The problem with three brands is there's one too many. Mercury has no place in Ford's corporate line-up anymore.

The problem with those three brands is there's one too many. Mercury has no place in the North American market or in Ford's corporate lineup anymore.

Mercury has worked hard to focus on improving its product quality and customer service, and it shows. Mercury's success this year in these two engine segments shows that positive change happens when companies are serious about both listening and decisively responding to their customers.

They needed more people even if they had stayed here (in Southern California). Every one of these announcements hits them doubly hard. Even if they hadn't lost a soul, they were going to be shorthanded.

They did nothing to indicate any true effort to differentiate it from the Fusion. It's not a bad idea, just bad execution.

Our lakes and rivers are already contaminated with mercury. We need to reduce emissions, not add to them.