The Village Bicycle

Suzuki's Promiscuous Alto

Don't let the soft pastel colours and sugar coated, butter-wouldn't-melt-in-its-mouth looks obfuscate your normally sound judgement, Suzuki's Alto kei mini-car is, in no uncertain terms, one of the most promiscuous members of Japanese automotive society, employing subtle shape-shifting techniques to disavow allegiance to its maker and jump into bed with other monoliths of the Japanese car industry.
Mazda's Near Identical Carol

The Alto's wanton behaviour has long been public knowledge after the pint-sized seductress underwent minor rhinoplasty and assumed the alias "Carol", before embarking upon an amorous and ongoing relationship with rival manufacture Mazda. However, on the 22nd January this year the Alto's web of deceit became ever more elaborate, after Suzuki's enfant terrible underwent further cosmetic chicanery, appropriating the pseudonym "Pino" as she surreptitiously cavorted with a third manufacturer - Nissan.
Nissan's Pino

The result of all this romantic skullduggery is that the Alto, at least in the Japanese marketplace, is now available from three distinct manufacturers, albeit it in rebadged and mildly tweaked forms. Thus, those consumers in the market for a slice of Alto, or at the very least a slice of something Alto-shaped, must now choose from either the Alto itself, or all but identical offerings in the form of the Nissan Pino or Mazda Carol. Most confusing. However, while each iteration of the Alto formula bears a slightly different countenance, with square air intakes here and curvy grilles there, what this seemingly complex love-triangle ultimately boils down to is a simple exercise in rebadging, whereby Mazda and Nissan (companies whose own line-ups are lacking unique offerings in the kei-car sector) make use of Suzuki's renowned mini-car expertise to circumvent development costs and establish themselves in the burgeoning kei-car sector. The two manufacturers duly hope that establishing themselves in the kei car sector - the traditional budget entry point for vehicle ownership in Japan - will help to instill further brand loyalty in customers, and have a knock-on effect, boosting sales further up the range as customers climb the automotive food chain.
Nissan's Otti

Mitsubishi's eZ Wagon

It is however unfair and somewhat prudish to single out Suzuki's Alto for bad behaviour. Indeed, as Subaru's recent announcement that it to sell rebadged Daihatsu Boons/Sirions in Europe as Subaru Justys undoubtedly proves, the sale of rebadged vehicles produced by another manufacturer is commonly practiced by companies attempting to fill gaping holes in their vehicle line-ups. As the example of the Suzuki Alto suggests, both Nissan and Mazda are key practitioners, selling rebadged versions of other manufacturers vehicles as their own, with all of Mazda's six-car strong kei-car lineup comprised of rebadged Suzukis. Similarly, Nissan, in addition to the aforementioned Pino, offers a rebadged Suzuki MR Wagon as the Nissan Moco, and sells the Mitsubishi eK Wagon as the Nissan Otti. Meanwhile Suzuki, traditionally a purveyor of kei and compact vehicles, has recently plugged an MPV sized gap in its range by introducing its first minivan, the Landy - a rebadged Nissan Serena, which has received a mild facelift.
The Nissan Serena

The Suzuki Landy

Although, such rebadging practices are understandable, allowing manufacturers to swiftly branch out into segments of the market in which they have formerly had no experience and thus widen their customer base, one can't help thinking that consumers must be able to see through such shallow rebranding exercises, and be left feeling more than a little duped at being offered mildly titivated versions of another company's products. Such rebranding exercises can only ever be a short-term stopgap, and to avoid dilution of the automotive gene pool (apologies for the eugenics) and incurring the ire of customers, long-term, more unique models must surely be developed to fill any gaps in a manufacturer's vehicle line-up.