[ROVERNET - UK] Rover brand name sold
Glen Wilson
rovercar at comcast.net
Thu Aug 17 09:29:00 BST 2006
For me, Hyundai came to mind. First, they produced Cortinas for Ford
under license. Later cars like the Excel entered the USA market and
relied heavily on Mitsubishi components that were a considered obsolete
by Mitsubishi. The initial quality was terrible, but they hung in there
and invested in their product. Now, they offer a long warranty have have
a pretty good reputation in the USA. I think that a car that is somewhat
long in the tooth would sell okay in the USA as long as the price is low
enough to set them apart. Hyundais fist offerings in the USA were in the
$7,000 range, which put them in competition with used cars with
substantial mileage on them. People then had a choice between a used car
and a brand new Hyundai, and that worked.
I don't know if even a dated Rover design can be produced cheaply enough
to offer a similar price advantage, but the company certainly bought
Rover at clearance prices and never had to shell out for the development
expenses. If they were produced in China for Chinese wages, they could
do it. Making cars in the UK and USA will be much less profitable, I
would think.
I just wonder what it will be like driving classic Rovers in the USA if
the Chinese use the Rover name here. The general population is confused
enough about what old Rovers are.
Glen
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