Brand Nationality

[Pints]

There are some car brands which are quite readily linked with a particular country. Some examples:

BMW - German
Honda - Japanese
Kia - S. Korean
Merc - German
VW - German
Mazda - Japanese
Cadillac - Yank
Lotus - British

But there are some which I can't quite put my finger on, mostly owing to change in ownership of the brand name over the years.

Examples:
Opel - German or Yank?
Vauxhall - British or Yank?

Ford (the big 'uns) - Yank or Aussie?
Holden - Aussie or Yank?

So in my Opel, Vauxhall, etc. examples above, what is the PH opinion regarding the badge? My FiL sees Opel as German, whereas I see an American GM product.

And which others have had their "nationality" muddied over time?

[parmley]

Fords and Vauxhalls etc could be called international as some fords are designed and built in Europe yet some in USA. I'd say it's more about where the car was developed (designed engineered), so it different for each car. Like the BMW z3 was designed in the USA for the USA hence the use of cheaper older design rear suspension components as they would be fine for USA driving. The Ford Focus is very European with great suspension etc, developed in Europe for Europe but you would be say it's an American company. So you could classify them on character, where the company HQ is based, where there built, where there developed. The country in which the major components are made or the biggest % of components.

As a Design Engineer (engineer ie function not form) I would say it's more about where the engineers developed and made decisions about it. It would not end up being different if it was then built in india, Taiwan or USA etc as all decisions have been made. Though obviously fit and finish will be affected, but again that's more about design as if it's designed to go together easily with little chance of mistakes then you can't go wrong.

Character is an interesting one and stereotypes, mainly due to the roads and style of driving in that country. Holden's a typical of Australia where fuel is cheaper and you want loads of power everything is miles away. Lotus is typical of England where you have lots of miniature roads which are twisty and fun.

I notice people who work in manufacturing and people on TV are more concerned with where it is built (bolted together and painted) where as marketing types might be more interested in where the HQ's are and the initial vision was thought up.

Car companies are all over the place these days so it's so much harder to tell, there will be few where the car is 100% of one country by that I mean every single part visioned design and built within the country.

[Prof Prolapse]

General motors CEO is an American citizen based over there as is Ford's.

That is how I would define a brand's "nationality".

[vdubbin]

Ford was always more Dagenham than Detroit, we get very few of the USDM cars here.
Opel have launched a big rebranding exercise with "Wir Leben Autos" as the tagline, but they're not really fooling anyone…

[the fury]

Holden has GM as a parent company but is very much Aussie. The Aussie Ford is obviously US owned but develops cars purely for domestic markets.

[Pints]

vdubbin said:

Opel have launched a big rebranding exercise with "Wir Leben Autos" as the tagline, but they're not really fooling anyone…

It would seem they're fooling my FiL.