Discussion
My perception is that GM are very much more hands on when it comes to their sister brands than Ford are?
Take Vauxhall & Opel for instance.
You know they are owned by GM simply by taking a look inside them and seeing the same interiors as well as the same exterior designes and so on...whereas Ford seem to be a bit more hands off as a parent company.
You'd only know Aston & Jaguar were owned by Ford by taking a peek at the switchgear and seeing Mondeo stuff in both.
Which is the better approach?
I'm not sure but I do like the Ford of handling brands as opposed to the clone eveything approach by GM.
Then again, that approach by GM means I can by £24k 350bhp car 'cos of the economies of scale.
Hmmmmmm....
Take Vauxhall & Opel for instance.
You know they are owned by GM simply by taking a look inside them and seeing the same interiors as well as the same exterior designes and so on...whereas Ford seem to be a bit more hands off as a parent company.
You'd only know Aston & Jaguar were owned by Ford by taking a peek at the switchgear and seeing Mondeo stuff in both.
Which is the better approach?
I'm not sure but I do like the Ford of handling brands as opposed to the clone eveything approach by GM.
Then again, that approach by GM means I can by £24k 350bhp car 'cos of the economies of scale.
Hmmmmmm....
Bignige said:
My perception is that GM are very much more hands on when it comes to their sister brands than Ford are?
Take Vauxhall & Opel for instance.
You know they are owned by GM simply by taking a look inside them and seeing the same interiors as well as the same exterior designes and so on...whereas Ford seem to be a bit more hands off as a parent company.
You'd only know Aston & Jaguar were owned by Ford by taking a peek at the switchgear and seeing Mondeo stuff in both.
Which is the better approach?
I'm not sure but I do like the Ford of handling brands as opposed to the clone eveything approach by GM.
Then again, that approach by GM means I can by £24k 350bhp car 'cos of the economies of scale.
Hmmmmmm....
What a load of b*llocks, Vauxhall is just the trading name for Opel in the UK, everywhere else in Europe it trades as Opel. Its the same company.
Aston and Jaguar are distinct from Ford, in the same way a Hummer, Corvette or Saab 9-5 is different from a Vauxhall.
Dont Ford make a car called a mustang which also has 350bhp for (sub) 24k?
Bennno
In terms of business sense, GM's method is better for global profits, hence sharing of Vectra/9-3/BLS/Signum/new 9-5 and the rest! Unfortuantely, they did not impliment this early enough and that is part of why they are in current financial stuation! Jag and Aston are part of PAG (premiere auto group) which manages ford's premium upmarket brands, inc volvo & Land rover! So Ford have little say.. AT THE MOMMENT!! Under current circumstances, Ford are likely to be much less leniant towards them!
Holden have now swapped their Barina from Opel corsa to Daewoo (chevy Kalos) and old Astra replaced by the Nubira, they are looking to replace Vectra with some Korean medium car aswell. (motor Aug 2005). The reason being Holden want bigger sales to tackle the Japanese, and the Euro sourced cars were "too rich for aussie tastes" according to Motor!
This kind of management should be great for Holden as it will make them more competitive in markets that they were priced out of by corsa et all!
Holden have now swapped their Barina from Opel corsa to Daewoo (chevy Kalos) and old Astra replaced by the Nubira, they are looking to replace Vectra with some Korean medium car aswell. (motor Aug 2005). The reason being Holden want bigger sales to tackle the Japanese, and the Euro sourced cars were "too rich for aussie tastes" according to Motor!
This kind of management should be great for Holden as it will make them more competitive in markets that they were priced out of by corsa et all!
During the last World Cup Finals the Opel ad boards were swapped for Vauxhall when England played.
1) How long until it's Opel here too? (the models have already got the same names now)
2) Did Vauxhall get a good deal, cos they only had to pay until the quarter finals
>> Edited by 2 Smokin Barrels on Tuesday 25th October 21:54
1) How long until it's Opel here too? (the models have already got the same names now)
2) Did Vauxhall get a good deal, cos they only had to pay until the quarter finals
>> Edited by 2 Smokin Barrels on Tuesday 25th October 21:54
2 Smokin Barrels said:
During the last World Cup Finals the Opel ad boards were swapped for Vauxhall when England played.
1) How long until it's Opel here too? (the models have already got the same names now)
2) Did Vauxhall get a good deal, cos they only had to pay until the quarter finals
>> Edited by 2 Smokin Barrels on Tuesday 25th October 21:54
...but was it just the Astra where they adopted the UK name? Kadett>Astra
Cavalier>Vectra
Nova>Corsa
Carlton>Omega
Tigra>Tigra
[quote]
Aston and Jaguar are distinct from Ford, in the same way a Hummer, Corvette or Saab 9-5 is different from a Vauxhall.
Dont Ford make a car called a mustang which also has 350bhp for (sub) 24k?
Bennno[/quote]
You know sh!t mate. Saab 95 and 93's are Vauhall Vectra platfroms. Get it right old son. Also you mention the Mustang. Fair enough until you realise that there is NO RHD version available. At all. The Monaro is available in LHD as a Pontiac and RHD as a Vauxhall in the UK and a Holden down under.
Aston is more distinct from Ford than Jaguar are, and if you knew more about the target clientelle then you would understand why. It's upsetting though, when the only 100K plus supercar that can hold a quality candle to more exotic Marques comes with Mundano switchgear. Shoddy. Very Shoddy, but Aston are not to blame in this. The decision was probably made in the "blue office" and handed down.
Face it, platform sharing and niche engineering are here to stay.....
Aston and Jaguar are distinct from Ford, in the same way a Hummer, Corvette or Saab 9-5 is different from a Vauxhall.
Dont Ford make a car called a mustang which also has 350bhp for (sub) 24k?
Bennno[/quote]
You know sh!t mate. Saab 95 and 93's are Vauhall Vectra platfroms. Get it right old son. Also you mention the Mustang. Fair enough until you realise that there is NO RHD version available. At all. The Monaro is available in LHD as a Pontiac and RHD as a Vauxhall in the UK and a Holden down under.
Aston is more distinct from Ford than Jaguar are, and if you knew more about the target clientelle then you would understand why. It's upsetting though, when the only 100K plus supercar that can hold a quality candle to more exotic Marques comes with Mundano switchgear. Shoddy. Very Shoddy, but Aston are not to blame in this. The decision was probably made in the "blue office" and handed down.
Face it, platform sharing and niche engineering are here to stay.....
[quote]It is a Pontiac GTO. They massacred the front grille for the Us market. If you watch "desperate housewives" Teri Hatchers ex husband on the show has a red one. *ahem* or so I heard...
Lots of LHD Commodores and Statesmans go to the middle east too. [/quote]
No It was a 4 door, Commodores are 4dr, Monaros 2dr. But I think it was a Pontiac.
It was even advertised as a cheap LHD HSV GTS, when HSV UK Ltd. were still trading. So the dealer (might have been American Carriage Co.) was obviously trying to compete.
>> Edited by A57 HSV on Tuesday 25th October 23:05
Lots of LHD Commodores and Statesmans go to the middle east too. [/quote]
No It was a 4 door, Commodores are 4dr, Monaros 2dr. But I think it was a Pontiac.
It was even advertised as a cheap LHD HSV GTS, when HSV UK Ltd. were still trading. So the dealer (might have been American Carriage Co.) was obviously trying to compete.
>> Edited by A57 HSV on Tuesday 25th October 23:05
It is here to stay and Aussies have been caned by it for years as its such a small market that the way many companies cover all sectors is too simply buy a design and re-badge it. Been happening for years and Ford have been one of the biggest exponents of it. To their detriment I would say. They pushed the "world car" program pretty hard and missed the mark by a mile. Mondeo, Taurus, Puma, Cougar etc etc. Did loads in conjunction with Mazda but the Mazda was always the better product. To me, their best efforts in the last 25 years (in Aus) have been when they got some individualism back and started creating some brand identity instead of bland brand (XD - AUII for eg). Im only sorry we never got the XR2 Fiestas, the XR3 Escorts and Sierras in Aus.
damoace said:
You know sh!t mate. Saab 95 and 93's are Vauhall Vectra platfroms. Get it right old son. Also you mention the Mustang. Fair enough until you realise that there is NO RHD version available. At all. The Monaro is available in LHD as a Pontiac and RHD as a Vauxhall in the UK and a Holden down under.
Aston is more distinct from Ford than Jaguar are, and if you knew more about the target clientelle then you would understand why. It's upsetting though, when the only 100K plus supercar that can hold a quality candle to more exotic Marques comes with Mundano switchgear. Shoddy. Very Shoddy, but Aston are not to blame in this. The decision was probably made in the "blue office" and handed down.
Face it, platform sharing and niche engineering are here to stay.....
Excuse me, i have been well paid by Aston for market research as a target customer so I understand the brand (its just I have previously bought Ferrari and Porsche instead).
If you read the context of my mail, the point I was making was that the originator of this thread commented that there was a much bigger difference between Ford brands than there was between Vauxhall and Opel. The point being that Saab is exactly to Vauxhall Opel as Jaguar is to Ford. The 9-3 is a rebodied vectra exactly as the X-Type is a rebodied Mondeo.
The original mail also said Ford dont make a 350bhp car for 24k - they do as i pointed out. I did not seek a debate on the relative merits of RHD and from personal experience can drive both without any issue (and my LHD was a Viper).
I dont know if the 100k supercar you refer to is the Ford GT40 or the DB9, either way you wont find any easily identifiable Mondeo bits in either. My ex - Ferrari cost 180k new but had Fiat Tipo stalks so all manufacturers are at it!
Bennno
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