When reading a recent article an interesting point was brought up by pushrod27: "What is Lincoln, aside from Cadillac's arch-nemesis?" Lincoln has no real image and has a tainted (at best) reputation in the US. Outside of the US it is likely completely unknown. Ford would have an extremely difficult time expanding Lincoln outside the US. A very valid case was made for Ford to kill Lincoln during the PAG (Premium Auto Group) period under Jack Nasser. Ford no longer has the PAG so theoretically Lincoln could aspire to move up market to an Audi like role but lets be honest here how long would they have to put out truely world class products to be considered on the same level, 10, 20 years? Could they even expand the brand until that reputation is established? I can't see Ford spending that long and that much money to gain less than 100k sales a year.
Mercury is the same but with even less cache. People have argued for years that Mercury was a dead brand. Over the last year any Mercury enthusiast that existed (if they exist) should have been on pins an needles expecting the brand to be closed (as was Pontiac and Saturn which had more sales or more potential). Mercury doesn't stand a chance becoming a global brand, now or ever.
So the question is: should Ford dump Lincoln and Mercury and just concentrate on the core Ford brand? Lets hear your opinions.