Mercury Means Something to Women

But there she stood telling me that the Mariner Hybrid was distinctively different from the Ford Escape Hybrid she'd driven a few weeks earlier, "more friendly" and "less of an SUV."

Then, she hit me with this: "Some more test cars are out there [in the driveway]. Does Ria have to drive the Mariner?"

"Yes," I said.

Silence.

Ria, too, is as smart as a whip. She's tough. She could run a country, and sometimes, I think she does. She looked straight past those other vehicles in the driveway and picked the Mariner Hybrid.

There is an easy way to tell when Ria likes, or does not like, a vehicle. If she doesn't like it, she returns it quickly and says "interesting" in a way that reeks of derision. Or, she just laughs derisively and tells me how much she doesn't like it.

But when Ria likes a vehicle, she returns it reluctantly, and usually with more miles than it seems possible to accumulate in several days of driving. She brought back the Mariner Hybrid with lots of miles. And she, too, commented that she enjoyed it much more than the Ford Escape.

So, it's clear that I'm wrong. Maybe it's the treatment of the Mercury Mariner's front end -- less aggressive than that of the Escape, "more friendly," as Mary Anne said. Maybe it's the 2008 Mariner's new, spiffy interior. Maybe the people at Mercury sprinkled female allure powder, or something, all over the Mariner's passenger cabin. I just don't know.

But I know that if the Mariner and other Mercury models have that kind of appeal to women, Ford would be silly to get rid of the division. And Mercury would be equally wrongheaded to stop its woman-oriented marketing campaign.

In short, the people at Mercury should stop listening to guys like me. They should continue paying very close attention to women like Mary Anne and Ria.

On Wheels with Warren Brown Listen from 12 to 1 p.m. Tuesdays on WMET World Radio, 1160 AM on your dial, http://www.wmet1160.com on your laptop.