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Originally Posted by 1BadPig
Mercury = Saturn?
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No, I dont think that this will mean that Mercury = Saturn and FoMoCo is taking a page from GM's book exactly.
Mercury is slated to get a range of about three or four products that will range from the low end of the market to the mid-sized segment. Those market segments are all areas where Ford of Europe either has full responsibility for creating these products for the rest of the Ford Empire or significant influence. So this isn't really surprising.
However, that doesn't mean that the next Mondeo will replace the Milan directly. Alan Mulally has stated that Ford's will have a common look world wide and share paltforms, components, design, etc. Since he assumed the CEO role, he has pretty much drilled this point home.
That means that the next Focus will look like the European versioin. Same may hold true for the Mondeo and the Fusion, the Kuga and the Escape, etc.
However, one area that probably will NOT match up exactly are the interiors. While I have no doubt that Ford of NA will step up their game in the area of interior design, materials fit, and finish - I doubt that they'll be as rich as their Ford of Europe in this respect.
However, this is where Mercury would step in. In this news that Ford of Europe will have some responsibility for Mercury, I believe that they'll create unique looking exteriors that are different from the normal Ford of Europe products. Afterall, if Mulally gets his way, then Ford's Europe cars will look like Ford badged North American products - it wouldn't make sense to make them exactly alike.
But what may be carried over are the interiors. Ford of North America can probably get away with charging a few dollars more for the interiors found in most Ford fo Europe products if they are badged as Mercurys. So while the exteriors will probably look different, the interiors may stay close to their Ford Europe cousins.