Ford Motor Co is set to announce on Wednesday plans to eliminate its Mercury brand, whose sales and investment have plunged in recent years, a source briefed on the matter said.

Mercury was created in the 1930s by Edsel Ford as a vehicle line to serve as a bridge between the mass market Ford brand and the luxury Lincoln brand.

A wind-down of Mercury, coupled with Ford's planned sale of its Volvo car unit to China's Geely <0175.HK>, would sharpen the automaker's focus on its Ford brand globally and the Lincoln brand in North America.

(Reporting by David Bailey; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

China Ford Motor Company