Rebadging

Badge engineering is a term that mainly is used in the automotive and electrical industry and in the food industry. Hailing from the English term describes the fact that the engineering performance only relates to the brand emblem ( badge ). When Badge engineering a like or similar product under different brand names offered. The individual brands can thus expand at a low cost of their product range. In fact, only minimal changes and visual touch-ups on the product are often made.

Examples from the automotive industry

And ... the identical VW Polo I

Opel Vivaro

Nissan Primastar

Renault Trafic

Vauxhall Vivaro

Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107

Automotive

Especially in the U.S. and UK producers the badge engineering has a long tradition. In the UK, particularly the BMC and Rootes Group offered the same vehicle concepts with only minor changes under different names. BMC sold the ADO type 16 among others, as Morris 1100, MG 1100, Vanden Plas Princess, Austin 1100, Wolseley 1100 and Riley Kestrel in the UK market and had him finished as Authi under license in Italy as Innocenti and in Spain. The Rootes Arrow ran in 1969 under eight different names from the band: as the Hillman Hunter and Minx, Singer Gazelle and Vogue, Humber Sceptre, and Sunbeam Rapier, Alpine and H 120 Also Jaguar and Rolls- Royce had their aliases, Jaguar is the Daimler and Rolls- Royce Bentley.

Even with the major U.S. car manufacturers such as General Motors Company ( GM) Badge engineering is part of the product concept to the U.S. market came GM, among others, as a Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Cadillac, not all models were offered in all brands and the apparent competition did not extend across all brands. The situation is similar with Ford with his Nobel offshoot Lincoln and the Chrysler Group with its brands Chrysler, Dodge, DeSoto and Plymouth.

General Motors ' subsidiaries Vauxhall and Holden bring in Europe and Australia almost identical models with right-hand drive on the market that are sold as a LHD Opel. In addition, the built in Germany Opel Omega was temporarily available as Cadillac Catera in the U.S.. 2007-2009 The Opel Astra H was sold in the U.S. under the Saturn brand. The Opel Kadett E was in Brazil to 1998 Chevrolet Kadett from the band and was at times its marketing in Europe, among others, as a Pontiac Le Mans ( North America ) and as Daewoo Racer ( Asia, Eastern Europe ) are available. This also applies to the marketing of Isuzu models at General Motors.

A familiar example is the vans and minivans of the French car manufacturer PSA, produced in cooperation with Fiat Sevel. The van is sold as a Fiat Ducato, Citroën Jumper and Peugeot Boxer vans called Fiat Scudo, Citroën Jumpy and Peugeot Expert, Vans run as Fiat Ulysse, Citroen C8, Peugeot 807 and also as Lancia Zeta from the tape.

A similar but much less well-known collaboration between Renault, Nissan and Opel. Their vans to walk for a long time only as Renault Trafic and Master, but also as an Opel Vivaro and Movano from the tape. Since 2003, she also as Nissan Primastar and Interstar to buy.

The Fiat Freemont is very similar in construction to the Dodge Journey.

An older example in Germany are the Audi 50 and the identical VW Polo 1975 to 1978; a newer offered to 2005, the independent manufacturer of each other Volkswagen and Ford with their identical models Sharan, Galaxy and Alhambra to the the Volkswagen Group Brand: Seat belonging. From 2006, however, Ford brought a separate Galaxy on the market. For many years, the Mercedes -Benz Sprinter is built as a VW LT, Dodge Sprinter and Freightliner Sprinter. Also the VW Lupo is nothing more than a slightly modified Seat Arosa. More examples can be found in the more general articles Platform (automobile).

Electronics and electrical appliances

Various companies like Harman Becker Automotive Systems provide (in the car audio and navigation, for example, Mercedes -Benz) or BSH Bosch and Siemens Home Appliances manufactures products which are marketed under numerous labels and quite equivalent. But are also increasingly specific products that were expensive branded goods eg sold under the name of AEG or dual manufactured by low-cost producers in Asia. Meanwhile, some of these producers to save them the rights of established brands to the next anonymous legwork for other companies to act as a manufacturer and if so to achieve greater profit margins.

Food

Especially in the discount range products are sold under trademarks that are supplied by established manufacturers with packagings that differ from the product range brand known, but in most cases have identical quality. At Aldi, for example, food from Bahlsen Zentis be sold as private labels. Increasingly, let discounters but also their own-brand products at its own manufacturing facilities or of treaty-based subcontractors produce.

Clothing

Since the 19th century there are sweatshops that produce cheap clothes and shoes for renowned companies; often in inhumane conditions. First, these small suppliers were near the customer, but now almost exclusively in low-wage countries, mainly in Asia. The vertical integration of these suppliers is now so high that the company the trademark owner can market many products without further processing. Increasingly, also here (as in the electronics sector ) different businesses operated by a trader, which then performs the badge engineering through the application of trademark, small design differences and the appropriate packaging already in place.

Musical Instruments

Around since the 1960s can be well-known brand owners such as Fender, Ibanez or Yamaha Corporation partially guitars, basses and amplifiers largely unknown producers such as the Japanese company Fujigen customize with their own label.