I think this would have sold in US

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BtwmzGEBWw

[my8950]

I recently looked at XR8's to find out more information, seems like only 250 were made, just to meet regulations/homologation.
A guy I know who worked at Ford had one back in the day, he has a lot of stories from back then when these cars were more than just jellybeans.

[john keefe]

Would have been nice, but probably cursed with a worse (sales) fate than Scorpios. How would it have been marketed? IIRC there were something like 8 times the number of Mercury Sables sold in Sept.-Dec. in '88 alone vs. all the Scorpios combined. Just like a 5.0L XR would have been a direct (and better) competitor to the Mustang 5.0L, it probably got nixed in a boardroom because it would have competed with the SHO's in '88-'89, and contradicted all the promotion (deservedly) of the Yamaha V6 over V8's. Maybe somebody at LM pushed for it because Ford reserved the SHO for Ford-only, but it wouldn't fit the LM image.

I've wondered whether the commission rates were lower in Merks due to production/import costs, and trying to keep pricing attractive vs. BMW et al. Probably a common experience here: I test drove an XR at a dealer after I got back from Europe and driving my brother's RS in UK, and the sales guy kept insisting it was FWD and had a V6... when I popped the hood and showed him, he asked me why would I settle for a little 4cyl when I could buy a Cougar RX7 with the V8 (even though that 4.9L only had like 160HP vs. 175 in the XR, and weighed about 800lbs more).

[DAReese]

Would have been nice, but probably cursed with a worse (sales) fate than Scorpios. How would it have been marketed? IIRC there were something like 8 times the number of Mercury Sables sold in Sept.-Dec. in '88 alone vs. all the Scorpios combined. Just like a 5.0L XR would have been a direct (and better) competitor to the Mustang 5.0L, it probably got nixed in a boardroom because it would have competed with the SHO's in '88-'89, and contradicted all the promotion (deservedly) of the Yamaha V6 over V8's. Maybe somebody at LM pushed for it because Ford reserved the SHO for Ford-only, but it wouldn't fit the LM image.

I've wondered whether the commission rates were lower in Merks due to production/import costs, and trying to keep pricing attractive vs. BMW et al. Probably a common experience here: I test drove an XR at a dealer after I got back from Europe and driving my brother's RS in UK, and the sales guy kept insisting it was FWD and had a V6... when I popped the hood and showed him, he asked me why would I settle for a little 4cyl when I could buy a Cougar RX7 with the V8 (even though that 4.9L only had like 160HP vs. 175 in the XR, and weighed about 800lbs more).

I think it was a lack of comfort from the sales team more than anything. I went to several dealers looking to buy one in 1986. Most of the salesmen were older and cars tried to push me to the Grand Marquis when I came in specifically asking about the XR4Ti. That was if they even bothered to get off their seat and talk to me, a 22-year-old recent college grad. The one I bought from was the only one who bothered to be knowledgeable about the car and treated me like an adult.