Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: Olas
Daewoo Matiz - Chevrolet Matiz
US buyers had their first opportunity at a Daewoo in the late 80s by buying a Pontiac LeMans. Worse, this was a formerly cool name, slapped on an econobox.
I visited Korea (escaped from the airport for about three hours is more the truth) and saw a LeMans there. Badged as the Daewoo LeMans. Seemed kind of boring that they didn't even pick a better name.
And a year earlier I was in Australian and saw the same Mercury Capri driven there as right-hand drive - as the Ford Capri. Of course this was one heck of a departure since the previous generation Capri was essentially just a rebadged Ford Mustang.
Someone mentioned the Saab 9-2X Areo, which was a cosmetically modified WRX. However, they had the base 9-2X, which was from a base Impreza. Saab had a huge input on the cosmetic design of the grill. The hood scoop and hood on the 9-2X Aero was also considerably different than the WRX. Of course the nickname of those vehicles was the "Saabaru".
There's more. The Diamond Star hatches of the late 80s were sold as the Mitsubishi Eclipse, Plymouth Laser, and Eagle Talon. Nobody remembers "Jeep/Eagle"? I think it was supposed to be something for the Jeep dealers to sell when the AMC models were scrapped and supposedly to compete with Saturn.
While someone mentioned the Geo Metro, that was preceded by the Chevrolet Sprint. That was actually based off the of the Japanese market Suzuki Cultus. The Swift name was to sell that car outside of Japan.
And one of the most obvious was the Honda Passport and Acura SLX, which were based off of the Isuzu Rodeo and Isuzu Trooper.
I also guess it's "badge engineering" to create a platform and basically sell the same car under different names. The GM J-body was notorious. It wasn't that it was so bad, but that the Cadillac Cimmaron probably set back the reputation of the brand by 10 years. To slap a Cadillac badge on an econobox was a poor marketing decision.
Originally Posted By: Olas
Daewoo Matiz - Chevrolet Matiz
US buyers had their first opportunity at a Daewoo in the late 80s by buying a Pontiac LeMans. Worse, this was a formerly cool name, slapped on an econobox.
I visited Korea (escaped from the airport for about three hours is more the truth) and saw a LeMans there. Badged as the Daewoo LeMans. Seemed kind of boring that they didn't even pick a better name.
And a year earlier I was in Australian and saw the same Mercury Capri driven there as right-hand drive - as the Ford Capri. Of course this was one heck of a departure since the previous generation Capri was essentially just a rebadged Ford Mustang.
Someone mentioned the Saab 9-2X Areo, which was a cosmetically modified WRX. However, they had the base 9-2X, which was from a base Impreza. Saab had a huge input on the cosmetic design of the grill. The hood scoop and hood on the 9-2X Aero was also considerably different than the WRX. Of course the nickname of those vehicles was the "Saabaru".
There's more. The Diamond Star hatches of the late 80s were sold as the Mitsubishi Eclipse, Plymouth Laser, and Eagle Talon. Nobody remembers "Jeep/Eagle"? I think it was supposed to be something for the Jeep dealers to sell when the AMC models were scrapped and supposedly to compete with Saturn.
While someone mentioned the Geo Metro, that was preceded by the Chevrolet Sprint. That was actually based off the of the Japanese market Suzuki Cultus. The Swift name was to sell that car outside of Japan.
And one of the most obvious was the Honda Passport and Acura SLX, which were based off of the Isuzu Rodeo and Isuzu Trooper.
I also guess it's "badge engineering" to create a platform and basically sell the same car under different names. The GM J-body was notorious. It wasn't that it was so bad, but that the Cadillac Cimmaron probably set back the reputation of the brand by 10 years. To slap a Cadillac badge on an econobox was a poor marketing decision.