Free Republic

Ford Motor Co., after selling its European brands, said it will discontinue its 71-year-old Mercury brand by the end of the year and expand its Lincoln lineup with a new small car. Ford’s board voted today to cease production of all four of Mercury’s models in the fourth quarter, Mark Fields, the automaker’s president of the Americas, told reporters. Ford will send letters to 1,712 Mercury dealers this week offering them buyouts and giving some the chance to merge the Lincoln half of their franchise with Ford showrooms, he said.

Ford Motor Co. is preparing to wind down the Mercury line, created in 1939 by Edsel Ford, after sales plunged 74 percent since 2000, said two people familiar with the plan. The automaker’s top executives are preparing a proposal to kill Mercury to be presented to directors in July, said the people, who asked not to be indentified revealing internal discussions. Mercury, losing two of four models next year, will be starved of products and promotion, the people said. Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally emphasized the automaker’s namesake brand as he revived the only major U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy....

Capri pants bare scourge of summer: ‘cankles’Cheeky gym campaign gives us yet another body part to worry about By Jacqueline Stenson updated 9:31 a.m. ET, Wed., July 1, 2009 Still obsessing about how your dimpled thighs, jelly belly or flappy arms look in a swimsuit? That’s so last summer. This year, there’s a new body part to fret over: the cankle. Hmmm, you may be wondering, what’s a cankle? Gold’s Gym, which has designated July as “Cankle Awareness Month,” defines it this way: “The word comes from the combination of ‘calf’ and ‘ankle.’ It occurs when the calf merges with...