Editing Rebadging (section)

==History==
The first case of badge engineering appeared in 1917 with the Texan automobile assembled in Fort Worth, Texas, that made use of [[Elcar]] bodies made in Elkhart, Indiana.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=W6yimFa9WcwC&q=Texan+Texas+Motor+Car&pg=PA53 |page=53 |isbn=9780786432547 |title=Elcar and pratt automobiles: the complete history |first=William S. |last=Locke |year=2007 |publisher=Mcfarland |quote=The Texas Motor Car Association had started building Elcars into their own Texan automobiles before the Great War |access-date=26 August 2012}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=W6yimFa9WcwC&dq=1917+The+Texan+automobile+used+Elcars+with+badge+engineering&pg=PA320 Locke, p. 320. "The Texan automobile used Elcars with 'badge engineering'"]</ref>

"Probably the industry's first example of one car becoming another" occurred in 1926 when [[Nash Motors]]' newly introduced smaller-sized [[Ajax (Nash Motors)|Ajax]] models were discontinued in 1926 after over 22,000 Ajax cars were sold during the brand's inaugural year.<ref name="kimes">{{cite book|editor-last=Kimes|editor-first=Beverly R. |editor2-last=Clark |editor2-first=Henry A. Jr. |title=Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 |year=1996 |publisher=Krause Publications |isbn=978-0-87341-428-9 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=eA4ahvS96soC&q=Ajax+automobile+Nash |page=21 |access-date=26 August 2012}}</ref> The chairman and CEO of the company, [[Charles W. Nash]], ordered that the Ajax models be marketed as the "Nash Light Six", Nash being a known and respected automobile brand.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lewis |first1=Albert L. |last2=Musciano |first2=Walter A. |title=Automobiles of the World |year=1977 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |page=280 |isbn=978067122485-1}}</ref> Production was stopped for two days so Nash emblems, hubcaps, and radiator shells could be exchanged on all unshipped Ajax cars.<ref name="kimes"/> Conversion kits were also distributed at no charge to Ajax owners to transform their cars and protect the investment they had made in purchasing an automobile made by Nash.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nash Motors cars, 1916 to 1954 |url= https://www.allpar.com/threads/nash-motors-cars-1916-to-1954.228277/#post-1085222375 |work=Allpar |access-date=20 December 2020}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:1925 Nash automobile.JPG|1925 Nash
File:1926 Ajax 4-door built by Nash at 2014 Gettysburg AACA meet-01.jpg|1926 Ajax
</gallery>

Starting with the beginning of General Motors in 1909, chassis and platforms were shared with all brands. [[GMC (automobile)|GMC]], which historically was a truck builder, began to offer its products branded as [[Chevrolet]], and vehicles produced by GM were built on [[List of GM platforms|common platforms]] shared with Chevrolet, [[Oakland Motor Car Company|Oakland]], [[Oldsmobile]], [[Buick]], and [[Cadillac]]. Exterior appearances were gradually upgraded between these vehicle brands. This was partly because all bodywork was provided by [[Fisher Body]] which was bought by GM in 1925, and the introduction of the Art and Color Section in 1928, directed by [[Harley Earl]]. For the 1958 model year, GM was promoting its fiftieth year of production and introduced anniversary models for each brand; Cadillac, Buick,<ref>{{cite web|website=gmphotostore.com |url= http://gmphotostore.com/1958-buick-convertible-poster/ |title = 1958 Buick Convertible Poster}}</ref> Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Chevrolet. The 1958 models shared an almost identical appearance on all models for each brand and made special luxury models with a shared appearance; [[Cadillac Eldorado#Third generation (1957–1958)|Cadillac Eldorado Seville]], [[Buick Limited#1958 Limited|Buick Limited Riviera]], [[Oldsmobile 98#Fifth generation (1957–1958)|Oldsmobile Starfire 98]], [[Pontiac Bonneville#First generation (1958)|Pontiac Bonneville Catalina]], and the [[Chevrolet Impala#First generation (1958)|Chevrolet Bel-Air Impala]].

{{Multiple image
| align             = center
| direction         = horizontal
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| image1            = 1958-chevy-impala-chevrolet-archives.jpg
| caption1          = 1958 Chevrolet Bel Air Impala Convertible
| image2            = 1958 Pontiac Bonneville photo2.JPG
| caption2          = 1958 Pontiac Bonneville Catalina
}}

{{Multiple image | align = center | direction = horizontal
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| image1 = Oldsmobile Convertible.jpg
| caption1 = 1958 Oldsmobile 98 Convertible
| image2 = 1958 Buick Limited Convertible (27406399292).jpg
| caption2 = 1958 Buick Limited Riviera
| image3 = '58 Cadillac Convertible (Auto classique Salaberry-De-Valleyfield '11).JPG
| caption3 = 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Seville
}}

A later example was [[Wolseley Motors]] after it was bought out by [[William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield|William Morris]]. After [[World War I]], "Wolseley started to lose its identity and eventually succumbed to badge engineering."<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Bill |title=Armstrong Siddeley Motors: The Cars, the Company and the People in Definitive Detail |year=2005 |publisher=Veloce Publishing |isbn=9781904788362 |page=30}}</ref> This was repeated with the consolidation of [[Austin Motor Company]] and the [[Nuffield Organization]] (parent company of [[Morris Motors]]) to form the [[British Motor Corporation]] (BMC). The [[Rationalization (economics)|rationalization]] of production to gain efficiencies "did not extend to marketing", and each "model was adapted, by variation in trim and accessories, to appeal to customer loyalties for whom the badge denoting the company of origin was an important selling advantage ... 'Badge Engineering', as it became known, was symptomatic of a policy of sales competition between the constituent organizations".<ref>{{cite book|last=Church |first=Roy A. |title=The rise and decline of the British motor industry |year=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521557702 |page=84}}</ref> The ultimate example of BMC badge engineering was the 1962 [[BMC ADO16]] which was available badged as a Morris, MG, Austin, Wolseley, [[Riley Motor|Riley]] and the upmarket [[Vanden Plas]]. A year earlier, the Mini was also available as Austin, Morris, Riley, and Wolseley – the latter two having slightly bigger boots.