Quote Originally Posted by Daniel
Dylan you talked about brand problems for Ford and I agree to a certain extent. But consider another company with brand issues. Fiat. They have the same problem as Ford but worse. Good cars but a reputation for being a bit boring of late and worse than Ford people think Fiat's will break and rust to bits within 2 hours of purchase.

Ford - Good cars but still a boring brand
Fiat - Good cars and they've turned the image problem around somewhat
Fiat is interesting but actually they're still worse off than Ford which regularly gets the Focus and Fiesta in Europe's best selling top 10. The Punto and Panda are quite successful now but before they weren't that hot.

I agree with your summary of Ford but I reckon Fiat's image is a bit like that of Italy itself, unreliable and poorly built but fun and cheeky. If they sort out the reliability bit then they've got a very strong image to trade on. Certainly Ford have nothing that can generate goodwill in the same way as the '500' brand can.

I find brands fascinating especially as cars are getting more and more similar. Also with cheap Korean and eventually Indo/Chinese imports with no brand image entering the market at the bottom brands will become ever more important for European American and Japanese makers to distinguish themselves and lever a premium. Some of the desperation among brands like Ford is interesting to watch but at least they're doing something about it, Vauxhall is doing nothing.