TVR (1946-2012)
As the source of the world’s industrial revolution, Britain gave birth to many well-known automobile brands and once became the world’s leading automobile manufacturer. The most competitive country in the field. However, after years of hard work, most of the brands that were prosperous at the beginning have gone bankrupt. Some well-known car brands, such as Rolls-Royce, Jaguar Land Rover, MG and MINI, have been acquired by foreign investors. In many declining brands, Among British car brands, one brand we have to mention is TVR. As early as 1946, a 20-year-old boy named Trevor Wilkinson, who was born in Blackpool, England, saved money to buy a car repair shop named "Wheelwright" in his hometown and renamed the shop "Trevcar" Motors?, this is the predecessor of TVR.
When it was founded, TR evo r Motors had only 9 employees including founder Trevor Wilkinson, so its production capacity was very limited. In 1947, Trevor Wilkinson used the chassis of the British Alvis car to build a two-seat sports car. It was tested the next year and officially produced in the third year. However, limited production allowed it to only produce the same model of car. But it was such a small factory that reached a break-even state in the 7th year after its establishment. This gave founder Trevor Wilkinson more confidence. At the same time, at the suggestion of partner Jack Pickard, the company was renamed TVR. Engineering?.
Under the leadership of Trevor Wilkinson, TVR President has manufactured seven models, equipped with four engines from suppliers such as Ford and BMC. These engines are basically It is an engine with a displacement of less than 2L and a maximum power of 100P s. In the mid-1960s, Trevor Wilkinson sold the company to Martin Liley. After that, TVR’s Tuscan models basically used the V6 3.0L naturally aspirated engine from Ford. Its 0-100km/h time was 8.3 seconds. It was quite an outstanding performance at the time. At this time, an American car dealer named Jack Griffith found TVR. He wanted to customize a sports car equipped with a V8 4.7L naturally aspirated engine and named it "Griffith". After that, TVR was officially brought to the American market.
Since then, TVR has been developing steadily until the 1980s (check transaction price | model details). In the 1980s, TVR wanted to challenge the status of traditional Italian super sports cars, so he appointed a new director at TVR Under the leadership of Peter Wheeler, they began to develop independent engines. They used the Louvre V8 engine as the basis to create a series of engines called "AJP8". They began to be used on Cerbera and Tuscan series models in the 1990s, and then in 1997, TVR has produced the "Speed ??Six" entry model again. This move is a risky thing for TVR. After all, the annual profit is not enough to support engine research and development. At this time, TVR can only continue to develop cautiously.
In the 1990s, TVR seemed to have been helped by the times. People became more and more fond of bold and avant-garde designs. At this time, TVR took customization and innovation to the extreme. , many of its models have received praise from the industry, and were called "British Ghosts" for a time. But temporary glory does not mean anything, and TVR can hardly withstand the fatal blow brought by the economic crisis in the new century. In 2004, Nikolai Smolenski, a second-generation Russian rich man, acquired TVR and then invested a lot of money to develop two models, Sagaris and Tuscan 2. , but this move cannot change the impact of the British economic crisis.
In the same year, TVR’s Cerbera model and its own V8 engine were announced to be discontinued. Two years later, the Blackpool factory was closed. Since then, TVR has not launched a new model, and finally announced the complete suspension of production of TVR in July 2012.
Comments: Although TVR was acquired by British entrepreneur Les Edgar in 2013, and TVR has not declared bankruptcy so far, TVR has not made any big moves in recent years, and the one or two new cars it released have not been officially launched. It is mass production. It seems that the road to TVR’s revival is not easy. Mercury (1935-2010)
I believe that when it comes to the Mercury brand, 60% of people will feel unfamiliar. In fact, its status in the United States can be That's pretty high, especially in an era when muscle cars were popular. In 1935, Mercury (Mercury) was founded by Edsel Ford. It is a mid-to-high-end automobile brand under Ford Motor Company. The original Mercury was not a car brand, it was just a department within Ford, mainly responsible for market research and competitive product analysis. It was not until 1938 that Mercury's first model was born and named Mercury 8. It was sold out as soon as it was launched, with annual sales reaching 60,000 units!
In the development history of Mercury, there are many classic models, such as Cougar and Grand Marquis, especially Cougar. Lion), which often appears in many American movies, can be said to be the representative model of American muscle cars. In fact, in the 1990s, Mercury also had a great time because it launched a lot of models at that time, and in 1993 it achieved an annual sales volume of 500,000 units!
In the new century, Mercury's development has become extremely difficult. Fewer and fewer models have been launched. Moreover, Ford's unified platform strategy has led to differences between models. The differences are getting smaller and smaller, and Mercury gradually loses its own characteristics. Until 2010, Mercury's annual sales were only more than 80,000 units, and its market share in the United States was even less than 1%! So in June of the same year, Ford announced that it would shut down the Mercury production line at the end of the year.
Comments: If you know a little about Ford's history, you will find that Mercury's Cougar model and the Ford Mustang actually use the same platform, which is why it has such a high reputation. But relying too much on Ford's technology and platform made Mercury eventually lose its character and hit a trough.
Expand the rest of the text (1/5) 2 HUMMER/Pontiac Back to top HUMMER (1992-2010)
As we all know, HUMMER H2 is a very tough car in the hearts of car fans, and many car modification fans in Japan have modified this car to make it even more impressive! But you may not know that the HUMMER can actually be traced back to 1983. At that time, it was a model exclusively used by the US military, and it was not called HUMMER, but HMMWV. Until 1992, the American company Am General launched a civilian version of the model and named it HUMMER. Due to its excellent off-road performance and rugged appearance, it was also called the "King of Off-Road" by car fans! Seven years later, General Motors acquired the trademark use and production rights for HUMMER from Am General.
Since HUMMER officially became a brand of General Motors in 1999, General Motors began to develop and produce the HUMMER H1, H2 and H3 we are now familiar with. car model.
The first HUMMER H1 model follows the appearance of the military HMMWV. It was not originally designed for civilian use, but was designed to meet the needs of the US military in harsh combat. The US military requires that the service life of the vehicle can be up to 13 years under full load! It has super power performance and durability, and can be applied to almost all special roads!
After the birth of HUMMER H1, General Motors Group began to produce the civilian version of HUMMER in 2003 and launched the HUMMER H2. Different from the super large size and simple configuration of the military HUMMER H1, the original intention of the design of the HUMMER H2 is to be a family car driving on ordinary roads. It reduces the size and improves the configuration, so that it is more suitable for daily use. In 2005, GM launched two versions of the HUMMER H2 SUT pickup truck and HUMMER SUV.
In the same year, General Motors launched the HUMMER H3 model, which was positioned below the H2, smaller in size and more affordable than the H2. The HUMMER H3 is produced on the same platform as the GM Canyon pickup truck. In addition to retaining the design style of the HUMMER, the smaller body size and better fuel economy make the HUMMER H3 more attractive. Meet market demand. Although HUMMER is favored by some off-road enthusiasts, it still does not perform well in the market due to its too niche, high price and high fuel consumption. Until the global financial crisis in 2008, General Motors itself was in a difficult situation, so it had no choice but to push its HUMMER brand to the edge of bankruptcy. Two years later, the brand disappeared entirely.
Comments: Although Sichuan Tengzhong wanted to acquire the HUMMER brand in 2010, in the end the acquisition was unsuccessful due to its special market positioning and overly extreme original design intentions. At present, you can still occasionally encounter the HUMMER H2 in the second-hand market, but unfortunately it is just a big toy for the rich. Pontiac (1899-2009)
In 1899, a small factory specializing in the production of automobile parts was established in the United States. This small factory was Pontiac. The predecessor of Pontiac, this small factory officially produced cars in 1907. After just two years of car production, it was fully acquired by General Motors Group in 1909 and officially became a brand of General Motors, positioning slightly higher than Chevrolet. However, after Pontiac joined General Motors, it did not initially produce cars named after itself. Instead, it helped General Motors produce cars of other brands. It was not until 1926 that the first Pontiac car began to be officially produced. .
After years of running-in and development with General Motors, in the 1950s, Pontiac officially established its market positioning as a "mid-to-high-end sports car" , and also changed the earliest Indian head car logo to the classic arrow car logo. Then coincided with the popularity of muscle cars in the United States in the 1960s, Pontiac also took advantage of the situation and launched a number of classic models that are now familiar to everyone, including the GTO and Firebird. By the end of the 1960s, Pontiac's total sales reached 150,000 units, ranking third in the United States!
But in the 1970s and 1980s, Pontiac was affected by the global oil crisis and had to begin transformation. It no longer focuses on large-size, high-displacement muscle models, but instead fully devotes itself to the small and medium-sized family car market, and even once produced a model with a minimum displacement of 1.4L. At the same time, the second generation Firebird was also born during this period, with a maximum displacement of 2.5L.
Pontiac slowly went into decline after the global oil crisis.
After the 1990s, GM's same-platform strategy caused Pontiac to lose its "soul". Except for slight differences in logos and appearance, the models produced thereafter were almost the same in terms of power and interior as other GM brand models. In 2009, due to the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis, General Motors had to request bankruptcy protection from the U.S. government and announced that the Pontiac brand would be cancelled. At the same time, it was announced that the canceled brands also included HUMMER. ) and SAAB (Saab). A year later, General Motors Group only retained four brands: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac. Pontiac, a century-old classic brand, also officially declared bankruptcy!
Comments: For me, Pontiac is the ruthless character in the "Need for Speed" series of games. Whether it is GTO or Firebird, it is the one that everyone plays the "Need for Speed" game. A dream car. 3 TVR/Mercury Return to top TVR (1946-2012)
As the source of the world’s industrial revolution, Britain gave birth to many well-known car brands and once became a global automobile manufacturer. The most competitive country in the field. However, after years of hard work, most of the brands that were prosperous at the beginning have gone bankrupt. Some well-known car brands, such as Rolls-Royce, Jaguar Land Rover, MG and MINI, have been acquired by foreign investors. In many declining brands, Among British car brands, one brand we have to mention is TVR. As early as 1946, a 20-year-old boy named Trevo r Wilkinson, who was born in Blackpool, England, saved money to buy a car repair shop called "Wheelwright" in his hometown and renamed the shop "Trevcar" Motors?, this is the predecessor of TVR.
When TR evo r Motors was founded, it had only 9 employees including founder Trevor Wilkinson, so its production capacity was very limited. In 1947, Trevor Wilkinson used the chassis of the British Alvis car to build a two-seater sports car. It was tested the next year and officially produced in the third year. However, limited production allowed it to only produce the same model of car. But it was such a small factory that reached a break-even state in the 7th year after its establishment. This gave founder Trevor Wilkinson more confidence. At the same time, at the suggestion of partner Jack Pickard, the company was renamed TVR. Engineering?.
Under the leadership of Trevor Wilkinson, TVR President has manufactured seven models, equipped with four engines from suppliers such as Ford and BMC. These engines are basically It is an engine with a displacement of less than 2L and a maximum power of 100P s. In the mid-1960s, Trevor Wilkinson sold the company to Martin Liley. After that, TVR’s Tuscan models basically used the V6 3.0L naturally aspirated engine from Ford. Its 0-100km/h time was 8.3 seconds. It was quite an outstanding performance at the time. At this time, an American car dealer named Jack Griffith found TVR. He wanted to customize a sports car equipped with a V8 4.7L naturally aspirated engine and named it "Griffith". After that, TVR was officially brought to the American market.
Since then, TVR has been developing steadily until the 1980s. TVR wanted to challenge the status of traditional Italian super sports cars, so it began research and development under the leadership of TVR’s new director Peter Wheeler. For their own engines, they used the Louvre V8 engine as the basis to create a series of engines called "AJP8", which were used on Cerbera and Tuscan series models starting in the 1990s. Then in 1997, TVR produced the "Speed ??Six" entry model.
This move is a risky thing for TVR. After all, the annual profits are not enough to support engine research and development. At this time, TVR can only continue to develop cautiously.
In the 1990s, TVR seemed to have been helped by the times. People became more and more fond of bold and avant-garde designs. At this time, TVR took customization and innovation to the extreme. , many of its models have received praise from the industry, and were called "British Ghosts" for a time. But temporary glory doesn't mean anything, and TVR can't withstand the fatal blow brought by the economic crisis in the new century. In 2004, Nikolai Smolenski, a second-generation Russian rich man, acquired TVR and then invested a lot of money to start developing Sagaris and Tuscan 2 models. , but this move cannot change the impact of the British economic crisis. In the same year, TVR’s Cerbera model and its own V8 engine were announced to be discontinued. Two years later, the Blackpool factory was closed. Since then, TVR has not launched a new model, and finally announced the complete suspension of production of TVR in July 2012.
Comments: Although TVR was acquired by British entrepreneur Les Edgar in 2013, and TVR has not declared bankruptcy so far, TVR has not made any big moves in recent years, and the one or two new cars it released have not been officially launched. It is mass production. It seems that the road to TVR’s revival is not easy. Mercury (1935-2010)
I believe that when it comes to the Mercury brand, 60% of people will feel unfamiliar. In fact, its status in the United States can be That's pretty high, especially in an era when muscle cars were popular. In 1935, Mercury (Mercury) was founded by Edsel Ford. It is a mid-to-high-end automobile brand under Ford Motor Company. The original Mercury was not a car brand. It was just a department within Ford, mainly responsible for market research and competitive product analysis. It was not until 1938 that Mercury's first model was born and named Mercury 8. It was sold out as soon as it was launched, with annual sales reaching 60,000 units!
In the development history of Mercury, there are many classic models, such as Cougar and Grand Marquis, especially Cougar. Lion), which often appears in many American movies, can be said to be the representative model of American muscle cars. In fact, Mercury was once brilliant in the 1990s, because it launched a lot of models at that time, and in 1993 it achieved an annual sales of 500,000 units!
In the new century, the development of Mercury (Mercury) has become extremely difficult. Fewer and fewer models have been launched, and because of Ford’s unified platform strategy, there have been differences between models. The differences are getting smaller and smaller, and Mercury (Mercury) gradually loses its own characteristics. Until 2010, Mercury's annual sales were only more than 80,000 units, and its market share in the United States was even less than 1%! So in June of the same year, Ford announced that it would shut down the Mercury production line at the end of the year.
Comments: If you know a little about Ford's history, you will find that Mercury's Cougar model and the Ford Mustang actually use the same platform, which is why it has such a high reputation. But relying too much on Ford's technology and platform made Mercury eventually lose its character and hit a trough. 4 ROVER/PLYMOUTH Back to top ROVER (1887-2005)
When it comes to ROVER, I think many people don’t know it, but when it comes to I believe that most Chinese people are very familiar with SAIC Roewe, yes! The predecessor of SAIC Roewe is the British ROVER.
As early as 1887, John Camp Starley and Sutton founded the ROVER automobile brand. However, the original ROVER was to manufacture bicycles, and it was not until 1904 that it began to officially produce cars. ROVER's first car was named ROVER 8. Although it used a single-cylinder 1.3L engine with a maximum power of 8Ps, its performance was already very powerful at the time, and it was highly sought after by car fans as soon as it was released. , its total sales reached 2,100 units!
With the sales of ROVER 8, ROVER has officially entered the development period, and easily passed the First and Second World Wars. Tenacious vitality is also rare in the automotive field. ROVER not only successfully survived World War II, but also founded the well-known Land Rover brand after World War II. The first Land Rover model was built on the basis of ROVER P3. Then in 1958, the model that really brought ROVER to its peak was the ROVER P5. At that time, its brand awareness and value were comparable to Rolls-Royce. Because of this, dignitaries such as Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and the Pope of the Vatican all chose ROVER P5 as their cars!
As the saying goes, "Feng Shui takes turns". In the 1960s, ROVER's crisis slowly emerged. With the elimination of high tariffs in the UK, ROVER has been subject to strong impact and competition from a large number of foreign car brands. In order to get out of the predicament, the British government integrated many mainstream car brands. This move also allowed MG, Brands such as ROVER, Triumph and Jaguar were integrated into Leyland Motors and became a new joint automobile group. Unfortunately, this approach did not get ROVER out of trouble. After all, the price of a ROVER car abroad was extremely high. At the same time, the British currency was surprisingly strong, which caused the British automobile industry to gradually enter a trough.
In the late 1970s, ROVER also cooperated with Honda and launched three economical family cars. However, the change of labels made ROVER Instead of seizing this opportunity, it continued to decline. It wasn't until 1994 that BMW officially acquired ROVER. Then BMW vigorously promoted ROVER and launched the ROVER 25, 45 and 75 models. However, after all, it was a desperate rescue effort. This move did not make ROVER popular. (Luofu) became better, but it once put BMW into a development dilemma!
Comments: Finally, in 2005, ROVER declared bankruptcy, and its two brands, MG and ROVER, were acquired by Nanjing Automobile. Soon after, Nanjing Automobile was acquired by SAIC. Due to trademark rights issues, SAIC could only use the trademark "ROEWE" for sales in China. PLYMOUTH Plymouth (1927-2001)
In 2010, when I was still studying in college in the UK, I once visited Plymouth, a famous port city in the UK, and instantly discovered the name of the city and the American Chrysler Automobile Company. One of its brands used to have the same name, but locals told us that there was indeed some connection between the two. The thing is, a long time ago, a group of people took a sailing ship from Plymouth Port in England to the United States. One of these people established a car company after returning to the United States, named PLYMOUTH (Plymouth), and the company's The trademark also uses the sailing ship on which it was sailing.
PLYMOUTH (Plymouth) was founded in 1927. Its positioning was between Chrysler and Dodge in order to occupy more market share. In the second year after its establishment, it produced its first model. It was equipped with a four-cylinder engine and had excellent power performance. It was favored by many consumers as soon as it was launched.
Subsequently, PLYMOUTH (Plymouth) cars entered a stage of steady development, and many classic models were born. The most famous one is the PLYMOUTH Valiant model that came out in 1959. This model was the exclusive car of Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Meiling!
In 1983, the former Chrysler Automobile Company produced the first station wagon in Canada. It was the PLYMOUTH, which is also the originator of the Chrysler Grand Voyager model. This car was strongly sought after by American consumers as soon as it was launched. In the first year, the combined sales of the two station wagons and the Dodge Caravan reached 210,000 units! Although the United States was experiencing an economic crisis at the time, Voyager did make an indelible contribution to the rise of Chrysler Motor Company.
As times change, PLYMOUTH models gradually become less popular. In 1995, Chrysler invested a lot of money to save the PLYMOUTH (Plymouth) brand, but whether it modified the trademark, launched a special Prowler model or elaborate design, it could not change the decline of the PLYMOUTH (Plymouth) brand. Until 1999, Chrysler's losses made the group feel uneasy. Out of considerations for future planning and development, Chrysler announced in 2002 that the PLYMOUTH (Plymouth) brand would be cancelled, but PLYMOUTH (Plymouth) owners would still enjoy repair and maintenance services. .
Comments: The PLYMOUTH brand is not well-known in China, but Chrysler's Grand Voyager and Prowler models have been sold in China as imports for a while. For PLYMOUTH (Plymouth), it has been brilliant, but if it is too small, it cannot escape the fate of being eliminated. 5 SATURN/DAEWOO Back to top SATURN Saturn (1982-2009)
In the early 1980s, General Motors of the United States in order to resist Japanese cars from the United States. Due to the impact of the market, the SATURN brand was established in Tennessee. This brand is highly targeted and has a clear positioning, which is to use the most advanced design, technology and quality of General Motors Group to produce small economical cars. After eight years of R&D and design, the SATURN car was officially put into production in 1990, and the first car was officially launched the next year.
Although the SATURN brand has only survived for 27 years, it is precisely because it has no historical baggage that it has been easy for the brand to develop and uses the most advanced design. and technology to serve market demand. Such a move seems to imitate the production philosophy of many Japanese brands. In 1993, SATURN became the top ten best-selling models in the U.S. auto market, and ranked third in the J.D. Power new car quality survey in the same year! Only inferior to Lexus and Infiniti, it tied for first place with Lexus in the 1997 competition!
However, the good times did not last long. SATURN, which was still at its peak in the late 1990s, was almost ruined due to lack of support. At that time, General Motors Group focused all its attention on its Buick brand models, and then SATURN encountered financial problems and increasingly poor sales! As a result, when General Motors Group reacted, it was already too late. The SATURN brand did not wait for GM's exclusive revival plan and announced in 2009 that it would abandon the SATURN brand.
Comments: As a brand that specializes in competing against Japanese brand models, SATURN has completed its mission, and in just 27 years, it has indeed become a smash hit.
DAEWOO Daewoo (1967-2000; 2002-2011)
Having said so many car brands that were once popular, they are basically European and American brands. Next, the last one The brand I want to talk about is a Korean car company, but it is somewhat similar to the SPYKER brand. This Korean car brand also experienced two bankruptcies, and the owner of the second bankruptcy was the same owner as many of the brands above. They are all General Motors Group, and this brand is DAEWOO Motors.
As early as 1967, Kim Woo-jung established Shinhan Company, which was later renamed Shinjin Company, and in 1983 it was officially renamed DAEWOO (Daewoo) Motor Company. At that time, DAEWOO Motor Company was the second largest automobile manufacturer in South Korea, second only to Hyundai Motor Company, with an annual output of more than 600,000 vehicles. DAEWOO (Daewoo) initially maintained close ties with the American General Motors Group and cooperated in the production of cars, trucks and buses. The export-oriented DAEWOO (Daewoo) Motors exported cars to the U.S. market as early as 1984. Until 1997, South Korea's economic crisis was about to break out, and the DAEWOO Group also collapsed and declared official bankruptcy at the end of 2000.
In the second year after the bankruptcy, General Motors Group fully acquired the DAEWOO (Daewoo) brand and established General Daewoo Motors Company in Seoul, South Korea. After DAEWOO became a brand of General Motors, it used the same platform with Chevrolet and Buick to produce cars. We can also understand it as "badged" cars. This move also brought the DAEWOO brand to its second trough.
This kind of "labeling" behavior lasted until 2011. After that, General Motors decided to cancel the DAEWOO (Daewoo) brand and not sell "labeled" cars in South Korea. Instead, it invested in its Chevrolet and Buick Entering the Korean market, GM Daewoo Motor Company in Seoul also officially changed its name to General Motors Korea. Since then, the DAEWOO brand has completely withdrawn from the stage of history.
Comments: The success of the DAEWOO brand lies in the fact that it serves most consumers who need cars, and its excellent market performance has also allowed General Motors of the United States to find business opportunities to sell its own Chevrolet and Buick The behavior of "OEM" sales also paved the way for the decline of DAEWOO. Summary
Maybe these brands will never appear again, but I believe they will be remembered. Classics are like this, not only cannot be copied, but also cannot be forgotten. They have all had their glory days, and none of them can avoid being eliminated, but even those that were once a smash hit are destined to make many valuable contributions to the development of the global automobile industry. (Text: Yang Zhen) @2019