http://www.ford.com/en/default.htm

Looking at Ford's web-site, I see they have accumulated quite a collection under their roof over the years. Having acquired companies such as Mazda, Jaguar, Volvo, Aston Martin, & Land Rover.

I would have to wonder, how has this affected the design & quality of the products put out by all of these car makers??? Ford being the parent company, it would seem to reason they would have the upper hand in these areas. However I do wonder if they have taken any ideas from their flock of companies.

Thoughts anyone...

The European marques have remained much the same. Ford has kept the same house style that was before. Looking at the current models you'd know what marque each was. Compare the latest Bentley with the house style of Rolls Royce for Bentley and you'd be hard pressed to guess what it was that their new owners were making. (You might guess 'tanks' ) The latest Jaguars have a retro look,rather clumsily made, and which is not very felicitous, but they are obviously Jaguars.

On quality, there's been no notable bad report on any. The British machines are probably being made outside England, if not entirely, then largely so. That's how big business in the EU works.(In fact I see that Jaguar has been reorganised, closing one plant, but both it and Aston Martin maintain production here. Back in 1998 Jaguar got £43 million in grant from the European Union , to help build a plant at Halewood, Merseyside. That was because Merseyside was eligible as a depressed area needing regeneration. So that was an incentive to be here still).

One Ford that has intrigued me is the new model called the "500". Something about the car, the way it's designed, reminded me of the a Volvo. Then I read a newspaper article confirming the "500" is built on a Volvo platform.