Mercury Line May Hit the Scrap Heap

Once a four-wheeled icon of cool, Ford's Mercury brand is steadily losing traction and may soon be parked for good, the Los Angeles Times reports. Ford has not yet announced a plan to scrap the line, but one key stockholder is urging the company to let it go.  "Mercury has one more product cycle left in it, and then will almost certainly be retired as a brand," one analyst said.

Another countered that "it's premature for Ford to cross that bridge when they have so much else to worry about. Beyond two or three years, though, anything goes." Ford is currently revitalizing its Ford and Lincoln brands while Mercury sales slip, from half a million annually in the mid-'80s to just 168,000 last year. (More Mercury stories.)