Design is all Mercury executives have to discuss these days. Traditionally, a Mercury was nothing more than a Ford with snazzy trim and additional standard equipment, the epitome of a practice known as brand-engineering. In the 1990s, Mercury executives vowed that products distinctly different from their Ford counterparts would boost sales over the long term, saving the brand from the same fate that ultimately befell now-defunct Plymouth. This strategy cost Ford Motor Company extra development money and resulted in sales flops like the blobby, undersized Villager minivan and that rolling mass of triangles known as the Cougar sport coupe.

Today, it's clear that yesterday's marketing philosophy has Mercury firmly back in its grip for the foreseeable future. That's how Lincoln-Mercury President Darryl Hazel is able to assert that his "more new products, faster," business strategy is working. Witness the debut of the swanky new 2006 Mercury Milan, a handsome sedan with a sound foundation that splits the already narrow difference between a Ford Fusion and Lincoln Zephyr in an effort to "attract younger buyers, and many women, who might otherwise buy European or Asian brands," according to Phil Martens, Ford Group vice president of product creation.