That one time both Ford and Chevrolet rebadged the same vehicle

Photo courtesy Chevrolet Caribbean.

Finding common ground helps foster connections among rivals and opponents, whatever the matter at hand. Adherents of many diverse philosophies, tenets and tribes can operate side by side as long as they recognize shared goals and visions. Don’t think it’s possible? Just consider the time that Chevrolet and Ford – rivals to end all rivalries – rebadged the same vehicle.

One can count the number of indirect connections between the Bowtie and Blue Oval brands throughout history on one hand: the Chevrolet brothers’ Frontenac performance parts for Ford Model Ts, Zora Arkus-Duntov’s development of Ford V-8 parts before getting hired at Chevrolet, Knudsen and Shinoda’s work for both brands, Ford’s use of the Quadrajet on the 1970 to 1971 Cobra Jet 429. But only twice in both brands’ histories did both sell the same vehicle as their own.

The first doesn’t really count as a rebadging effort. During World War II, Chevrolet and Ford each built versions of the Canadian Military Pattern trucks for the British Commonwealth’s war effort. Neither, of course, were built for the general public, and like many other military vehicles, the trucks were built to specifications provided to the companies.

But like the Canadian Military Pattern trucks, the rebadging of the Suzuki Carry into the Chevrolet CMV/CMP and the Ford Pronto not only involved the same acronym but also each brand’s parent company’s extensive global operations.

While the Carry dates back to 1961, it remained an also-ran in its home market until about the mid-Seventies, when it became the top-selling kei-class utility vehicle. Not long after, Suzuki began to sell the Carry in Indonesia and licensed the trucklet to the Chinese automaker FAW Jilin, and by the early 1980s Suzuki had licensed the Carry all over Asia.

Photo by Tttkusoialonis.

Among those early licensed versions was the Ford Pronto, built in Taiwan by Ford Lio Ho Motor, a Ford subsidiary that largely assembled Ford vehicles for the Taiwanese market. Production – using a chunky plastic fascia that wrapped around the nose – began in 1985 and continued until 2007. A successive version, which Ford calls the PRV, also appears to be based on the Carry.

Exactly when and how Chevrolet began to rebadge the Carry as the CMV (van) and CMP (pickup) isn’t clear, though other GM brands, including Bedford, Vauxhall, GME, and Holden, began marketing their own versions of the Carry as early as 1986. Chevrolet versions, built by Daewoo in South America, were eventually sold across Central and South America – most notably in Colombia and Venezuela – as well as in Tunisia. It appears Chevrolet continued to sell the CMV/CMP up until 2013, when Suzuki introduced the most recent generation of Carry.

For the record, several other automakers around the world also produced or marketed their own versions of the Carry, among them Maruti, Mazda, Autozam, Wuling, PakSuzuki, Chang’an, Mitsubishi, and Songhuajiang. In addition to Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, and South Korea, versions of the Carry have been built in England, India, and Uzbekistan.

from Hemmings Daily – News for the collector car enthusiast http://ift.tt/2gnL9Mk