A new report from AutoTrader.com suggests that Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) will have a strong opportunity to keep Mercury buyers as it phases out the brand later this year.

AutoTrader said that 28% of people shopping for new Mercury’s on AutoTrader also looked at Ford vehicles, and another 7% looked at Lincoln models on the website.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) announced on Wednesday that it would be halting production of the Mercury brand by the end of 2010 after seeing several years of declining sales. Ford said that the move will free up capital to focus on its mainstream Ford brand and luxury Lincoln brand.

Mercury currently only has four models of vehicles and has less than 1% of the U.S. automotive market. Mercury’s current line-up are very similar to their Ford brand counterparts.

“With the Ford-Lincoln combo, if the Mercury brand closes as planned, marketing and outreach to the new Mercury buyers who also looked at Fords and Lincolns could go a long way to keeping those buyers in the Ford family,” commented AutoTrader CEO Chip Perry said in a statement.

Perry said that some Mercury buyers may be up for grabs from other brands. The website said that 11 percent of Mercury shoppers also considered Chevrolet, while 8 percent looked at vehicles from Hyundai, Honda and Toyota.