The Mercury Mountaineer has forever been the slightly upscale cousin to the Ford Explorer. What was once a little bit more than just a different grille and headlamps in the late 1990's has evolved today into an entire new front end design, and numerous other interior enhancements. Yet despite the Mountaineer's distinct looks and a genuine attempt to attract a slightly different market niche than the Explorer, the Mountaineer remains a miserable flop in sales. Out of 250,000 Explorers and Mountaineers combined sold in 2005, only 15,000 were Mountaineers. With Ford Motor Corporation full swing in a major restructuring mode, it is a legitimate concern to wonder how many days left the Mountaineer has.
Does a Market Remain for the Mountaineer?
According to Edmunds.com, Mercury's Mountaineer Premier model with all wheel drive arrives at a base price of $35,500. A similarly equipped Ford Explorer V8 Limited model with four wheel drive arrives at $35,940. Both arrive with nearly the exact same components, but the Mountaineer includes a power third row seat bench by default. While only a $450 price differential, the Mountaineer becomes the better value.
But the Mountaineers can become pricey in their own right. An Edmunds.com Mountaineer test vehicle with seven passenger capacity, second-row bucket seats, power running boards, a power moonroof, a DVD navigation system, adjustable pedals, 18-inch aluminum wheels and a rear-seat DVD entertainment system, brought the total price up to $41,990. At this price, we're already nearly $3,000 over the cost of a BMW X3 xDrive30i and only $5,440 short of a X5 xDrive30i. It's no secret that BMW has a much better brand image and appeal than Mercury - not to mention more financially stable.
Unknown Future
Mercury's future as an entire brand remains to be seen. It has long been rumored since 2007 that Mercury would be getting the axe after abismal sales results. Sales of Mercury cars totaled only 180,848 units in the United States. This works out to less than eight vehicles per month per franchise, and the lowest total for the marque since 1960. As Autoblog pointed out back in 2007, Chrysler killed off Plymouth and Oldsmobile when sales dropped down to ~246,000. Mercury is far lower in comparison, so why does Ford keep the brand alive?
More recent reports state that Ford is considering ending the Mountaineer after the 2010 timeframe, which places it roughly in line with when the new Explorer crossover vehicle is set to debut. With the Mercury Sable axe announcement back in early December 2008, the last Sable will roll off the manufacturing plant in Apri, 2009. Is the Mountaineer next?
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ExplorerX is a dedicated Ford Explorer, Mercury Mountaineer, Lincoln Aviator, and Saleen Explorer XP6/XP8 enthusiast community. We have focused for years on the aggressive side of Explorer customizing, and have grown into a very loyal community. While countless are shying away from SUV's, our members are spending extra cash on modifying their Explorer to become truly unique.
