Looking over the 2010 Milan OrderGuide, it seems that Base & Premier need redefining:
- Imho 'Premier' ought to be barely more than (or separate from) a "Leather Pkg"
- at the same time, 'Base' needs to include some "essentials" (like Sync and foglights = STD on All Lincoln-Mercurys)
- the (urgently needed) Base Appearance Pkg, "R", can be used to add very-limited availability of the v6 at more affordable pricing ...just three color choices!
- 'Ultimate' (which should be able to be assumed at Lincoln) can indicate "fully loaded with (near) every option" for Merc
And
- 'VOGA' could gradually be "absorbed" as just another Appearance Pkg by Premier/Ultimate
lastly
Milan example:
Base - 4cyl manual or automatic - 6 paint colors - no more than 2 interior colors each
"R" - AppearancePkg - 4cyl man or auto; or v6 selectshift - 3 paint & 1 interior only
"L"/Premier - v6 selectshift - 9 paint - 3 interior + VOGA
"Ultimate" badging used for full-pkg'ed non-VOGA trim - 10 paint = Only 4eG avail. on non-Hybrid = Sp.O.
"V"/VOGA - upgraded Leather, trim, wheels; 4 paint Steel,Black,White + 4eG as Hybrid ONLY
Hybrid "R" - 4 paint Silver,White,Patina,4eG - 2 interiors
Hybrid Premier - 10 paint- 2 lighter ints (except 4eg & wht = 3) + VOGA
and
- feature choices MUST be as uniform as possible across all Mercury models (Nav is not addressed here)
standard equipment:
Base - ABS, highly adj., minimally-powered front seats; cloth - a/c, 1 CD, SYNC + autodim mirror, ambient lighting, entry/exit & fog lights
"R" - Base plus: remote start, seat/speaker/wheel+tire** upgrades, LED fog lights, (VistaRoof?)
"L" - Base plus: Leather, added power&heat front seats
Premier - "R"(LED fogs = opt)+"L" plus: climate, 6 CD, auto headlites&wipers
"V"/VOGA - Premier plus: upgraded Leather, trim, wheels
Hybrid -
** wheel+tire boutique in every dealer
optional equipment:
Base - remote start+reverse sensing+regular(Fusion)moonroof; (NO Vistaroof avail.)
"R" - none (that can't be dealer installed; ex: HID, HUD, Nav)
"L" - "Premier Pkg", then:
Premier - VisionPkg+adaptiveHID+HUD+LED fogs; VistaRoof+TunePkg+AdaptiveCruiseControl;
rearVideo+SeatbackTrays+power rear windowshade & heated rearseats; Voga Pkg.
"V"/VOGA - none (that can't be dealer installed; ex: HID, Nav)
Hybrid -
my preliminary estimate is that this 'extreme tailoring' will cut the color/drivetrain variants down to 98: 31 base/"R"-non-hybrid; 34 "L"/Premier-non-hybrid; & 33 Hybrids, both "R"&Premier.
This is considerably more than the 58 currently offered on the 2010 Milan (TOO FEW overall, too much Tuxedo & WHITES!) but about equivalent to the 2006 Milan, whose 78 variants did not include any Hybrid or VOGA at that time.
In addition, one of the Premier/HybridPremier uphosltery choices could be made a late-availability SpecialEdition which could reduce my 'basic stock' number by as much as 24...
tho imho,
Mercury needs to AddBack ambiance choices and can balance them by consolidating technology offerings and boosting development of easily-dealer-installable options = still fewer from-the-factory versions.
pursuing the idea that neglected soon-to-be-disc. models can have even fewer choices offered
here is a chart for the MGM (Mercury Grand Marquis). in honor of LMdealer @ FomocoNewsForum posting the OrderGuide:
| fabric |
|
Leather |
|
|
 |
v.bright silver |
|
|
|
|
steel_0 |
|
|
|
|
ultra |
|
|
|
|
|
black pearl |
|
|
| non-essential / inappropriate |
V0 red |
non-essential / inappropriate |
| non-essential / inappropriate |
iridium-sunset |
non-essential / inappropriate |
| non-essential / inappropriate |
iridium-sunrise |
non-essential / inappropriate |
| non-essential / too 'low rent' |
sandstone_0 |
non-essential / too 'low rent' |
|
|
white pearl |
|
|
|
|
|
patina_0 |
|
|
|
|
|
stealth_0 |
|
|
| unavailable / no hybrid yet |
forevergreen * |
unavailable / no hybrid yet |
| carbon panels |
camel |
* Hybrid only |
carbon panels |
camel |
...for models that are actually being promoted, refer back to the earlier, more-choice charts.
this version: July '09
updated: Aug '09
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