[sodapop]

Originally Posted by EightSix

What is British in the Hector or Gloster? They are just cars made by a Chinese brand.

Completely agreed, there is nothing british in the Gloster or Hector but likewise, please point out to me what is so "british" in the Mini?

Now, if it was a car with genuine British heritage like the MG-B or the MG-F etc. then sticking British flags on it would have been acceptable. And the British brand hype/marketing too.

But here — the Hector or Gloster have almost nothing to do with the Brits. The Bajoun 530 is a Chinese car, just rebadged as the Hector.

Sure, Mini does share all those things with BMW but what it has with the Brits is a real British Heritage.

Please define genuine heritage. As far as I can see MG has a very rich heritage and legacy which their new owners SAIC are using to their advantage. And again likewise, why is Mini british again? Because that car has nothing to do with the brits either.

In fact, I doubt if MG even does well in the UK. Haven’t seen it’s name in the top sellers anywhere.

How is market performance linked to the so called "authenticity" of the product?

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by EightSix

If ‘kitna deti hai’ is a trick, then so is Tata’s 5 ⭐️ safety campaign.
Thanks to it, I’ve recently seen a strong opinion among people that 5 star safety is ‘must’ on every car and if you are driving anything lower than 4 star, then you are doomed to die.

True, remember reading comments about choices between Qwid or Espresso on social media, comments were filled with silly stuff like "I will ride my motorcycle instead of zero star tin-can". Its easy to brainwash low IQ people I guess.

[Flying_machines]

Originally Posted by sodapop

Completely agreed, there is nothing british in the Gloster or Hector but likewise, please point out to me what is so "british" in the Mini?


Please define genuine heritage. As far as I can see MG has a very rich heritage and legacy which their new owners SAIC are using to their advantage. And again likewise, why is Mini british again? Because that car has nothing to do with the brits either.



How is market performance linked to the so called "authenticity" of the product?

Mini at least originated as British, the platform you say from BMW is upgrading the same car. And it will still look every bit mini. I have never seen a completely different car from BMW launched under mini brand.
It's the design language that makes a brand and if it originated from Brits you can call it.

Similarly Lamborghini Urus uses VW platform and is owned by VW so you will start saying there is nothing Italian about Lamborghini?

Was hector ever MG? it's a completely new product from SAIC also sold as Baojun 530.
Mind you it's a good product and hence selling well too.
It's the marketing strategy which misleads people and that is what this thread is about.

[sodapop]

Originally Posted by Flying_machines

Mini at least originated as British, the platform you say from BMW is upgrading the same car. And it will still look every bit mini. I have never seen a completely different car from BMW launched under mini brand.

Please enlighten me what is common between the current Mini Cooper and the original Austin Mini. Would really like to know as from my knowledge, Minis are made by the germans, use german tech, are designed by the germans and are sold by the germans.

It's the design language that makes a brand and if it originated from Brits you can call it.

Did not understand this sentence of yours. Like I said, the current Mini is completely designed from scratch by the germans so what is british in a Mini?

Similarly Lamborghini Urus uses VW platform and is owned by VW so you will start saying there is nothing Italian about Lamborghini?

There isn't

Was hector ever MG? it's a completely new product from SAIC also sold as Baojun 530.
Mind you it's a good product and hence selling well too.

Hector was always an MG because the parent company, SAIC wanted it to be so. They have all the rights for the brand and I hope you do know they paid extra for the goodwill that came associated with the brand so it isn't plagiarism either.

It's the marketing strategy which misleads people and that is what this thread is about.

Again, MG is a british company headquartered in London , United Kingdom and them using this brand isn't wrong either. The car may be developed in china by the chinese but being badged as an MG isn't wrong. As for people being mislead, there is a phrase called Caveat Emptor which loosely translates to Beware buyer and it is expected for a customer to follow that while purchasing any sort of goods from anybody

[Neversaygbye]

Originally Posted by EightSix

If ‘kitna deti hai’ is a trick, then so is Tata’s 5 ⭐️ safety campaign.
Thanks to it, I’ve recently seen a strong opinion among people that 5 star safety is ‘must’ on every car and if you are driving anything lower than 4 star, then you are doomed to die.

Well, I would say that the 'kitna deti hai' campaign of Maruti is more of a strategy than a trick, as is the safety campaign of Tata and Mahindra. Manufacturers have the right to promote their strong points - with Maruti it has always been mileage and engine performance (because of the lighter build of their cars - but that's a different story), plus their unparalleled service network (I distinctly remember an ad which went something like "you're never too far away from a Maruti service centre"). With Tata and Mahindra their USP has always been build quality and the high-speed stability and ride quality that comes from a heavier car. These companies do deliver what they claim, more often than not (there are exceptions within Maruti, e.g. Ritz, S-Cross, original diesel Brezza; as well as in Tata and Mahindra - e.g. Harrier and Safari are not crash tested) so at the end of the day it is about brand positioning, and we can't call these a trick.

Eventually a buyer will buy based on what is important to him or her. A good USP removes ambiguity and ensures that the target customer segment identifies with the brand.

[Flying_machines]

Originally Posted by sodapop

Please enlighten me what is common between the current Mini Cooper and the original Austin Mini. Would really like to know as from my knowledge, Minis are made by the germans, use german tech, are designed by the germans and are sold by the germans.



Did not understand this sentence of yours. Like I said, the current Mini is completely designed from scratch by the germans so what is british in a Mini?



There isn't



Hector was always an MG because the parent company, SAIC wanted it to be so. They have all the rights for the brand and I hope you do know they paid extra for the goodwill that came associated with the brand so it isn't plagiarism either.



Again, MG is a british company headquartered in London , United Kingdom and them using this brand isn't wrong either. The car may be developed in china by the chinese but being badged as an MG isn't wrong. As for people being mislead, there is a phrase called Caveat Emptor which loosely translates to Beware buyer and it is expected for a customer to follow that while purchasing any sort of goods from anybody

Mini is simply evolved and that is called design evolution. Heck companies evolve their logos too.
Are you expecting the same Austin Mini to be running in 2021?

And if there is nothing Italian about Lamborghini then yes Hector is a British car.

[sodapop]

Originally Posted by Flying_machines

Mini is simply evolved and that is called design evolution. Heck companies evolve their logos too.
Are you expecting the same Austin Mini to be running in 2021?

And if there is nothing Italian about Lamborghini then yes Hector is a British car.

No, I am not expecting the same 1970s model to be still running around, but the fact that the brits have nothing to do with the current model is what is misleading as well going by your logic.


Have to clarify here, I don't really have a good opinion about MG cars but am just putting forward the double standards we have put through

[vikasshu]

Nice thread. Two related strategies that come to my mind are:

1) Buy insurance from the dealer. I read recently in this forum that companies have opened separate financial/insurance subsidiaries to handle this line of business.

2) Buying mandatory accessories from the showroom if you want to buy the vehicle.

[Flying_machines]

Originally Posted by sodapop

No, I am not expecting the same 1970s model to be still running around, but the fact that the brits have nothing to do with the current model is what is misleading as well going by your logic.


Have to clarify here, I don't really have a good opinion about MG cars but am just putting forward the double standards we have put through

How can you say that the origin of the car has nothing to do. A rasgulla made in Karnataka by a non Bengali using milk and ingredients from Gujrat still remains a Bengali sweet.

There are no double standards here. The difference is one company acquires the brand and continues with the same product line up albeit upgrading it to the current standards.
The other company also acquires the brand and sells its own products under that brand just to hide its roots.
Now that is called misleading.

[sodapop]

Originally Posted by Flying_machines

How can you say that the origin of the car has nothing to do. A rasgulla made in Karnataka by a non Bengali using milk and ingredients from Gujrat still remains a Bengali sweet.

Ofcourse it remains a Rasgulla(just like it remained a Mini Cooper). But saying that it is an authentic bengali rasgulla is wrong(just like saying the modern day Mini Cooper is British).

There are no double standards here. The difference is one company acquires the brand and continues with the same product line up albeit upgrading it to the current standards.
The other company also acquires the brand and sells its own products under that brand just to hide its roots.
Now that is called misleading.

Haha. Today's Mini isn't just an "upgrade". It's a completely different car inside out, upside down, whichever angle you look at it. It's a completely different car in that sense and then again just because it's called a Mini Cooper it remains British but just because MG called it's model Hector, it suddenly became Chinese?

[Flying_machines]

Originally Posted by sodapop

Ofcourse it remains a Rasgulla(just like it remained a Mini Cooper). But saying that it is an authentic bengali rasgulla is wrong(just like saying the modern day Mini Cooper is British).

Ok it's not Authentic British but Mini Cooper is British just like Rasgulla is Bengali. Let the consumer decide what is authentic.


QUOTE=sodapop;5001957]
Haha. Today's Mini isn't just an "upgrade". It's a completely different car inside out, upside down, whichever angle you look at it. It's a completely different car in that sense and then again just because it's called a Mini Cooper it remains British but just because MG called it's model Hector, it suddenly became Chinese?[/quote]

This is circling back to the same point it's evolution. You can't have 1959 car running now. It had to be changed, the company was bought by BMW so off course they will use their technology. Atleast they didn't sell BMW 1 series re badged as Mini.

Also correction MG never called it's model Hector. SAIC decided to call it's Baojun 530 MG Hector in India

[prajwalmr62]

I really liked MG Cars (oh man, love the ZS), but absolutely hate their British badging. I really like their UK website ( https://mg.co.uk/ ), but not the Indian version.

I understand MG doesn't have many line up on big SUV so Baojun 530 was an understandable move, but the way they have stuck UK badge feels like the girl who goes to US for a week and comes back with a fake accent.