What would you do if your foreign car had a domestic engine in it? Would you freak out? Would you even be surprised. I’ll let you in on a little secret about foreign cars and why some of them have domestic engines in them, or vice versa. To tell you the truth, I would be annoyed, to say the least, if I bought a foreign car like a Mazda 626 and found out it had the same engine as a Ford Probe. Not a foreign engine.
Ford Probes are an engine suppliers bread and butter. Always having some type of engine issue that no one can cure or an electrical problem that drives a master mechanic to tears.
Did you know a significant stake of Mitsubishi Motors was sold to Chrysler Corporation in 1971 which it held for 22 years, while Daimler Chrysler was a controlling shareholder between 2000 and 2005?
Izuzu and General Motors have worked together for a long time.
* 1971 – A capital agreement with General Motors is signed.
* 1972 – The Chevrolet LUV becomes the first Isuzu-built vehicle to be sold in the United States. A decade later, it is replaced by a domestic vehicle, the Chevrolet S-10.
* 1973 – Isuzu introduces the Gemini, which is co-produced with General Motors. It is sold in the United States as Buick’s Opel by Isuzu.
* 1981 – Isuzu-branded consumer and commercial vehicles are successfully exported to the United States. The Isuzu P’Up is the first model sold to consumers as an Isuzu, instead of a Chevrolet or Buick.
That is why many manufacturers call their product ‘Global”. Loyal customers that buy a particular brand of car want to see an engine under the hood that has the same brand name on it. That was a big issue for people in the old days. I’m like that, I like GM products. I want my GMC truck to have a GMC engine in it, not a Nissan engine.
Because folks complained about this issue some 25 -30 years ago. Story: A loyal, long time Pontiac owner traded in his old Pontiac for a new Pontiac. When he got home and opened the hood it had a Chevrolet engine in it. Well, he bought a Pontiac, because he wanted a Pontiac engine in his Pontiac, and he was not too happy about his new Pontiac having a Chevrolet engine in it. Soon after that most manufacturers started to call their engines “corporate engines” or “ global engines“.
That is a true story and some opinion about engines. Every now and then I remember little tidbits of info like this and pass it on. Enjoy.
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