AF Editorial - The Globalization of the Car

[AF News Desk]

The Globalization of the Car

By Moppie - AutomotiveForums.com

Thirty years ago, if you bought a Saab, it was a unique and special car. Same with a Fiat, an Audi or a even a humble Chevy.

Then something changed in the world of cars.

The big guys started to buy the small guys, the small guys started joining together to stay alive and now when you buy a Saab, it's really an Opel with a different badge on it.

Your Audi? It uses the same engine and chassis as a Skoda while your Fiat doesn't know where it came from. Meanwhile your good old American Chevy was likely designed in Australia and built in Canada or Mexico. And, if you’re really lucky, your new Ford might not actually be a Ford, but a re-badged Mazda.

It gets even more complicated if you want to buy a car built in your own country.

If you’re an American, I recommend the Honda Accord - a beautiful V6 with a dynamic chassis. For the English, you can't go wrong with a Honda Civic and for those in Brazil, look no further than a VW Golf or Polo. The Germans have a great selection to chose from, but a Ford Focus will get you noticed.

What does it all mean? It means - from an automotive standpoint - the world is truly One place. More than ever before, vastly different markets share the same brands and models, or they have the same car under a different brand.

For years, Americans bemoaned the lack of Nissan's Skyline in the US market, or wished they could buy a Holden. Now they can, just with different badges.

VW and Audi models, once considered strange and foreign are now common and accepted all around the world, even competing in Japan and North America - markets traditionally closed to Europe.

While these are good things, sadly it also means the death of great and innovative brands like Saab and Volvo. Companies who once designed revolutionary cars are now just badges to be put on the fronts of Opels and Fords.

It has also meant a massive reduction in the number of different models available around the world. Thirty years ago, if you wanted a mid range four-door sedan, you had a choice of several completely different models from a huge list of manufacturers.

Each model had it’s own unique features and styles, offering the consumer a range of engines, drive trains, performance and comfort levels with specs to match. Between all the countries in the world you could find 30 or more different and unique models.

Now, the list is much smaller. You get a choice of brands placed on platforms from General Motors (GM), Ford, VAG (VW Audi Group), Honda, Toyota, Nissan/Renault and Subaru. From a list of over 30 to a list of less than 10.

Of that list, GM, VAG, Ford and Toyota dominate the global market with Honda following and Nissan/Renult and Subaru some way behind BMW and Mercedes, who are known more as premium brands outside of Europe.

That level of consolidation into badges placed on generic platforms has killed a lot of passion that used to go into cars.

How can a mid sized GM or VAG platform have passion built into it if it’s only going to be subjected to five or six different variations on the same body style? How can each of those different badges convey any real differences when they share the same suspension and engines?

And if given the choice, why would you ever buy an Audi A4 over a Skoda Octavia?

[speediva]

Ah, the rebadging game at its best.

I love that some troglodytes still don't realize that their Lexus/Acura/Infiniti is an overpriced Toyota/Honda/Nissan with leather... or nowadays, is that much even still true?

[Moppie]

Originally Posted by speediva

Ah, the rebadging game at its best.

I love that some troglodytes still don't realize that their Lexus/Acura/Infiniti is an overpriced Toyota/Honda/Nissan with leather... or nowadays, is that much even still true?

The edges are so blurred, I don't even Toyota could tell you where the Toyota ends and Lexus begins.

Lexus used to be a purely American Brand, like Acura the cars were just re-badged Honda's.
When the brand developed a reputation Toyota started to use it as a way to sell it's higher end cars globally, but they were still just re-badged Toyota's.
Here in NZ we get domestic market Lexus and Imported Toyota's. Often the Toyota's have had Lexus badge kits put on them, as believe it or not, they are worth more (despite being exactly the same car).


A couple of years ago Toyota decided to make Lexus their "premium" global brand. So high end Toyota's now get a Lexus badge regardless of where they are sold.
There is still some cross over with the LX, but the rest are Lexus badged only. Unless the next Camry is RWD, they don't even share a lot of platforms anymore, except for the CT which is Prius based.

It gets even more confusing if you try and figure out which of these models are designed, in North America or Japan, and I am not even going to try and figure out where they are all built. I imagine a good number are build in the US, especially the V8 models.


Nissan is working towards doing the same thing with the Infiniti range, which is now marketed in Europe and North America, as well as the Middle East and some parts of Asia.
Here in NZ the only way to get hold of a G model is buy a used Japanese Skyline, and I've yet to see any of the bigger M models here with Nissan badges.