[Photo: The previous Mercury Tracer, from Wikipedia]

It has been confirmed that a new C-Segment Mercury model is already being planned, but the said model hasn’t been given any name yet. Recent reports say that Mercury will revive the name Tracer as the nameplate of the new model.

The previous Mercury Tracer was a compact car introduced in 1987, a Mercury counterpart of the Ford Escort based on the platform of the Mazda 323.

If reports are true, then the new Mercury car will be a Tracer. This model is expected to help the Mercury get back on track after months of low sales and almost stagnancy.

[Photo: Jalopnik]

Automobile Magazine reported Ford’s plan to devote one of the 10 slots for its compact car architecture to Mercury. The automaker is said to be planning to manufacture 10 models out of its C-car platform, but the list of the 10 models is not yet complete. There’s one thing for sure, though: one of the models would be a Mercury.

This report has already been confirmed by Ford’s President of the Americas Mark Fields and by Lincoln-Mercury spokesman Mark Schirmer. The expected debut of the new model will be on the Los Angeles Auto Show later this year, and its sale will be by early next year.

Hopefully, this move will help the Mercury brand spring back to life after quite a long time of inactivity.

[Source: Automobile Magazine]

[Photo: Diesel Station]

Yup, friends. The Sable will be dead by Thursday, leaving the Mercury brand with only four models—the Mariner, Mountaineer, Milan, and the Grand Marquis.

The Sable has the same platform as the Taurus, and the reason of its discontinuity is to enable Ford to invest more money on the marketing and production of the Taurus, a new version of which is already being produced for 2010.

According to Detroit News, “Ford only sold 1,158 Sables last month, down 37.8 percent compared to April 2007.”

In two years, the Mountaineer and Grand Marquis will have the same fate as the Sable. And although Mercury is expected to come up with a small car, we are yet to wait for a final word from Ford on this.

People are looking for dependable cars today more than ever. With the recession we’re experiencing, many want to get the most out of whatever they spend on—their house, their car, and even every little appliance they get. People are reluctant to spend, and all of us want to be sure that everything we spend on is worth it.

In the auto industry, one of the deciding powers that determine whether a vehicle is worth the money is its dependability, and JD Powers has been releasing its annual Vehicle Dependability Study to help buyers and judge the worth of automobiles.

And this year’s winners? It’s a tie! Buick and Jaguar take the number one spot this year, grabbing it from Lexus, which has taken the top spot for the past 14 years. This study gets responses from people who have owned their vehicle for three years, and more than 46,000 vehicle owners participated this year.

The scoring is based on the number of problems encountered for every 100 vehicles. Buick and Jaguar scored 122 problems for every 100 autos, followed by Lexus with 126, Toyota with 129, and Mercury with 134.

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