2007 Mercury Montego Sedan

What’s New?
The Mercury Montego, sister vehicle to Ford’s Five Hundred, receives only minor updates for 2007. New this year are seat-mounted side air bags and Ford’s Safety Canopy side curtain air bags (late availability); standard traction control; available Sirius satellite radio; available 18-inch, eight-spoke chrome wheels; and two new exterior colors—Dune Pearl Clearcoat Metallic or Alloy Clearcoat Metallic.

Overview
The Mercury Montego, like the Mercury Grand Marquis, is one of the best-kept secrets in the sedan marketplace. Too bad for Mercury it’s such a secret, because selling more Montegos would help the brand tremendously. The Montego is an excellent—and roomy—alternative to the Honda Civics and Toyota Camrys that swarm the nation’s highways. It comes with standard High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps for excellent night visibility, a 21-cubic foot trunk that is almost twice as large as some of its competitors, the front passenger seat folds flat for carrying oversized cargo, and the leather-wrapped steering wheel features redundant audio controls.

The Montego is built on the Volvo P2 platform, and comes with all the built-in safety that implies. It received 5-star safety ratings from the government for front- and side-impact crash protection, as well as a “Good” rating in frontal impacts from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Power comes from a 3.0-liter Duratec V-6 mated to a standard 6-speed automatic transmission on front-wheel-drive models. With all-wheel drive (AWD) comes a continuously variable transmission that provides smooth shifting. Both models are fuel efficient, with a 29 mpg highway rating for front-wheel-drive-equipped vehicles and 26 mpg for AWD models. The 3.5-liter V-6 from the new Ford Edge may eventually end up in the Montego (and Ford Five Hundred), but for now, the 203-hp 3.0-liter is the only engine choice.

The Competition
The Mercury Montego competes in the Large Conventional segment, which consists of 14 models. Buyers in this segment look for performance, comfort, and exterior styling, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Avoider Study^SM and the Escaped Shopper Study.^SM

The top sellers in the segment during calendar year 2006, according to the J.D. Power and Associates Sales Report,^SM were the Chevrolet Impala (289,868 units sold), Chrysler 300 (143,647), and Dodge Charger (114,201). The Mercury Grand Marquis sold 54,688 units in 2006, a decrease of 15.5 percent compared to the previous year. Other models offered in the Large Conventional segment include the Pontiac Grand Prix, Buick Lucerne, Toyota Avalon, Ford Five Hundred, and Nissan Maxima.