[Moth]

I don't know if it's still the same, but I sold cars (Ford) for a couple of years, although not since '97. At that time, the Mercury Villager was actually the same vehicle as the Quest (Villager being made by Nissan - but dressed in Mercury emblems, of course). The Merc sold for a couple of thousand less, which seemed odd until you noticed that the Nissan standard waranty was worth about a couple of thousand more (judging by the price for optional extended Ford coverage).
So in essense, one deal was about as good as the other, but having both available did offer some additional choice. Plus there were more dealers competing for the sale, which is nice for the consumer.