(first posted 8/5/2014)
Part one and part two of this series merely scratched the surface of the world of badge engineering. In this week’s installment, we look at: a phantom brand; an exclusive brand best left in the past; and the advantages of being part of a big corporate family (much like a real family, its hand-me-downs!).
Alpheon
In the same decade when General Motors was shuttering decades-old brands like Oldsmobile and Pontiac, they actually started up a brand that is still running today. The Alpheon brand features one model – a rebadged Buick LaCrosse – and sells in only one market, South Korea.
If that alone seems mystifying to you, check out the Alpheon Korea website. They have yet to receive the revised 2014 LaCrosse, first of all, and the only available engines appear to be the unloved 3.0 V6 and the 2.4 eAssist. Flicking to the history section reveals the history of the Alpheon brand… except it’s an extremely incomplete history of the Buick brand. Unfortunately because of the use of images, I couldn’t translate the text. Apparently Buick only had three significant events before the Alpheon’s launch: the launch of the Riviera in 1963 (this is accompanied by a picture of a boat tail Riv on big, chromed, aftermarket wheels); the launch of the first-generation LaCrosse in 2005; and the launch of the second-generation LaCrosse.
Right. I couldn’t see any text references to Buick, but I think that brings a bigger question to the table: why not just introduce Buick to the Korean market? Was it a rejection by Korean management of anything loved by the Chinese? Why not bring Opel to the Korean market? If they so desperately needed an upscale brand, they could have badged the LaCrosse with the German lightning bolt and maybe brought over the Insignia, too.
The Alpheon experiment hasn’t been a huge success, and it is being outsold on the Korean market by the Hyundai Genesis, Grandeur/Azera and Kia K7/Cadenza. In the first seven months of 2014, the Alpheon shifted 4,398 units against 9,231 K7s, 10,977 Genesis sedans and a mighty 53,480 Grandeurs, even being outsold by the imported BMW 520d. Industry observers surmise the slow sales of the Alpheon may be due to the mediocre fuel efficiency of the 3.0 V6; yet another criticism of an engine that’s almost been completely disappeared by the powers that be, due to a lack of torque but also a lack of a major efficiency advantage over the broadly competent 3.6 V6.
Perhaps GM Korea should have followed GM China’s lead and put in GM’s ubiquitous 2.0 turbo four as was done with the Chinese Cadillac SLS. Any plans for an expansion of the Alpheon brand appear to be on ice, as GM renews its focus on the expansion of the Cadillac brand into the market.
Fiat Freemont
Corporate synergies can be exciting. I never would have expected, even just a few years ago, to see a combined Fiat-Alfa Romeo-Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep dealership. I never would have expected the bulk of the European Lancia lineup to consist of rebadged Chryslers.
Corporate synergies, though, can also be a little weird. When I first heard Fiat would rebadge the Dodge Journey as a Fiat for the European market, I thought it was a clever move. The Journey is a competent vehicle and not too gargantuan for the European market. But I never would have expected FCA to bring the Fiat Freemont to Australia, to sell in dealerships directly alongside the Journey, the lone Dodge remaining in that market, and the rest of the Fiat lineup that consists only of small hatchbacks.
It seems to be another example of how completely saturated the Aussie market is, and yet how local management seems to exercise a lot of sway in what makes it here if there is right-hand-drive availability (see: Hyundai’s lineup, which features both the European and American model lineups; Honda’s European Civic hatch being sold alongside the Thai-built sedan).
To help excise some confusion, the Freemont and Journey target different sections of the market. The Journey is Pentastar V6-only, and available only in SXT and ritzy R/T spec and only with seven seats. The Freemont, however, employs four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, with an optional third-row. The Journey is priced from a competitive $AUD32,000–for comparison’s sake, that is how much a base 2014 Cherokee 2.4 costs–but the Freemont undercuts it by a cool $5,000, making it one of the cheapest seven-seaters on the market.
For a driveaway price less than the MSRP of a base Camry, you can drive away in a base Freemont with alloy wheels, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry, rear parking sensors, and uConnect with the smaller 4.3 inch touchscreen. That’s a lot of kit and a lot of space, and even adding the third row brings it to about lineball with the Camry’s MSRP.
Unfortunately, the powertrain lineup is imperfect. The four-cylinder is the same one used in the US-market Journey, with only 168hp and 160 ft-lbs, albeit mated to a six-speed automatic instead of the outdated four-speed unit used in price-leader US Journeys. The diesel, a Fiat Multijet unit, has the same horsepower figure but a sturdier 258 ft-lbs of torque. However, in the Australian market, it is available only in mid-range Urban (the other trims are base and flagship Lounge) and only with a six-speed manual. Manual transmissions are often the ideal transmission for extracting power from a diesel or a low-powered engine, but they are not popular in what Australians call “people movers”. A six-speed automatic is available, however, in other markets.
The powertrain lineup doesn’t seem to be impeding sales, though. The Freemont was solidly mid-pack in European sales last year (18,825 units), being bested by popular crossovers like the smaller Ford Kuga (Escape), Toyota RAV4 and Kia Sportage – not to mention the Nissan Qashqai, which seems more intent on dominating the European continent than Vladimir Putin – but solidly ahead of the Opel Antara, Chevrolet Captiva and Subaru XV and Forester. 1 in 5 Fiats in Australia are now Freemonts, with approximately 1000 Freemonts sold last year; the more expensive Journey is still out-selling it.
Still, the reorganization of dealers and distribution under the unified Fiat Chrysler Automobiles banner now means Fiats and Alfa Romeos are getting a lot more visibility, sitting alongside the hot, hot, hot Jeep brand’s vehicles. Australians reading this don’t need to be reminded how much advertising time Jeep now enjoys here with their “I bought a Jeep” TV commercials, and the Grand Cherokee is now out-selling the Toyota Prado mid-size SUV, the perennial segment leader. Cars like the Freemont can only benefit from sharing a dealership spotlight.
Photo courtesy of Pakenham Chrysler, Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Dodge and Fiat
The Freemont may be cheap but the real bargain is the Dodge Journey, at least in the Australian market where fuel prices are lower than Europe (albeit higher than the US). The 3.6 Pentastar V6 really helps the Journey scoot, and makes the Freemont look like a slug in comparison. If you can do without the big alloys and the leather trim, you can get a Journey SXT for the same price as a Freemont Lounge. Or do what my sister did and buy an R/T Journey. The Journey doesn’t get a lot of love but it has always been a solid sales performer, especially in Canada and Australia, and is quite well-sized and competent dynamically.
SEAT Exeo
Reduce, reuse, recycle, we are taught. Volkswagen is no exception, and they have done an exceptionally capable job of proliferating platforms over multiple different brands and models. Sometimes, though, different sheet metal and other major distinctions aren’t employed. The first Skoda Superb was simply a stretched B5 Volkswagen Passat. Seat got an even better deal, with the B7 generation Audi A4 becoming its flagship sedan after a little nip and tuck.
A 2005-2012 Seat Leon
Perhaps due to SEAT being the only mainstream Spanish automaker and also its somewhat sporty positioning (their tagline for a while was auto emoción), it is sometimes referred to as a Spanish Alfa Romeo, but in all fairness it’s never had that brand’s quasi-upmarket positioning. Underneath, SEATs are about as Latin as a Bier Fest… or a Skoda. The Spanish brand started off selling Fiat derivatives, but in 1986 Volkswagen become a majority shareholder. With the death of the Fiat Panda-based Seat Marbella in 1998, the SEAT passenger car lineup wholly consisted of vehicles riding on VW platforms.
While the similarly-priced Skoda division went for a very understated and sometimes frumpy aesthetic for its cars, late 1990s and early 2000s SEATS wore pleasingly curvaceous styling that sometimes resembled contemporary Alfa Romeos. A challenging design language penned by Walter da’Silva marked the latter part of the 2000s, with varying results (see: the pretty Leon II, but ungainly Altea and Toledo), before the arrival of the Exeo in 2008. The Exeo was not only the most prestigious flagship model the Spanish brand had ever had, it also marked a new and more conservative design era for the brand.
Available in sedan or wagon, the Exeo differed from its donor vehicle only in front and rear fasciae. A new front fascia was necessitated by changed pedestrian safety standards, so the higher hood clashed somewhat with the body. Interestingly, the very handsome interior was carried over from the A4 cabriolet and not the sedan. In the UK market at least, the Exeo was priced a good £6000 ($USD10,000) below the new generation Audi A4.
The engine lineup was much more straightforward than its prestigious cousin, with a 2.0 turbodiesel in three different states of tune and a 2.0 TSI gas engine. SEAT did some suspension tuning to attempt to improve the mediocre ride/handling of the A4, and critics agreed it was an improvement but still behind the Ford Mondeo dynamically; a Sport trim level offered an even sportier suspension tune, at the expense of a smooth ride and without really transforming the car’s dynamics. The Exeo was also front-wheel-drive only, and initially only came with a six-speed manual (a CVT came later).
The Exeo was priced against other mainstream D-segment rivals like the Ford Mondeo and Opel Insignia, but both of those were quite a bit larger overall and with more spacious accommodations. A smaller 1.6 gas engine (102hp, 109 ft-lbs) was added in 2009 as a price-leader, as well as a 1.8 TSI engine. A 2012 facelift brought daylight running lights that made the Exeo look the most Audi-like since it was actually an Audi. Sales were steady but unexceptional, outselling cars like the Subaru Legacy, Honda Accord and Kia Optima, but falling well short of mid-size juggernauts like the Passat, Mondeo and Insignia.
The Exeo was cancelled for 2012, with the position of Seat flagship being assumed by a dowdy, conservative, new C-segment Toledo based on the Skoda Rapid (itself a stretched VW Polo). Thus ended the Exeo experiment, an interesting case study in trickle-down luxury. One wonders when an automaker will try to recycle luxury goods again, as it seems like a pretty cost-effective idea.
Bitter Vero
Between 1973 and 1989, Bitter Cars produced the SC and CD. Bitter mounted beautiful and bespoke bodies atop full-size European Opels. The SC sat on the Opel Diplomat’s platform, and the CD on the Opel Senator; the former had a 327 Chevy V8, the latter a choice of two Opel inline sixes. Both were gorgeous inside and out, with the CD bearing an uncanny resemblance to the Ferrari 400 and being exported in very limited numbers to the US. The CD even came in a choice of coupe, sedan and convertible variants, with an optional all-wheel-drive system in the coupe. In 1986, though, CD production was ended and the Bitter brand sat dormant.
Bitter CD (photo courtesy Alf van Beem)
In 2007, Erich Bitter’s car company made a comeback. GM mechanicals were still used but this time around most of the sheet metal of the donor vehicle, the WM Holden Caprice, was retained for the new Bitter Vero. Differences were limited to a different front fascia, unique suspension settings and other minor tweaks. The 6.0 V8, also used in the Pontiac G8 GT, remained the same, with 350hp and 381 ft-lbs.
The Vero was a stark contrast to those gorgeous Bitters of the 70s and 80s, as it was only markedly different in appearance from a front, head-on view. Perhaps it was the absence of the Caprice and its stablemates in the European market that lead Bitter to ask an eye-watering $170,000 (or around 120,000 euros) for this dolled up Holden.
The modified interior was nice and you were unlikely to see many Bitters on the roads, but the asking price was well over double that of a Caprice. Not to mention, the Vero didn’t even receive the 6.2 LS3 V8 used in the Caprice’s HSV variant, the Grange, and the wheels were gauche and very aftermarket in appearance. And the less said about the mismatched front fascia, the better.
In 2008, Bitter unveiled a Vero Sport, based on the short-wheelbase Holden Commodore. The same treatment was applied: revised front fascia, but mostly detail changes otherwise, coupled with an enormous price increase. The Vero and Vero Sport sold undoubtedly sold in minute numbers, and Erich Bitter moved onto the Opel Insignia for 2012.
It’s not as though he’s picking bad cars for his company–the Zeta platform in particular is dynamically impressive–but the idea of charging tens of thousands of dollars more for such minute changes is insulting. Rich Europeans need not bother spending that dough for this shallow exclusivity: cross the channel and buy a Vauxhall VXR8 (HSV GTS) instead for almost half the price, £54,999, and enjoy substantial improvements that HSV has made to the Commodore. 576hp and 545 ft-lbs, chaps?
That’s it for this week’s Obscure Rebadges From Around The World. Stay tuned for future installments, where I’ll cover rebadges like the one that caused a riot, the one that failed to save a hundred year-old brand, and the one that brought the last Chinese Emperor’s favorite brand to the masses.
Korea is an almost completely “closed” market. It isn’t a surprise that the Alpheon isn’t selling in huge numbers. I’m actually surprised it sells as many as it does.
GM-Daewoo models have flopped in the KDM luxury sector for over 20 years.
Ironic, as at one time (1980s) they owned it, with a range of models known as the Royal series. Think G1 Opel Senator with a cam-in-head 4 instead of the six, a solid rear axle and generally built in the dark.
The minute the G1 Hyundai Grandeur (G2 Mitsubishi Debonair) appeared, that was it. Daewoo countered with a Landau-topped, 3 Liter CIH six version called the Imperial. Fail. Then they tried a re-badged G2 Acura Legend, the first and only installment of a budding joint venture which was derailed by the ’97 Asian meltdown. Also a fail, but not the fault of the car itself. Next came another bastard child of a failed venture, the 2000-ish Daewoo-badged Ssang-Yong Chairman, a hand-me-down W124 dolled up to look like an S-Class. The verdict? Not many were sold before Daewoo spun Ssang-Yong off again, so probationary fail. Having said that, the Chairman did moderately well badged again as a Ssangyong. Next came the Statesman, a rebadged Oz Holden Caprice, which DID happen to have the 3.6 Alloytech in it. Fail. Then came the 2008-ish Veritas, the next generation Holden Statesman repurposed for Korea. Fail. Finally, the Alpheon, also a fail. It’s tough to go up against the national champion Hyundai juggernaut in this market, what with it’s 25 plus year lineage of Grandeurs (original, New, Dynasty variant, XG, TG and HG), not to mention the Genesis and 2 generation of Equus.
I am extremely impressed by your GM-Daewoo knowledge! You should write an article on the Daewoo flagships for this site, I’m sure people here would find it fascinating (I know I would!)
I had to look up the Daewoo Imperial. Wow! Looks like an alternate-universe 1984 Buick Century, with a bit of K-car New Yorker thrown in (image from details-of-cars.com).
It’s actually a highly gussied up Opel Senator.
Worst statesman ever. Looks like it breathes through its mouth.
Agreed. Bitter used to have an eye for design – looks like that eye now has cataracts.
Agreed. The retrimmed interior looks pretty nice though – certainly a step up from the Statesman taxi I was in recently.
I agree…the (new) Bitter front end fascia IS a non-sense. Like a non-skilled hobby-like an individual garage made so called “optical tuning”. About Alpheon: Koreans could keep their traditional Daewoo as it was their own original domestic brand. I got a feeling that Alpheon won’t last too long…
The irony is that Chevrolet branded Daewoos were marketed here 40 years ago, and since 2011 are again. In addition to the Cruze, Spark and Sonic, Orlando and Trax, locally built Malibus are sold alongside imported Camaros and Corvettes (and they do sell-but not in big numbers), along with Cadillac CTS (a relative success story) and the Alpheon. GM is pinning it’s hopes in the executive car market on the soon to be released Impala. We shall see.
One of the reasons for the uptick in GM sales are the 3-year bumper-to-bumper and 5-year-100,000 km powertrain warranty. This beats Hyundai and Kia by far in this market (why offer long warranties when you have the market by the sack?). The only domestic with a longer warranty is the grossly overpriced Equus.
On the other hand, if you don’t offer a long warranty it doesn’t say much for your confidence in the quality of your product. If you know the customer will never need that long warranty, why not offer it?
It’s actually surprising they abandoned the Daewoo name in Korea for Chevrolet; and yet they still call the Opels sold in Britain Vauxhall.
They didn’t. They remained Daewoo brands in Korea. In Europe, however, Daewoo was rebranded Chevrolet.
Vauxhall has brand recognition in the U.K. as well as 11% of the market.
Brendan Saur already mentionned it in an earlier post about the Daewoo Arcadia who was a rebadged Honda/Acura Legend. I spotted a vintage ad of the Daewoo Arcadia on Youtube.
These were great cars. The failure in the marketplace was the obtuse consumers here. They had a definite cult following though, and the resale value on these was very high through the early-mid 2000s. I looked high and low to buy one, but they were all crazy kms and crazy prices to boot. I still see them on the road here, and this is a country where examples of anything over 15 years old fade away fast. Most 90s models of anything, especially Daewoo and Kia, are extinct.
I do wonder what Erich Bitter is smoking, charging *that much* more than the base car without doing anything transformative. Exclusivity doesn’t work when you can buy a similar-looking car with better performance for less, even if the inteiror trimmings aren’t as nice. The least he could have done is pulled a Monteverdi and significantly changed the styling.
The Alpheon experiment carries a whiff of the whole Passport-Asuna debacle in Canada.
Yes! Bitter Cimarron, anyone? And the markup is ludicrous.
The Fiat Fremont is fascinating to me. I have always had a warm spot for the Journey – I always liked its size and occasional-use 3rd row. However, the early ones were undone by cheap interiors and poor assembly quality. I recall seeing one when it first came out, and it sported the first factory paint job with really bad orange peel that I had seen in decades. The later ones with the 3.6 Pentastar are much more appealing. Send us some brown diesel versions with stick shifts. 🙂
The Journey did have a “journey” of its own in quality and appeal. I read a review of the model when it first appeared and it was positively scathing–crap quality, crap materials, underpowered engine, and lousy driving dynamics. But the refresh/reboot they did 2 years or so into production evidently didn’t drastically change the styling but it came out a far, far better vehicle and has been well-regarded ever since.
Interestingly, the only Fiats I have seen in the past year have been Freemonts. I wasn’t even aware there was an equivalent Mopar sold here. As you might guess, I’m not in the market for that kind of a vehicle.
I wondered if they stopped selling the Journey for a while. The V6 with the 6 speed auto and new interior would be interesting, it is typical that the turbodiesel from a Euro manufacturer is not offered with an auto. Even if they are, they should be treated with suspicion in my view, they generally don’t have a good record even now.
We don’t get the Freemont in NZ, just the Journey – which is a popular seller due to exceptionally good value pricing.
I really thought I was looking at a severely molested Opel Vectra C when I saw that Bitter Vero.
So did I until I spotted the Commodore vent in the front guard.
I actually did see a Chrysler minivan with Lancia badges on its tailgate on I 94 in Dearborn on a transporter a couple of years ago, I thought it a bit odd.
I may have seen the very same one on US23 near Brighton, Michigan.
I thought it was strange to see a Chrysler minivan with script lettering along the sides, that’s when I realized it wasn’t badged as a Chrysler…
I wish I’d taken a photo.
I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of converting a car into one of its foreign versions. It would be cool to convert an A4 into a SEAT Exeo (which is not sold in the USA) and see what kind of reactions I get from onlookers. If I took it to a VAG meet, it would probably be the star of the show.
I like the way you’re thinking.
Back in the day, I toyed with the idea of customising an HQ Holden and badging it as a Vauxhall Gargoyle – just the name to go with the Velox and Wyvern models, and well-suited to wearing Vauxhall’s griffin badge.
(ducks for cover – Bryce must be getting ready to kill me for that!).
Would the Mexican market Dodge Magnums count?
The first was the 2nd gen Diplomat coupe which looks a bit like an alternate universe G body Regal T-type. According to what Ive been reading, it could be equipped with a 4 barrel 360 and a 4 spd:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/that_chrysler_guy/5984113735/
Infuriating that this wasn’t available here. Yes, the actual bodystyle was, but they cooked it up right down in Mexico. Note the knockoff Corvette style wheels and blacked out trim.
The 2nd version is a de-broughammed LeBaron/400 with the Turbo II and the Caravelle front clip. Apparently, in its day it was the fasted car you could buy in Mexico. You have to scroll all the way down to see it:
http://www.allpar.com/world/magnum/
Now then you mention it, it looked like a missed opportunity for Chrysler. Sure Lee Iaccoca focused on K-car, but having this Magnum here. The M-body would had go with a bang.
Also in Mexico, they continued to use the Dart nameplate until the 1980s instead of using the Aspen, Diplomat for the F and M-body and instead of Aries for the K-body
Another great article William, thank you! When in Italy last year, I was surprised by the number of Fiat Freemonts (and Lancia Thema-badged Chrysler 300s) that I saw. Although Aussie gets the Freemont, we get only the Journey, which is a popular seller due to loads of features and a low price. The latest ones aren’t even horrible to be in any more (unlike the early ones with the hideous dashboard).
The only Seats offered new here in NZ were the Gen1 Ibiza and the Gen1 Cordoba, and I liked them, so when in the UK last year, I was very interested in the modern Seat range. The Exeo stood as as not fitting in stylistically, and making the handsome A4 look somewhat awkward – in my opinion anyway.
Bitter certainly whacked the handsome WM Statesman with the ugly stick to create the Vero – incidentally, Vero is the name of a Kiwi insurance company. Hey, I know what they can use a company cars…! I was in a WM Statesman taxi recently (higher mileage and surprisingly loose in the body), and the Vero (car,not insurance company) has certainly got much nicer-looking seat trim.
Anyway, I enjoyed reading this, cheers!
When will this series continue?
Those predictions were right. From Wikipedia: “The Alpheon was discontinued in 2015, after monthly sales fell below 500 cars. GM Korea replaced it with the Chevrolet Impala.”