MotorWeek Awards 2002 Mercury Mountaineer With Best Family SUV

CHICAGO, Feb. 6 Adding to its list of awards, Lincoln Mercury announced today that the all-new 2002 Mercury Mountaineer received MotorWeek's Drivers' Choice Award for best family SUV. Lincoln Mercury President, Brian Kelley was on hand at the Chicago Auto Show to accept the prestigious award.

``On behalf of Mercury and the Mountaineer team, we're delighted to receive this award from MotorWeek,'' said Kelley. ``Knowing just how competitive the SUV category is makes winning this award that much more special to Mercury and everyone who helped to design and engineer the vehicle.''

The all-new 2002 Mercury Mountaineer combines individualistic design with packaging, convenience and performance qualities that reinforce its distinctive position in the sport utility market. The Mountaineer is designed from the ground up to satisfy both its driver and passengers with exceptional performance and comfort in a refined, sophisticated package. The Mountaineer continues to deliver what consumers want as total sales for the Mountaineer were up by 78 percent and retail sales were up by 51 percent in January 2002.

``The Mercury Mountaineer continues to set the standard for styling, packaging efficiency and value in this hotly-contested premium mid-size SUV segment,'' said John Davis, host of MotorWeek. ``We're also taken by the Mountaineer's contemporary styling and expertly capable powertrain that sets it apart from many others in its class.''

The 2002 Drivers' Choice Awards were selected by a team of 10 judges comprised of journalists, staff and crewmembers of MotorWeek. Judges' decisions were based on each vehicle's superior performance, technology, practicality and dollar value.

By winning this award, the Mercury Mountaineer is one of 12 category winners that will be featured on MotorWeek, television's original weekly automotive magazine, on PBS beginning Feb. 23 and on cable's Speed Channel beginning March 14.

In addition to MotorWeek's Drivers' Choice Award, the 2002 Mercury Mountaineer also received R.L. Polk's Automotive Loyalty Award, Sport Truck Connection's Annual Light Truck and SUV Award for top mid-size SUV and was named ``Best Pick'' by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety for frontal offset crash performance testing.

Mercury, based in Irvine, Calif., markets the full line of Mercury vehicles, including Cougar, Sable, Grand Marquis, Mountaineer, Villager and soon-to-come Marauder. For more information, visit mercuryvehicles.com .