Background of Mercury - Timing of Market Entry BYD's propose to enter the United State market by the end of 2010 BYD believes that under the current

Timing of Market Entry BYD’s propose to enter the United State market by the end of 2010. BYD believes that under the current financial and industrial conditions, there’s no better time to introduce BYD’s brand and quickly capture a share of the US’ automobile pie. Moreover, with the growing prominent of hybrid cars, the quicker BYD enters the market, the greater the extent it can exploit the first-mover advantage and really establish a presence in the US’ hybrid car industry. The recent negative publicity with Toyota Prius is also beneficial to BYD. Background of Mercury Mercury is an automobile marque of the Ford Motor Company which focuses on marketing entry level or semi-luxury cars slotted between the regular Ford-branded models and the Lincoln-branded luxury vehicles. The Mercury brand is well known in the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Europe and throughout the U.S. Virgin Islands. Currently, all Lincoln-Mercury models on the market are based on Ford platforms. Popular models under the Mercury brand include Mercury Milan, Mercury SYNC and the