Badge engineering
Badge engineering is a term that is mainly used in the automotive and electrical industries, as well as in the food sector . The term, which comes from English, describes the counterpart to the Original Equipment Manufacturer , the actual developer / manufacturer. A product is first developed and manufactured by such an original equipment manufacturer. With badge engineering, the marketing of the product is then taken over by one or more other companies whose "engineering performance" is limited to attaching their brand emblem ( badge ). The choice of words is ironic therefore of (self-) nature, since it is not a real feat of engineering ( engineering concerns).
The reference to the "badge" emblem refers to the history of the term in which only those decorations that are associated with the corporate image are exchanged on a motor vehicle . This includes lettering with the manufacturer's name and model series, as well as elements such as the hood ornament , radiator grille and the manufacturer's brand logo , which is usually added as an emblem. The individual brands can thus expand their product range at low cost. Changes and optical retouching of the product are often only minimal. In addition to pure decorations, taillights and other small parts that can regularly be taken over directly from another product as identical parts are often replaced. In extreme cases, a manufacturer contributes its own motor that is not offered by the original manufacturer. There is a transition to automotive platforms that share the same engines and other components across model series, and which are now being expanded to include the basic model of another manufacturer.
There are mainly two types:
- An unknown company develops and manufactures a product, after which a well-known company only sticks its logo / badge on it.
- A well-known company develops and manufactures a product. B. a discounter sticks the logo / badge of its lesser-known private label on it.
At the same time, the well-known manufacturer is also marketing the product under its own name.
Automobile manufacturing
- Examples from the automotive industry
... and the almost identical VW Polo I.
Badge engineering has a long tradition, especially among US and British manufacturers. In the UK, the BMC and the Rootes Group in particular offered the same vehicle concepts with only minor changes under different names.
BMC sold the ADO 16 type as Morris 1100, MG 1100, Vanden Plas Princess, Austin 1100, Wolseley 1100 and Riley Kestrel on the British market and had it manufactured under license in Italy as Innocenti and in Spain as Authi. The Rootes Arrow rolled off the assembly line in 1969 under eight different names: Hillman Hunter and Minx, Singer Gazelle and Vogue, Humber Scepter and Sunbeam Rapier, Alpine and H 120. Jaguar and Rolls-Royce also had their aliases, at Jaguar it is Daimler and at Rolls-Royce Bentley .
Badge engineering is also part of the product concept of major US vehicle manufacturers such as General Motors Group (GM): GM appeared on the US market as Chevrolet , Buick , Oldsmobile , Pontiac and Cadillac , although not all models were offered under all brands and the apparent competition did not extend across all brands. It is similar with Ford with its luxury offshoot Lincoln and the Chrysler Group with the brands Chrysler , Dodge , DeSoto and Plymouth .
The companies Vauxhall and Holden bring almost identical right-hand drive models to the market in Europe and Australia , which are sold with left-hand drive as Opel .
In addition, the Opel Omega , which was built in Germany, was temporarily available in the USA as the Cadillac Catera . From 2007 to 2009 the Opel Astra H was sold in the USA under the Saturn brand. The Opel Kadett E rolled off the production line in Brazil as the Chevrolet Kadett until 1998 and was available as the Pontiac LeMans (North America) and the Daewoo Racer (Asia, Eastern Europe) at the time it was marketed in Europe . At General Motors, this also applies to the marketing of Isuzu models.
Another example are the vans and minivans from the French car manufacturer PSA , which are produced by Sevel in cooperation with Fiat . The van is sold as Fiat Ducato , Citroën Jumper and Peugeot Boxer , the van is called Fiat Scudo , Citroën Jumpy or Peugeot Expert , the vans rolled off the assembly line as Fiat Ulysse , Citroën C8, Peugeot 807 and Lancia Zeta.
A similar collaboration exists between Renault , Nissan and Opel . Their vans have not only rolled off the production line as Renault Trafic and Master for a long time , but also as Opel Vivaro and Movano . Since 2003 they have also been available as Nissan Primastar and Interstar. The Mercedes-Benz Citan is derived from the Renault Kangoo (type W, since 2008) .
The small electric cars Mitsubishi i-Miev , Citroën C-ZERO and the Peugeot iOn are all manufactured in the Mizushima plant in Japan. In addition to a different interior design and different bumpers, the European variants also have a wider track, but are otherwise identical.
The Fiat Freemont is almost identical to the Dodge Journey , which are manufactured in the same plant in Mexico.
From the small car Audi 50 (1974–1978) the largely identical VW Polo I (1975–1981) emerged. VW Sharan I , Ford Galaxy I and Seat Alhambra I were almost identical.
For a few years the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter was also built as the VW LT (1996-2006), VW Crafter (2006-2016), Dodge Sprinter (2004-2009) and Freightliner Sprinter (since 2001).
VW Lupo and Seat Arosa are largely identical. The vehicles of the New Small Family , VW up! , Seat Mii and Škoda Citigo are manufactured in the same plant in Bratislava.
More examples in the article platform (automobile) .
Electronic and electrical equipment
Several companies such as Harman Becker Automotive Systems (in the area of car hi-fi and navigation, for example for Mercedes-Benz ) or BSH Hausgeräte manufacture products that are marketed under numerous labels and are largely identical. Some Asian (e.g. Turkish or Chinese) companies have bought the rights of established brands (e.g. Telefunken ) in order to be able to act as manufacturers themselves in addition to the anonymous work for other companies.
Food
Especially in the discounter range products are sold under private labels offered which are supplied by established manufacturers with packaging that deviate from the well-branded product range, but have identical in most cases quality. At Aldi , for example, groceries from Bahlsen and Zentis are sold as own brands . Increasingly, however, discounters are also having their own brand products manufactured in their own production facilities or by contractually bound subcontractors .
clothing
Sweatshops have been around since the 19th century, producing cheap clothes and shoes for renowned companies; often under inhumane conditions. At first these small suppliers were close to the buyers, but now almost exclusively in low-wage countries, mainly in Asia. The vertical range of manufacture at these suppliers is now so high that the brand owner's company can market many products without further processing. Here too (as in the electronics sector), various companies are increasingly being served by one supplier who then carries out the badge engineering on site by applying trademarks, small design differences and appropriate packaging.
Musical instruments
Since around the 1960s , well-known brand owners such as Fender , Yamaha Corporation or Ibanez have had guitars, basses and amplifiers produced by largely unknown manufacturers such as the Japanese company Fujigen , each with their own label.
See also
literature
- U. Bracht, D. Barz, H. Bickel: Cooperation in vehicle projects in the context of badge engineering , in: wt Werkstattstechnik online, Springer-VDI-Verlag, 2011.
- Denis Barz: Development of a reference model to support vehicle projects as part of badge engineering cooperations Springer-VDI-Verlag, 2012.