Mercury Milan 2010
Milan, Italy.
Known for Milan Fashion Week, and any number of boutique designers and fashion houses.
Milan is also the home of most of Italy's banking and financial institutions, and know for it's art galleries and architectural gems.
All of these things are of interest to the Mercury Milan's key market demographic: Middle-Class Educated, Professional Female Americans.
Once upon a time Mercury stood as the middle-class stepping in point to the Ford Motor Company - Almost a Lincoln. Certainly at its creation. Later in life it was know for power and performance (appropriately, as Mercury was the Roman god of speed). Laterly Mercury became a kind of middle-class women's brand for customers put off by the masculinity of Ford (most popularly known for is Mustang sports car and the F-Series trasdesman and cowboy pickup truck). Mercury lost what was 'cool', and became another ca brand vying for women living somewhere after finishing graduate school, and moving out of their soccer-mom phase. The problem was, the three friendly German automakers chose to diversify from the autobahn saloons, and provide a foreign, premium badge one-up-manship for driveway kudos.
This left the updated 2010 Milan, as the last new product launch for a diminishing Mercury brand, and saw the storied marque join Oldsmobile, DeSoto, Kaiser, Hudson, Studebaker, and many others, in the Hall of Memories of middle-class automakers. Many would argue that Buick should have joined them. But unexpected market success in China now means that more Buicks are sold to communist Chinese than are sold to successful professional Americans.
Perhaps the lesson learned is 'what could have been' with a bit of vision.
This Lego miniland-scale 2010 Mercury Milan has been modelled for Flickr LUGNuts' 78th build challenge, - 'Places, Everyone', - celebrating vehicles named after places.
Mercury Milan 2010
Milan, Italy.
Known for Milan Fashion Week, and any number of boutique designers and fashion houses.
Milan is also the home of most of Italy's banking and financial institutions, and know for it's art galleries and architectural gems.
All of these things are of interest to the Mercury Milan's key market demographic: Middle-Class Educated, Professional Female Americans.
Once upon a time Mercury stood as the middle-class stepping in point to the Ford Motor Company - Almost a Lincoln. Certainly at its creation. Later in life it was know for power and performance (appropriately, as Mercury was the Roman god of speed). Laterly Mercury became a kind of middle-class women's brand for customers put off by the masculinity of Ford (most popularly known for is Mustang sports car and the F-Series trasdesman and cowboy pickup truck). Mercury lost what was 'cool', and became another ca brand vying for women living somewhere after finishing graduate school, and moving out of their soccer-mom phase. The problem was, the three friendly German automakers chose to diversify from the autobahn saloons, and provide a foreign, premium badge one-up-manship for driveway kudos.
This left the updated 2010 Milan, as the last new product launch for a diminishing Mercury brand, and saw the storied marque join Oldsmobile, DeSoto, Kaiser, Hudson, Studebaker, and many others, in the Hall of Memories of middle-class automakers. Many would argue that Buick should have joined them. But unexpected market success in China now means that more Buicks are sold to communist Chinese than are sold to successful professional Americans.
Perhaps the lesson learned is 'what could have been' with a bit of vision.
This Lego miniland-scale 2010 Mercury Milan has been modelled for Flickr LUGNuts' 78th build challenge, - 'Places, Everyone', - celebrating vehicles named after places.