with a straight face we’re not ready for a premium small car like the Focus RS. VW nearly sold out their allotment of $33,000 R32’s, Mini Cooper S’ frequently touch the $30k mark. Even the Civic Si and Mazdaspeed3 are proof the market embraces performance econo-cars in the low-mid $20’s.
I don’t see this trend as being ego-driven, I see it as ignorance, or possibly that they think the buying public here is just stupid and lazy.
They didn’t actually say that N.A. was not ready for a premium small performance car, not this time anyway! Although, I have heard that from them in the past, and in fact, all the big 3. Oh, wait a minute, I’d better clarify that! I mean, “Who we have always known as the big 3″, GM, Ford, and Chrysler
I think that they worry that buyers over here expect bigger sized vehicles when they pay more money! I don’t think that they have grasped the idea that not everyone wants, or indeed needs a huge spacious vehicle.
Tom mentioned a few vehicles which demand premium prices for fairly smallish vehicles. He’s right on there, but it’s like the N.A. manufacturers completely ignore this market. Ok, fair enough, GM does does give us the occasional quick”ish” little Pontiac, and Chrysler knocks out the SRT Caliber, but it’s always about big HP for little $$$. It’s never about being the ultimate small performance machine, like the Subie or EVO.
Ford basically gives us nothing at all, and yet in Europe the RS family of cars has ruled the roads since the 70’s. I owned and rallied a Ford Escort Mk1 RS2000. That car dominated every little boys (and rally drivers) dreams for years. Europe is known throughout the world for its “Fast Fords”…RS Escorts, Cosworth Sierra’s, RS Fiesta’s. They’ve even been known to soup up the odd Transit van!
There’s a passion within Ford of Europe that we just don’t see over here, and that’s a shame because the company has the knowhow to do it, and to do it right.
I’m actually thinking of getting back into eventing, with maybe the Newfoundland Targa next year. What am I going to drive? Well, a new STI or EVO is too rich for my blood, so I’m thinking of bringing over a used Escort Cossie. It’s no good looking over here for anything close to that, because it just isn’t available to us!
I have an idea, why doesn’t Ford do a survey and see how appealing the idea of a N.A. RS Focus is? It’s my bet that they could sell as many of them as Dodge can sell Challenger SRT’s, and at least the youngsters would start looking at Ford again. Even if they brought it over just to drive up the base Focus sales. After all, what percentage of Challengers and Camaros do you think will be full-blown top of the line models compared to V6’s?