Vignale, the new name for posh Fords
Discussion
J4CKO said:
Of course, we would have all heard of Ghia if it hadn't been on posh versions of Fords and we are all familiar with the work of Vignale.
Agreed. Ford own the names, and within reason, they can do what they like with them. 99% of people on the street wouldn't know the history of the names.J4CKO said:
I bet mr Popularplus is turning in his grave as well.
MadmanO/T People said:
Lincoln MKZ. It's not exactly pretty but at least it doesn't look like a Mondeo that has crashed through the Halford's stick-on crap aisle. I wonder why Ford chose not to offer this body style in the UK/Europe?
Are you kidding? The MKZ is getting panned in the States. Reviewers say it looks like a Gilette multi-blade razor, and is an insult to the heritage of the Lincoln brand.The "special area of the service department" thing is a trick that Ford is already trying with Lincoln in the US.
budgie smuggler said:
autocar said:
The strategy could start with the facelifted Focus ST, which was seen testing last week.
Not seen anything about this, anybody got a link/pic?
http://www.worldcarfans.com/113082061657/2014-ford...
Baryonyx said:
....since the Germans lost their shine over the last decade...
By which you mean "since the Germans strengthened their stranglehold over this sector of the market over the last decade, and by the way, have you seen the profits at VW Group, BMW and MB, compared to say, GM?"Am I missing something here? Have Ford really created a sub brand? At least your posh Golf is an Audi - here the neighbours still see that you have a Ford. Ford seem to have gone to all the expense of engineering a sub brand, will be investing in massive dealership site changes and spending a fortune on advertising, but seem to have forgotten the important bit. Surely your "time poor, more money than sense, don't care about depreciation" execs are ordering BM's and Audi's precisely because they don't want to drive a Ford, however good they are or how much quilted leather there is?
Dapster said:
By which you mean "since the Germans strengthened their stranglehold over this sector of the market over the last decade, and by the way, have you seen the profits at VW Group, BMW and MB, compared to say, GM?"
Am I missing something here? Have Ford really created a sub brand? At least your posh Golf is an Audi - here the neighbours still see that you have a Ford. Ford seem to have gone to all the expense of engineering a sub brand, will be investing in massive dealership site changes and spending a fortune on advertising, but seem to have forgotten the important bit. Surely your "time poor, more money than sense, don't care about depreciation" execs are ordering BM's and Audi's precisely because they don't want to drive a Ford, however good they are or how much quilted leather there is?
Agreed.Am I missing something here? Have Ford really created a sub brand? At least your posh Golf is an Audi - here the neighbours still see that you have a Ford. Ford seem to have gone to all the expense of engineering a sub brand, will be investing in massive dealership site changes and spending a fortune on advertising, but seem to have forgotten the important bit. Surely your "time poor, more money than sense, don't care about depreciation" execs are ordering BM's and Audi's precisely because they don't want to drive a Ford, however good they are or how much quilted leather there is?
Everyone is doing something along these lines. Marchionne at Fiat started the recent episode; he said that the market had been permanently polarised into budget and premium, and then came up with a plan to apply his brands to one or the other. PSA Citroen followed suite, with their slightly weird plans for Citroen (cheap) and both Peugeot and the Citroenless-DS (premium). Renault now have Dacia and to a lesser extent Infiniti. This isn't particularly new of course; VW Group have been doing it for years albeit with an extra bit surviving in the squeezed middle.
Ford seem to want to achieve the same, and of course they should since they fit into the same European loss-making mould as the others. However a sub-brand ain't going to cut it.
issey23 said:
Megaflow said:
I'm not a fan of the colour, or the cream quilted leather, but the rest of it is a very fine looking car.
I agree with that, but maybe the colour looks better in the flesh ? For example the new XJ really doesn't work in light colours, I don't beleive.
Justayellowbadge said:
J4CKO said:
Of course, we would have all heard of Ghia if it hadn't been on posh versions of Fords and we are all familiar with the work of Vignale.
Sarcasm inappropriate - many here do know of them as coachbuilders first and spec levels second. Totally different to creating a new brand like Lexus.
Same concept creating a sub brand, however they just nicked the name of the old coachbuilding firm, not sure why coachbuilding sounds so grandoise and carries so much gravitas like it does, perhaps Bentley should tie up with Plaxtons ?
Its only a name, it doesnt change history.
J4CKO said:
But most of the world doesnt, they would just be forgotten completely rather than remembered as a top spec Granada model, dont knwo why it makes Ford the bad guy, they have produced millions of cars, some very important ones, the first mass produced ones, but of course a few Italian blokes knocking up a few special bodied this and thats in the dim and distant past is far more niche, Ford is all a bit downmarket and popular with the plebs.
Same concept creating a sub brand, however they just nicked the name of the old coachbuilding firm, not sure why coachbuilding sounds so grandoise and carries so much gravitas like it does, perhaps Bentley should tie up with Plaxtons ?
Its only a name, it doesnt change history.
British Leyland did it with the Vanden Plas tag before binning it in favour of a simple HLS.Same concept creating a sub brand, however they just nicked the name of the old coachbuilding firm, not sure why coachbuilding sounds so grandoise and carries so much gravitas like it does, perhaps Bentley should tie up with Plaxtons ?
Its only a name, it doesnt change history.
Pickled said:
J4CKO said:
perhaps Bentley should tie up with Plaxtons ?
Its only a name, it doesnt change history.
I prefer the sound of the Bentley Dennis Its only a name, it doesnt change history.
So unless I've missed something, this is basically a Mondeo GLX and Ford have decided that if you spec leather seats and a few shiny bits that you are deemded a more exclusive customer than the guy who paid a couple of hundred quid less for the same car?
That smells like trying to turn a standard brand into a premium brand without making a premium product.
Weird!
That smells like trying to turn a standard brand into a premium brand without making a premium product.
Weird!
Paul O said:
So unless I've missed something, this is basically a Mondeo GLX and Ford have decided that if you spec leather seats and a few shiny bits that you are deemded a more exclusive customer than the guy who paid a couple of hundred quid less for the same car?
That smells like trying to turn a standard brand into a premium brand without making a premium product.
Weird!
You can fool some of the people etc....That smells like trying to turn a standard brand into a premium brand without making a premium product.
Weird!
ked it up. And then sold them, believing them to be not worth having. Woops!Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff