[haryan]

Originally Posted by Dippy

Hahaha I just hope no one will put a Daewoo badge on the Forester.. That would be murder...

Cheers

that is quite a possibility in Korea ....

GM owns all this brands/car companies and will christen them according to the Market trends in each particular country ...
At the end of the day GM is concerned about the Sales figure of their cars rather than the Badges on the car ....
and they are More worried about the Profits ... Simple reasoning ... Brand the car in each country as people there would like to buy ...

[CaliforniaKnight]

Originally Posted by GTO

When Lexus and Acura were launched in the US market, BMW and Merc bosses were sh**ting bricks!! Their sales went down by almost 50% in the period from the end 80's to the early 90's. Lexus and Acura offered 98% of what the german cars offered, at 70% of the price. And a luxurious brand to go with that.
GTO

LEXUS = TOYOTA
ACURA = HONDA...Isnt'it? But every time a car mag test drives a toyota or a Honda, say a corolla and an octavia.
The corolla is known for its reliability and brand value, but it cant match the solid feel of the octavia,or even an opel astra.
Even if you drive a camry or an accord, every parameter is good except the solid feel.
Now does the Lexus, Acura,Infiniti...etc feel the same way as a Jap car or do they feel more solid like the European / American cars??
I have driven a Toyoya Land cruiser amazon and it was only the size it had, the door shut could not be compared to a 5 year old Opel Astra.
The Lexus LX 470 looks exactly the same as a L.C. Amazon would there be a difference??

P.s: slightly I guess!

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaKnight

I have driven a Toyoya Land cruiser amazon and it was only the size it had, the door shut could not be compared to a 5 year old Opel Astra.
P.s: slightly I guess!

Ahem! I like to make extreme comparisons to drive home a point myself, but dont you THAT was a bit over the top???

[turbo_lover]

The corolla is known for its reliability and brand value, but it cant match the solid feel of the octavia

despite Skodas success with the Octavia in india ..globally they are considered to be $H%&y car makers .... lower class people buy skodas ...the toyota as a brand is way more superior ..

[GTO]

despite Skodas success with the Octavia in india ..globally they are considered to be $H%&y car makers .... lower class people buy skodas ...the toyota as a brand is way more superior ..

Firstly, do refrain from making generic statements on the economic strengths of buyers.

Second, the Skoda brand has gone through a massive overhaul - And rightly so since the Skoda of 2005 has almost nothing in common with the Skoda of 1985.

GTO

[CaliforniaKnight]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaKnight

Now does the Lexus, Acura,Infiniti...etc feel the same way as a Jap car or do they feel more solid like the European / American cars??

Wow surprising No one has answered to this Q?

[turbo_lover]

Originally Posted by GTO

Firstly, do refrain from making generic statements on the economic strengths of buyers.
GTO

apologies ..should have come up with a better word to explain my point ...

i was always under the impression that in europe the brand skoda is not valued as much as it is valued in india and that it was one of the "cheaper" cars (unlike Premium C segment here) ... My cousin from UK was also surprised to hear that octavias are so much in demand and were amongst the costlier cars...

[mohit]

Got this from the forbes.com site - VW Jetta review:

The funny thing is that Volkswagen could find great success again in this country if the company actually knew the value of its own brand with young buyers. Volkswagens have great life in the aftermarket, and if VW was willing to chase Toyota Motor's new Scion label, the company could easily bring some of its lower-priced, lightly massaged Skoda models here where they would sell well to twentysomethings. Americans don't know that Skoda is the Daewoo of Europe —and anyway, these cars are far more refined than that..

Ref:Forbes.com Jetta Review

[BUSA]

If thats not all there is more news, not only the Chevolet Optra is called as Suzuki Forenza and Daewoo Nubira but also as Chevrolet Nubira in Swiss, Daewoo Lacetii, Daewoo Optra and the Buick Excelle.

But the best thing is unlike other manufacturers, all the above cars are similar in everything including tyre size and design, only Canadian versions have 2.0L engines 119bhp and TCS and side airbags as option.

[amit]

Now does the Lexus, Acura,Infiniti...etc feel the same way as a Jap car or do they feel more solid like the European / American cars??

Drove a 2003 Acura MDX a few months back. Loved the engine. Barely audible at idle, it was butter smooth. Seats were fabolous, really really comfortable, but the feel of the car was not like a premium car. Interior plastics were drab, controls felt flimsy and didn't have the "premium quality" touch and doors closed with a tiny clang. Forget the Golf, Jetta. Passat or even Octavia's solid doors, the Indian Palio's doors felt way more solid and "thunky".

Wow surprising No one has answered to this Q?

I did.

[devarshi84]

American Suzuki Motor Company had the best selling month in its 21-year History on the Basis of Suzuki Forenza(our very own chevrolet Optra)

more news here.

http://www.autospectator.com/modules...p?storyid=3093

[zenx]

Yeah, the different branding does make sense. OTOH, I can see only positives in plonking the Baleno (well - suzuki esteem in the USofA) engine into the optra - will do wonders. This Suzuki also has a 1.8 option in the US, so that could be the next step up.

[navin]

Like GTO said GM used to sell the same car as a Pontiac, Chevy, Buick, Oldsmobile... in the same market. The Pontiac targetted at younger buyers would be given a stiffer sportier suspension and flash while the Oldsmobile targetted at the retired lot was given a softer suspensiton and staid colours etc...so the same person at 20 bought a Pontiac, at 30 bought a Chevy, at 50 bought a Buick and at 70 bought an Olds.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by zenx

I can see only positives in plonking the Baleno (well - suzuki esteem in the USofA) engine into the optra - will do wonders. This Suzuki also has a 1.8 option in the US, so that could be the next step up.

What positive do you see in plonking a Baleno engine? And what wonders it'll do?

[goldie_malhotra]

Originally Posted by zenx

OTOH, I can see only positives in plonking the Baleno (well - suzuki esteem in the USofA) engine into the optra - will do wonders.

The baleno 1.6 engine with 91 bhp does wonders only with a sub-tonne frame - add 300 odd kgs of the optra to that and it will sleep ....

a heavy car like optra definitely needs an engine of more than 100 horses to get it going ...