Car re-badging (luxury, vehicle, Japanese, brakes)

[elnina]

What do we know about, and examples.
How money gets made by offering basically the same car with slightly different trim and a different name.
Is this still a thing?

The term "rebadge" is used to describe a situation where an identical vehicle is sold under different names by two automakers. Rebadging saves costs for brands and the hassle of developing a car from the ground up.

E.g. Toyota Cruiser might come back American market as rebadged version of the mid-size Land Cruiser Prado, which is set to debut shortly.

https://www.hotcars.com/lesser-known...rt-isuzu-rodeo

[heavymind]

I never knew this existed across manufacturers.

In that link they listed Cadillac Escalade/GMC Yukon Denali, but those are both under the umbrella of GM. Domestic car makers have been doing that for decades. I suppose it's all about marketing and the perceived worth of a brand.

My first car was sold as both a Plymouth and Dodge, with different model names. Not sure if one car was better than the other, unless one of the brands offered 'leather seats' as an option, while the other one didn't, to increase the perceived value.

[NewUser]

Originally Posted by heavymind

I never knew this existed across manufacturers.
Domestic car makers have been doing that for decades.

Exactly. . .

I can name a few examples where 2 manufacturers collaborated on a vehicle 'platform', but their resulting vehicles differ by more than just a badge.

For example. Toyota and Subaru have collaborated on 2 platforms. First was the GR86 and BRZ twins. Recently we got the bZ4X and Solterra twins.

Also, a partnership between Fiat and Mazda resulted in the 124 Spider and Miata.

There are certainly others.

[leadfoot4]

GM did it frequently. The Camaros and Firebirds were good examples. They shared a basic "platform", designated the "F" body, and initially the only major difference was the engines, as the Camaro had Chevrolet engines, and the Firebird had Pontiac engines. In later years, as GM was consolidating, they all had Chevrolet engines.

Also the Chevy Nova, Pontiac Ventura, as well as the Buick and Oldsmobile variants (whose model names I don't remember) all shared a "stretched" version of the Camaro/Firebird platform. In the "full sized" line, GM had the 90s Chevy Caprice, Buick Roadmaster, and Cadillac Fleetwood share the "B" body platform, as well as Pontiac and Oldsmobile variants, earlier on.

An interesting tidbit, when Ford had a controlling interest in Jaguar, they shared development of the "DEW 98" platform, which brought forth the Jaguar "S Type" (later called the XF), the Lincoln LS, and a shortened version of this chassis, underneath the "retro" Thunderbird, of the early 2000s.

[Malloric]

Big price difference on some badgers too like the Dodge Hornet and Alfa Tonale.

[ukrkoz]

Rebadging used to supply very good cars.
Examples were:
Toyota in bed with GM
Mazda in bed with Ford
Mitsubishi in bed with Eagle/Chrysler/Dodge.
Those times produced very reliable cars.
Those times are all gone.

[OutdoorLover]

It doesn't make financial sense to have a full, ground-up development program that will only be leveraged on a single model. So-called "rebadged" models are often not literally the same but for the badge - all kinds of things can be altered - powertrain and suspension components, brakes, audio, sound insulation, interior materials, etc

And a related concept is that of the platform architecture used by virtually all modern companies. For example, Toyota's TNGA-K platform supports Toyota's Corolla, Camry, Sienna, Crown, RAV4 and Highlander, plus Lexus' ES, LM, NX, RX, and TX.

[outafocus]

I think GM made a huge mistake when they discontinued rebadging their imports as Geos. I think if they would have badged the Pontiac Vibe (Toyota Matix), and the Chevrolet versions of the Toyota Corollas as Geos, they would have sold better. People like me that discovered the superiority of Japanese cars would rather die than have a Chevy bowtie on our cars.

[rokuremote]

Toyota and BMW too.

[Airborneguy]

Don’t forget the luxury brands of Toyota, Nissan, and Hyundai, etc. Especially in the case of Toyota/Lexus and Nissan/Inifiniti they’re effectively rebrands.