It was because at the time, a fully loaded Contour/Mystique was almost as expensive as a moderately, but BIGGER Taurus/Sable. In the AMerican mind, bigger is better. Bottom line. I fail to see how decontenting stuff did anything bad for the car. Aside from an annoyance....what did they decontent? A clock? A cheap lock you could break with your hand from the glove box? A few light bulbs (yes just the bulbs only!).....the only MAJOR PITA thing they removed was the door handle lights, and LEDS look cooler anyway...
