The Mercury Meta One was a concept car created by the Ford Motor Company brand, Mercury, first introduced at the 2005 North American International Auto Show.
It featured a twin-turbocharged V6 diesel engine that had an electric motor in the modular hybrid transmission. The torque of the Meta One achieved up to 431 lb·ft (584 N·m) and was 97% cleaner than the Tier I emissions standard for NOx .

Like other concept cars, the Meta One featured numerous futuristic gadgets. For instance, the vehicle’s key doubled as a PDA; it was designed to also store emergency contacts. The Meta One also featured built-in Sirius Satellite Radio and a roaming always-on Wi-Fi connection to deliver to the driver updated traffic conditions and real-time reports.

The Tracer was introduced in 1987 for the 1988 model year. It was a rebadged version of the Ford Laser model already sold in Asia and Australia, which was itself a restyled Mazda 323. The 5-door hatchbacks were built in Hermosillo, Mexico, and the 3-door hatchbacks were assembled (along with the Mazda 323) in Hiroshima, Japan. This was the only generation of the Mercury Tracer sold in Canada.

Both models were introduced in late 1983 for the 1984 model year; the compact Topaz and Ford Tempo were early examples of the design philosophy that would bring about the revolutionary 1986 Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable. Topaz and Tempo both were based on the Escort-derived CE14 platform. The body structure and power-train design borrowed heavily from the Ford Escort, but due to the larger size of the Topaz there were few common components. The Topaz shared the Tempo’s standard 4-speed IB4 manual transmission and optional 3-speed FLC automatic. In late 1985, a 5-speed MTX-III manual became standard and the 4-speed IB4 was discontinued. Ford designed and made two engines and automatic/manual transmissions that were only ever available on the Mercury Topaz, and its re-badged and re-branded Ford cousin, the Tempo. Topaz and Tempo introduced many new design concepts and features that would become standard on many future Ford’s and other automobile manufacturer’s cars in a few years.

The Tracer was introduced in 1987 for the 1988 model year. It was a rebadged version of the Ford Laser model already sold in Asia and Australia, which was itself a restyled Mazda 323. The 5-door hatchbacks were built in Hermosillo, Mexico, and the 3-door hatchbacks were assembled (along with the Mazda 323) in Hiroshima, Japan. This was the only generation of the Mercury Tracer sold in Canada.

Mercury, first introduced at the 2005 North American International Auto Show. The Meta One was the first PZEV diesel-hybrid concept vehicle.

It featured a twin-turbocharged V6 diesel engine that had an electric motor in the modular hybrid transmission. The torque of the Meta One achieved up to 431 lb·ft (584 N·m) and was 97% cleaner than the Tier I emissions standard for NOx .

Like other concept cars, the Meta One featured numerous futuristic gadgets. For instance, the vehicle’s key doubled as a PDA; it was designed to also store emergency contacts. The Meta One also featured built-in Sirius Satellite Radio and a roaming always-on Wi-Fi connection to deliver to the driver updated traffic conditions and real-time reports.

Sold by the Mercury division of Ford Motor Company. It was based on the platform of the Mazda 323, replacing the European-derived Mercury Lynx. It is the Mercury version of the Ford Escort.

The Tracer was introduced in 1987 for the 1988 model year. It was a rebadged version of the Ford Laser model already sold in Asia and Australia, which was itself a restyled Mazda 323. The 5-door hatchbacks were built in Hermosillo, Mexico, and the 3-door hatchbacks were assembled (along with the Mazda 323) in Hiroshima, Japan. This was the only generation of the Mercury Tracer sold in Canada.

He compared the marque’s image to that of fashionable discount retailer, Target. There have also been reports that Mercury is trying to appeal (perhaps even exclusively) to female drivers.

However as of October 2006, the Mercury brand was being examined for possible elimination, according to Alan Mulally, who succeeded Bill Ford, Jr. as CEO of Ford, largely on hopes that he would be able to restructure Ford’s operations back into profitability after a $5.8 billion quarterly loss in Q4 of 2006.

J.D. Power and Associates announced in August 2007 that the Mercury line of vehicles had placed fifth in Overall Dependability Ratings, fifth in Powertrain Dependability Ratings, and sixth in Body & Interior Dependability Ratings.

But these quickly faded as buyers continued to flock to more conventional cars such as the Mustang and Sable. The Capri, which was a rebadged Mustang was briefly revived with an Australian 2 door convertible. The new Cougar was an innovatively styled Mystique-based coupe which was not given to Ford. Traditionally Mercury was given a counterpart to most Ford platforms. But when the mid-size Mystique and compact Tracer, and later Cougar were withdrawn without replacements, only the Sable and Grand Marquis automobiles were left. These targeted mostly grown families and retirees when Mercury had offered compacts since the Comet, and subcompacts since the Bobcat. By the time Mercury got the Monterey, Ford minvans were no longer competitive. While Ford Five-Hundred sales nose-dived from a moderately successful start, the Mercury Montego large sedan has sold only a fraction of the Ford, in contrast to the Dodge Charger selling nearly as well as its platform-mate, the Chrysler 300.

These include the Capri convertible (which shared some parts with the Mazda 323 but wasn’t nearly as popular, ending production in Australia in 1993), Mercury Tracer (later shared with the Escort, but was a Mexican-built version of the Mazda 323 hatchback in the late 1980s and in ‘90), Mercury Villager (a name used earlier as a luxury station wagon, but from 1993-2003, it was a minivan shared with Nissan, which sold its version as the Quest and built the drivetrain for both versions), Mercury Cougar (1999-2002, based on the Ford Contour/Mercury Mystique/Ford Mondeo platform but sporting a 2-door, hatchback only bodystyle with sharp styling not shared with the more mundane sedan versions), and the German built Mercury Capri in the ’70s (before that model moved to the Ford Fox platform as a twin to Ford Mustang). In 1971, dealers also sold the De Tomaso Pantera, an exotic sports car, with a Ford V-8.

Mercury, like the defunct Edsel, was created from scratch, rather than being a takeover of an existing company like Lincoln. Mercury’s heyday was in the 1950s, when its formula of stretching and lowering existing Ford platforms was very successful. The marque has changed several times throughout its history. During the 1940s and 1950s, the make moved between as a “gussied up” Ford, to a “junior Lincoln” and even to having its own body designs. From the late 1950s, through the 1960s and early 1970s, Mercury began to distance itself from Ford and offered several different looking models such as the Turnpike Cruiser, Park Lane, Cougar and Marquis. During Ford Division’s “Total Performance” era in the early 1960s, Mercury produced some equivalent models, such as the full-size S-55 Marauders, which shared the same body styles and mechanics as the Ford Galaxie 500/XL sports models. These big Mercurys were somewhat successful in racing. But in the late 1970s to the early 1980s the brand was joined at the hip with Ford again and its image suffered as a result.

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