The Mercury Mariner is a

compact Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to: * Interstate compact * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a type of colonial rule utilized in British ...

crossover SUV A crossover, crossover SUV, or crossover utility vehicle (CUV) is a type of automobile with an increased ride height that is built on unibody chassis construction shared with passenger cars, as opposed to traditional sport utility vehicles ( ...

that was introduced in 2005. It is a sibling of the Mazda Tribute and

Ford Escape The Ford Escape is a compact crossover SUV sold by Ford since 2000 over four generations. The first generation was jointly developed with Mazda which also created the Mazda Tribute and Mercury Mariner as the twin model. Second generations of t ...

, although it is more upmarket than the other two. The Mariner is Mercury's first car-based SUV, and is slotted below the

Mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

in the lineup. When Ford eliminated the Mercury brand, the Mariner ended production in October 2010. The Mariner was officially offered in the U.S., Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the U.A.E.

First generation

Introduced during the 2005 refresh of the Ford Escape, the Mercury Mariner was positioned above both it and the Mazda Tribute in the compact sport utility vehicle group. It also includes stylistic differences, such as a two-tone interior, turn signal repeaters borrowed from the European-market

Ford Maverick Ford has marketed the following automobiles models using the Ford Maverick nameplate: * The Ford Maverick (1970–1977), a compact car sold in North America and Brazil during the 1970s * The rebadged Nissan Patrol Y60 sold by Ford Australia under ...

, monotone cladding, and the signature Mercury "waterfall" front grille. Unlike its counterparts, a manual transmission was not part of the powertrain lineup. The Mariner was the first Mercury with a four-cylinder since the

Mercury Cougar Mercury Cougar is a nameplate applied to a diverse series of automobiles sold by the Mercury division of Ford from 1967 to 1997 and from 1999 to 2002. While the nameplate is most commonly associated with two-door coupes, at various times durin ...

was dropped in 2002. For 2006, the lineup was expanded with the introduction of the Mariner Hybrid.

Second generation

For the second generation for the Mariner, the 2008 model year boasted a thorough redesign, despite remaining on the Ford CD2 platform used by the outgoing generation. The exterior changes included new seats, headlights, taillights, a new liftgate, a higher beltline, new doors, and new wheels. The interior was also significantly updated with higher quality materials and included more features. The engines remained the same but the 3.0 L Duratec V6 has been modified to reduce fuel consumption by 10%. Mariner and its

sibling were the first vehicles to feature Ford's pull-drift steering compensation, an enhancement made possible by applying

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

control to the Electric Power Steering (EPS) system. The first 2008 Mercury Mariner was unveiled at the South Florida International Auto Show on October 6, 2006, and was touted as a new direction for the Mercury brand.

2009 changes

The 2009 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner were unveiled at the 2008 Washington Auto Show. Sporting a 2.5-liter engine and 6-speed automatic transmission that replaced the four-speed automatic transmission, the new powertrain improved the EPA fuel economy by 1 mile per gallon and increased power by 11% to . The existing 3.0-liter Duratec V6 was bumped from to . The new 4-cylinder engine was also used in Ford's Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid. “For every eight Escape and Mariner vehicles we sell, one of them is a hybrid, and the appeal is growing,” says Sue Ciscke, Ford senior vice president, Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering.

2010 changes

For the 2010 model year, the Mariner added Ford's MyKey and trailer sway controls as standard on all trim levels. The Mariner also saw the addition of

Flex-Fuel A flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) or dual-fuel vehicle (colloquially called a flex-fuel vehicle) is an alternative fuel vehicle with an internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel, usually gasoline blended with either ethanol or ...

, the ability to run using

E85 fuel E85 is an abbreviation typically referring to an ethanol fuel blend of 85% ethanol fuel and 15% gasoline or other hydrocarbon by volume. In the United States, the exact ratio of fuel ethanol to hydrocarbon may vary according to ASTM 5798 that ...

or regular unleaded gasoline with the V6 engine. Mercury removed the Euro-style turn signal repeaters for this model year.

2011 changes

For the 2011 model year, the Mariner featured HD Radio as a standard, but continued with the same features as the 2010 models. This version of the Mariner was its last, as Ford discontinued the Mercury brand due to declining sales. Ford ended production of the Mariner in October 2010. The last Mariner rolled off the assembly line on October 5, 2010.

Variants

Hybrid

The Mariner Hybrid

powertrain A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...

was identical to its

sibling A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separa ...

, the '' Ford Escape Hybrid.'' It was launched to the U.S. market in 2006 and was discontinued in 2010 with the rest of the brand. The Mariner hybrid sold a total of 12,300 units. Like the Ford Escape Hybrid, the Mariner Hybrid is a "full" hybrid electric system, meaning the system can switch automatically between pure electric power, pure gasoline engine power, or a combination of electric battery and gasoline engine operating together, for maximum performance and efficiency at all speeds and loads. When braking or decelerating, the Mariner's hybrid system uses regenerative braking, where the electric drive motor becomes a generator, converting the vehicle's momentum back to electricity for storage in the batteries. With , the Mariner Hybrid has nearly the same acceleration performance as the conventional V6 Mariner. Again, just like the Escape Hybrid, it gets a respectable average of and is sometimes said to be the most fuel efficient

sport utility vehicle A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon defini ...

on the road.

Presidential Edition

On September 7, 2006, Ford delivered a special "Presidential Edition" Mercury Mariner Hybrid to former President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. Its custom features include: * LED lighting * A 120V outlet * Rear bucket seats * Center console & rear seat fold-out writing desks * Personal DVD players for each seat * Refrigerator * Increased rear seat legroom There have also been several undisclosed security modifications made to the vehicle.

Awards

Consumers Digest Founded in 1959 and published by Consumers Digest Communications, LLC, ''Consumers Digest'' was an American magazine. It was based in Chicago. The last issue was published in February 2019. The magazine had no subscribers and did not test the pro ...

best buy for 2005, 2006, 2007. *Mercury Mariner Hybrid was awarded 2006 Green Car of the Year.

Sales

Notes

External links

Mercury Vehicles.com
{{Mercury Timeline

Mariner A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the ...

Compact sport utility vehicles Luxury sport utility vehicles All-wheel-drive vehicles Front-wheel-drive vehicles Cars introduced in 2005 2010s cars Hybrid electric vehicles Partial zero-emissions vehicles Hybrid sport utility vehicles Ford CD2 platform