By Tom Krisher

A.P. writer

SAN FRANCISCO—Ford Motor Co. executives won’t guarantee that the Mercury brand will be around forever, but they told a group of dealers Feb. 10 that new Mercury products are coming.

Ford’s leaders have said they expect the Lincoln luxury brand to command higher sales volume than Mercury in the future. But some dealers are wary about the company’s plan for Mercury because it has had few exclusive new products in recent years.

Mercury also didn’t get a version of the popular Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX crossover vehicles, which have been big sellers for the company.

“Mercury has a place in our brand portfolio,” Mark Fields, Ford’s president for the Americas, said after a meeting with Lincoln-Mercury dealers at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in San Francisco.

But he wouldn’t say that Mercury would live on indefinitely.

“Any good business on a continuous basis looks at their portfolio. Any good business does that, not just automotive, and that’s part of our process,” Fields said.

When asked what he would tell dealers who fear the brand could be discontinued, Jim Farley, Ford’s group vice president for marketing, said they should look at the new products.

“I think you’re seeing continual investment in Mercury and Lincoln for both to grow, and I think that speaks for itself,” Farley said.

The company, he said, is updating the powertrain on the Mariner small sport utility vehicle, and it’s updating and adding a hybrid version of the Milan mid-sized sedan.

Still, some dealers were left wondering about Mercury’s future.

“They wouldn’t give us any definite answers,” said Steve Downing, owner of a Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Yuba City, Calif. “Obviously the future’s with Lincoln.”

U.S. dealers sold 168,422 Mercury vehicles last year, down 6.9 percent from 2006. Lincoln sales of 131,487 were up 9.1 percent.

This summer, Lincoln dealers will get the new MKS large luxury sedan.

“I think their strategy is there is a lot more growth in the luxury side of things,” said Kip Rowe, president of Colonial Auto Center, a dealership group in Charlottesville, Va., that includes Lincoln and Mercury.