When I was a kid, I saw my grandfather drive a Ford V8 – and later he had a Ford Pilot. I was also driven around in my father’s Ford Jeep, and he also had a small Ford Prefect and an Anglia in later years. There was also this rich Zamindar a few houses down the road who only drove Chevrolets. He had a magnificent Fleetmaster, and later a couple of Impalas.
There were many people like these gentlemen, who were one brand clients. They swore by their favourite brand, and stubbornly resisted any proposal or advice to shift to a car of a different make. My grandfather, father, and our neighbour held on to their cars till the very end – even though, in later years, the cars spent more time at the workshop than on the road.
This kind of loyalty is a thing of the past – dead and buried six feet under. Agreed, buyers at the time had limited options, but they also had an undying love for their chosen brand. Some were such diehard loyalists that manufacturers even kept a tab on them, and I’ve known of cases when these manufacturers have even rewarded these owners in some way.
It’s a different ballgame now. We’re spoilt silly for choice. We drive around in a certain class of car for a couple of years, and then another manufacturer introduce a new model, and we immediately shift brands. Even James Bond had no qualms about shifting to a German car.
To most people now, brand loyalty doesn’t matter much. And why should it? It’s the quality of the vehicles that matter. Moreover, brands have changed hands and ownership has skipped continents. German giant BMW now owns legendary British brands Rolls-Royce and Mini, while Volkswagen owns another British marque in Bentley. Tata owns two of the Queen’s favourites, Jaguar and Land Rover, Renault owns Nissan, Fiat owns American biggies Chrysler and Dodge, while the Chinese company Geely now owns the iconic Swedish brand Volvo.
These are just a few examples of the upheavals in the global automotive industry that have left many loyalists out in the cold. And this change of ownership seems to be a continuous process.
The silver lining amongst all this trans-continental activity is the fact that most of these brand custodians realize that they will only remain successful if they respect and retain the identity of the brands they acquire. Mini, Rolls-Royce, and even Jaguar Land Rover are excellent examples of this. So, loyalists can take some solace in the fact that the brand identities of their favourite marques look set to be retained.
In the case of motorcycles, manufacturers haven’t changed hands as much, and so they’ve managed to retain loyalists to a large extent. It’ll be interesting to see how Ducati followers react to German ownership, now in the hands of Audi.
Market realities mean that the loss of brand loyalty is inevitable to an extent, and there’s no reason why consumers shouldn’t demand the best. After all, we’re all entitled to good enjoy machines, aren’t we?
As for me, I’m not too fussy about cars, and am more than happy with a good, reliable machine. But when it comes to a motorcycle, I think it’ll take a lot to get me to change from a Honda to anything else.
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