Mercury Tracer

The Mercury Tracer was Mercury's smallest car from 1988-1989 and 1991-1999, and was a more upscale version of the Ford Escort (there was no 1990 Tracer). It was based on the Mazda 323 platform. The Mercury Tracer replaced the Mercury Lynx. The Mercury Tracer was introduced in 1987 as a 1988 year model.

1981-1990
The Tracer was introduced in 1980 for the 1981 model year. It was a more upscale version of the Ford Laser model already sold in Asia and Australia, which was itself a restyled Mazda 323. The 5-door hatchbacks and wagons were built in Hermosillo, Mexico, and the 3-door hatchbacks were assembled along with the Mazda 323 in Hiroshima, Japan.

1991-1996
Mercury replaced the Tracer in 1991 with a twin of the Ford Escort, based on the Mazda 323's Mazda B Platform. The Tracer LTS which used the more powerful 1.8L Mazda engine was on Car and Driver magazine's Car and Driver Ten Best List for 1991. The Tracer was discontinued in Canada after 1995.

1997-1999
The Tracer and Ford Escort were updated in 1997 with a redesigned exterior and interior, and a new engine. The platform remained the same as before. But the Tracer was discontinued in 1999.

Trim levels were GS and LS, and there was also a Trio appearance package as well as with the 91-96 model, sold between 1998 and 1999. The LS and LTS models, offerd leather interior, key-less entry, alloy wheels, and power door locks, windows and mirrors - features not common in other compact sedans. Many speculate that if the Escort ZX2's more powerful 130 HP Zetec engine would have been available or standard on the Tracer, it would have proved much more successful. The last Mercury Tracer rolled of the assembly line December 1998, but the Ford Escort stayed in production until 2000 available to the public, but available only to fleets in 2001-2002.