October 9, 2017
AS THE NAMEPLATE TURNS —
the buying and selling-off of automotive brands
By Jim Corbran
Automotive Columnist
You almost need a program
Used to be that you knew just who you were buying a car from by the name on the fender. A Ford was made by Ford, an AMC was built by American Motors Corporation, etc.
In recent years, it hasn’t been so cut and dry.
American manufacturers are still pretty much intact, although smaller than they used to be. Ford Motor Company still builds Fords and Lincolns. But that’s it. Compare this to much of the 1990s, when Ford debuted its Premier Automotive Group (PAG). The CEO of Ford at the time, Jacques Nasser, was feeling his oats and went on an acquisition spree:
If you’ve been around for a while, you probably recall the great thinning-out of American car brands which occurred around the turn of the last century.
On the domestic front:
Ford discontinued the Mercury brand in 2011. Their final car was a Grand Marquis, built on January 4, 2011 in St. Thomas, Ontario Canada.And the PAG?
The post “AS THE NAMEPLATE TURNS —
the buying and selling-off of automotive brands”
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Tags: Premier Automotive Group , Jacques Nasser , Aston Martin , Jaguar , British Motor Corporation (BMC) , Leyland Motor Corp , British Leyland , Volvo , AB Volvo , Land Rover , Rover Company , Rover Group , Lincoln , Lincoln-Mercury Division , Tata Motors , Geely Motors , London Taxi Company, , LTI TXII London cab