According to reports in The New York Times and by Automotive News, the Ford Motor Company will use Mercury to highlight its renewed emphasis on small, efficient cars, a move that includes converting three truck plants in North American to passenger car production.

A plant in Wayne, Michigan, which currently builds the Expedition and Lincoln Navigator will be part of the production alteration, although the other two plants were not named in the original Times article.

Expedition and Navigator production will be shifted to a plant in Louisville, KY that currently builds Ford F-250s and 350s, Ford Explorers, and Mercury Mountaineers.

Bob Tasca Jr., president of Tasca Automotive Group in Cranston, R.I., was quoted in the Automotive News article, saying, "That's good news for Lincoln-Mercury dealers, if it's true." Tasca went on to say that smaller cars are what people want today.

According to the Times article, Ford will announce the move on Thursday, July 24 at which time it will also disclose the company's most recently quarterly earnings. The changes in emphasis and production are no doubt a response to the sharp decline in SUV and truck sales in the face of high gasoline prices and growing environmental concerns that are dramatically changing the preferences of American motorists.