You've probably read that Mercury has been phased out

But why is it that Pontiac being phased out caused such an uproar, and editorials, cover stories, etc etc etc... but no one is lamenting the Mercury becoming a has been. Why is that? What was the Pontiac name plate to GM, that the Mercury nameplate wasn't to Ford? Both were a bit more luxurious than the parent company name... both had a lot of terrible looking cars (Ventura for one) and both had a couple muscle cars of notable looks and reputation ( GTO, swiss cheese Catalina, Comet Cyclone, Cougar Eliminator)

read about the closing down of Mercury: http://www.carlustblog.com/2010/06/rip-mercury.html