We know that rebadging is a bit of a dirty word around here, but it’s common practice in the industry. What’s less common however, is American giant GM putting a bow tie on a Nissan and calling it a Chevrolet. That’s exactly what happened though, as it introduced the 2014 Chevrolet City Express to the North American market.
This is a rebadge exercise in its most basic form, as only the headlights, front grille and bumper have been tweaked to pass it off as a Chevrolet. That and a fancy set of wheel covers aren’t going to fool anyone into thinking this isn’t a Nissan NV200. Or a Mitsubishi Delica D:3.
Little to no effort has been invested in the interior too. The Nissan Almera steering wheel now sports a bow tie, and there’s a customary cup holder between the seats. The rest is as per the left-hand drive Nissan NV200, which is different to the ones with the wheel on the right side.
The move is a financially viable one as Chevrolet has high demands from its fleet customers for a small commercial van. That’s not to say that the Nissan NV200 isn’t available in the US – it is, and will soon take over the role of New York yellow cabs – but remember that unlike here, buying a local brand carries positive connotations over there.
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This looks better than the Nissan imo.
Rebadging and OEM is so common. But Malaysians are so bodoh, always fall for big names like Sony, BMW, Mercedes etc.
In actual fact, most stuff are made either OEM or similar platform. There will come a day when Proton will be the SAME or BETTER quality than names like BMW or Jaguar. Why? Because cars like BMW and Jaguar, as well as Volvo have so many parts Made in China. Comfort yourself thinking there is QC but China is China lah and quality stinks. A brand new E class WILL never be the same as a good old W123 which is pure German.
Depends on where your Merc is made. They are still producing Merc in Germany but just not RHD models.
Proton become SAME or BETTER? With the kind of management you have now, wait until pigs fly.
I saw ESP button….in a van?!
All vehicle should have ESP.
And many of us here bash our local brands for rebadging.
don’t be an idiot. it’s a huge difference between solely depends on rebadging (perutdua) and occassionally rebadging (proton)..
i tot perutdua…. subsidiary of daihatsu aka toyota….perutdua just do wat their main owner want…of coz la they solely depend on rebadging….just like many vw subsidiary
hahaha…lol
Someone just cannot accept that other well known car manufacturer do practice rebadging. LOL
A smart move by GM/Nissan to tap into or maintain US government (state and federal) contracts. GM needs a lightweight economical fleet cargo van to compete with Ford’s Transits, this is the easiest fix. GM is no stranger to rebadging (Geo Prizm, Tracker, Aveo etc etc).
“but remember that unlike here, buying a local brand carries positive connotations over there.” -> ADOI !!!
“but remember that unlike here, buying a local brand carries positive connotations over there”
That last line was hitting below the belt. If our local automotive brands were on par with the international automotive brands, then we would be more than willing to support them. Our local brands were set up to help friends of the government to enter the automotive vendor business and become millionaires. This is at the expense of the rakyat who have to put up with lower quality of local cars compared to the international brands. So please enlighten me on why should we support the local crony automotive brands?