Create Your Own Automotive Empire

[Populuxe]

Here's a thought exercise: take any five defunct or dormant automobile marques, and create your own automotive empire out of them. Which would you chose? What markets and demographics would you chase?

Populuxe Motors Inc:
Checker: I would build on the reputation of the Marathon taxi and reposition Checker as my commercial vehicle and truck maker.
Alvis: British maker of mid-level sports and GT cars. I would position Alvis against everything from Acura to Maserati. They would race in Group GT3.
Saab: This would be my popularly priced car, competing against Ford, Toyota, etc. I would have Saab's motorsports division compete in the WRC.
Voisin: My luxury car division. Competes against everything from Audi to Rolls-Royce. I would harken back to the original Avions Voisin in design philosophy.
Stanguellini: My sports car division. I would start with small, affordable sports cars and then move upmarket with faster and more exclusive sports cars.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

(US Market)

Suzuki: I would take the Suzuki Jimny....and sell it in the USA. Profit!

 

[DaigoD]

DeTomaso (grand tourers similar to Maserati)
Venturi (Sports cars)
Saab (premium full range of cars competing against the Germans)
MG ( hot hatches and small sports cars)
Hummer ( off-roaders)

 

[Populuxe]

(US Market)

Suzuki: I would take the Suzuki Jimny....and sell it in the USA. Profit!

As much as I'd like that, Suzuki isn't defunct.

MG ( hot hatches and small sports cars)

Unfortunately you can't use MG because they are currently in business and making a wide range of cars.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

As much as I'd like that, Suzuki isn't defunct.

Their automotive division is defunct in the US. Yeah, I cheated a bit. But c'mon Suzuki, bring that little guy over here!

 

[Volksauto]

Triumph: A division for small, two seater sports cars to compete with cars like the Mazda MX-5 and the Fiat 124.
Packard: A division to compete with high end luxury makes like Rolls-Royce, Bentley, and Maybach.
Saturn: A division for economical cars and crossovers to compete with Volkswagen, Ford, Toyota, Honda, etc.
Stanley: A more experimental division specializing in cars with alternate fuel sources.

 

[05XR8]

As much as I'd like that, Suzuki isn't defunct.


Unfortunately you can't use MG because they are currently in business and making a wide range of cars.

I'm seeing their cuv on the road.

Saab- 96(electric CUV; Juke size) working with Mitsubishi/Renault/Nissan
Sonnet: competitor to Veloster N or based on next Z-car to compete with Supra
Saab 99: Kei- car segment

Venturi- working with Renault/Nissan FormulaE to develop electric sports 2&2+2 and mid-level SUV

 

[VXR]

License Yugo from Zastava for export markets and make a cheap pair of hatchbacks on older, licensed technology - GM Astra Mark 5 for the Sana (aka Florida) perhaps and the GM Korea Spark chassis for the 55/65 GV models. Uninspiring but should be cheaply available given their sell off of GM Europe and PSA probably not giving two hoots if they attained the rights to it. Give them bright colours and graphics choices and price them against Dacia and shake up that staid reputation they've built.

Frazer Nash would be a sporting, GT coupe and cabrio to go against the likes of Maserati and Mercedes' SL. Quick, but ultimately refined cruisers that happen to drive well. Bespoke colour program only to make every one unique to the first owner.

Stanley - once renowned for steam, the Streamer would be an aerodynamic, electric and solar supercar test bed for pushing EV technologies. Adaptable for use in competitive sports and maybe the choice for a Formula E bid.

Which would tie in my luxury arm, Jowett with the Javelin being EV only to take on Tesla in the mould of Jaguar and their XJ. Sporty, but technology led luxury which is something I can see EV being suited for more and more.

For the obligatory SUVs, I'd attempt to prize Riley from BMW. Sure, it hasn't ever made an SUV, but it has a landed gentry ring to it, which should go well with the Chinese market where I'd make the most of the opportunity to rake in cash for the other 4 ventures.

 

[Snikle]

I'd bring back the Cord marques from before the war:
Duesenberg - High-end luxury cars, competing with RR or Bentley.
Cord - Mid-range luxury cars and GT cars, competes with companies like Mercedes.
Auburn - Smaller luxury cars, some sports cars and GT cars. Competes more with Cadillac or BMW.
And since this isn't 5 yet, I'll have E. L. Cord buy some more marques:
Tucker - More experimental cars. Expensive, and full of new technology. Maybe an electric super/hypercar also.
Chaparral - Performance wing of the company. American supercars made to compete with Europe's best on the road and track.

I'll come back to this thread later with some European cars to resurrect.

 

[BKGlover]

I like this idea.

Checker: There is an opportunity to make an inexpensive but very effective range of vehicles. They need to be built like tanks and easy to work on, need to be comfortable, spacious, and efficient, all while keeping costs down. Lastly they need to be endearing to the populus with their looks, their feel, and their potential. The fact they'd be designed to last generations and possibly built for decades, similar to the old Marathons, would be a point of contention, but I'd point to said Marathons, GM's Express vans, the London Cab, and the original Mini as evidence that methodology can work again.

Plymouth: Positioned as the entry level company, it would consist of inexpensive, well built vehicles covering the full range. Smaller K-cars, spacious SUVs/Crossovers, and reliable trucks. Unlike GM, actual effort would be used to try and sell in Europe and Asia.

Mercury/Saab: The term "Mid-level" has been tied to so many brands killed off, but the failing of those brands was also that their parent company didn't get them what they needed, a unique line-up...except Saab, GM was cheaper than hell with them, how they lasted so long I don't know. This would be built on the same architecture as Plymouth, with similar underpinnings as well, but these vehicles would be more powerful, better optioned, and more trend based in design to make them feel different. Additionally I would reintroduce the brands halo car, question would be do I go Mercury Cougar or Saab 99, as that would lead to separate focuses...of course, I could do both eventually, but at first the brand would need an outright pinnacle.

Eagle: To punch Jeep in the face, you need to out Jeep them. The solution is partly in the name, as the old AMC Eagles were built with Jeep suspension parts for 4x4 variants. Take this idea further and focus on the off-road capabilities of a full range, even small runabouts to compete with side-by-side ATVs and the Fiat Panda 4x4 that still gets use in Europe.

Duesenberg: Yeah, this was the easy one. The American Rolls Royce, reborn to epitomize luxury. Nurburgring is of no use to us, we merely have to drive down any road to test our silky ride. Power is nice, but if it disturbs the experience then what good is it. 14 Griffins were slain for this interior... that's good enough, right? I'm starting to get irked by the smugness of this paragraph.

Sadly, no Pontiac or any dedicated performance line. Building for sport only sells of the sporting is good, and sporty focused brands have fallen off.

 

[kikie]

A little bit patriotism

• Minerva

The company became defunct in 1956.

Oops, they are back in business so it seems.

• Imperia