Borgward is back! And, like the last time MG came back, nobody under the age of 65 jumped with excitement at the news. And those pensioners that instantly slumped back in their chairs the second they saw how it came back.
It’s not like Borgward has much in the name of brand image. Especially observant gearheads will remember the Isabella as a small but and stylish coupe and convertible (not as stylish as a sedan) and their larger models being very advanced and designed to Compete with Mercedes’ more successful W108 and W111 offerings; but beset by production problems. After a bankrupcy that’s still debated to this day (by someone, I’m sure), Borgward shut down its door in 1963 in Germany, was resurrected in Mexico where it died again in 1970.
But in 2008 the grandson of the man who built the company decided he would bring it back, raising a giant middle finger to the creditors that killed it in the ‘60s. They found a new partner in Fonton, a chinese manufacturer best know for making licensed versions of thee Toyota Hiace, licensed versions of Mercedes trucks and let’s not forget the licensed versions of Isuzu trucks. But they have put their money where their mouth is to support Mr.Borgward. And after a lot time and a lot of effort now, just in time for China’s economic slowdown, here it is. The Borgward BX7 (Alphanumerics mean luxury.)
Let’s start with the design. I think Borgward has inspired their design process on the one Disney uses for picking up their tween stars. Taking cues from every single luxury crossover in the market today and combining them into a single vehicle to create the generic vehicle that comes into your mind when you hear the words “Luxury crossover” for mass demographic appeal.
The same desire to appeal to everyone shows when you look at the engine that will supposedly be in the model that will be on the Frankfurt motor show later this year. It’s a(say it with me now) two-liter turbo supposedly developing 220 horses. Really, the more you read it the more it looks like the most generic car in what is an ever-increasingly homogenous segment.
And I can’t think of a better way to introduce a brand.
It would all be well and good with them making a large sedan and a coupe to keep on with tradition, but if you need your brand to get all the attention possible, I can’t think of a better segment than the money-printing, status symbol representing luxury SUV. No it’s not quite ready to take on the Range Rover yet (I think. We haven’t seen the interior have we?) but if they play their marketing cards right and change the reaction from “Borgwhat?” to “Is that the new luxury car?” they could well be able to make it a player against the Lexus/Infiniti side of the market.
And anyway, it’s better looking and not as brand-defiling as the Bentley Bentayga, which will also sell by the truckload.
Outsider's Perspective: Scoot Over Isabella, Hector's in town
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It will need to be either an extremely good product, or extremely well priced. My guess is partial credit on both counts. C+.
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It is a pleasant design. But I’m troubled: Borgward was known for quality sedans, coupes and wagons. Are they going to connect to that with a Chinese SUV? If not, why re-use the name?
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This. Demonstrating that sticking an ancient brand name onto an “out of nowhere” Chinese-built product won’t placate many cynical naysayers.
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I wouldn’t say that Chinese products can’t be quality products, it’s just that the underlying logic is…faulty. If there are Borgward fans out there, what would make them jump on this car – which is very little reminiscient of a Borgward? For everyone else, the name is more of an issue than an asset.
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If I were to hazard a guess I’d say that they just grabbed the first name they could to give the brand extra credibility.
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I was thinking the opposite. Since it’s being headed by Carl Borgward’s grandson, I am guessing the underlying motivation was to put the family name on a car, and they grabbed the first vehicle they could.
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People buy uglier things than this because it fits into their sweet spot in the triangle of size/utility, street cred, and price point. Not looking awful (for that kind of car) helps. Let’s wait for pricing and interior shots, so we can estimate where they try to shove this in, markting-wise.
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The anachronistic nature of my user name has been compromised!
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You’ll have to change your name to Gordon Keeble.
Boringwad
Other than just sounding weird animal to us Americans, BW has no cache with us here. Well except for those 12 Isabella owners.
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Counting network effects, initial sales might have a three digit potential.
The BX7 could just as well be sporting a Buick badge; however, unlike Borgward, the Buick name is spoken for.
Isabella, sure, but they had a car called Arabella that was nicknamed “Aquabella” for its quality issues concerning weather stripping and panel gaps… among others.
It’s strange to dig up the name from the church yard – maybe the name reminds of something positive in Chinese?
No offense to Borgward, but this seems like an answer to a question that no one was asking.
I was foolish enough to buy, in China, a Telefunken branded Chinese made “Walkman” some years ago. The name did get me. It was a piece of junk. But Borgward?
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Telefunken is also a solid and solidly dead German brand.
I knew Borgward. I’ve driven a Borgward. Borgward was a friend of mine. You, sir, are no Borgward.
Is Borgward a better name than Fonton? Yes it is, because it generates interest. I doubt the same car branded as Fonton would have this topic on this board. Now, will they sell any more because of the interest?
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True, this is generally an issue. That’s why I find car travel posts like this series truly exciting. There should be more tests, presentations and comparisons across language barriers (see also this one).
In this case though, the Borgward people seem fairly intent on bringing the car to Europe. It will be an interesting test of this concept, as the Chinese MG/Roewe-business is not fully comparable, neither is Tata’s ownership of LandRover or Geely’s of Volvo.
That looks just awful. So it should in fine in that segment.
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