Global badge for Aussie industry relaunch?

An internationally known automotive name could be brought back from the dead to badge an all-new line-up of cars from ambitious would-be local car manufacturer Ethan Automotive.

The start-up, which is looking for $1.5 billion to underpin its business case to launch a three-model range in late 2018, is tossing up whether to purchase a 'retired' international brand name or develop a unique new name locally.

Ethan's freshly appointed Chief Operating Officer, Matthew Newey, says securing a known badge would help shortcut the process of establishing the brand here and could eventually pave the way for an export program.

And while he says the company is also considering the creation of a new name for the brand, Newey is clear the range will not be badged Ethan.

"The options we have got with respect to brand is really to create one, which we know is going to be challenging and take some time, or go and buy one," Newey confirmed to motoring.com.au.

"From a business case perspective I am exploring both options right now; what options do I have in respect to acquiring one? How quickly could we do that and what relevance does that have to the type of vehicle we are trying to produce?

"Or under the 'create one' kind of space, how do we design a new car brand and how do we get that consumer acceptance quicker than Tesla, for example."

It is understood Newey has a list of several potential established names that could be accessed for reasonable cost.

While he was unwilling to name them, there are plenty of retired badges that still have resonance here and overseas. For instance, Triumph and Riley are owned by BMW, Rover by Tata and Chinese firm SAIC owns Wolseley. Several US-based names such as Pontiac and Mercury have recently been retired.

Ethan Automotive was formed last year as a subsidiary of the Ethan property group. Its creation was inspired by the imminent withdrawal from the market of current local manufacturers Ford (October 2016) and Holden and Toyota (late 2017), and the belief cars could still be built here if the business case was constructed properly.

Ethan plans to launch a three-model locally-manufactured range comprising a mid-size SUV, sedan and sports coupe by November 2018. It plans to establish local engineering, design and manufacturing capability, with the vehicles to be based on a single platform and the componentry sourced from local and international suppliers.

For the project to be successful, Ethan is looking to government and private investment sources for up to $1.5 billion in start-up capital, with funding to start flowing this year.

The target is 30,000 annual production by 2022 and total staff of around 1500.

Newey, who has 17 years' experience working in the vehicle industry in the UK, Australia and the USA, is currently the company's only full-time employee.

And while he says he is juggling many issues – not least convincing a federal government that pulled the plug on subsidising the local car industry two years ago to re-invest – Newey says the model line-up's name and branding will be the key to the project being successful.

He said securing a known badge could well help in the negotiations to secure start-up funding.

"I think the engagement with the state and federal governments would be swift after that," he said.

Whichever way it goes on naming and branding, Newey said looking to potentially purchase a known badge indicated Ethan's ambition went beyond simply getting started and survival.

"It's no good saying we are going to build three different variants off a common platform and then sit back and go what are we doing next?

"We have to think big with this company. It's not good enough to think we are just going to plateau at 30,000 units.

"We have hit on 30,000 units because we think that with the segments we want to play in that is probably the number of cars that we are going to be able to sell.

"But if I was an auto exec of a car company like Ethan, which I am starting up now, I need to be thinking past that 30,000 units. I need to be thinking past that current platform we are designing.

"I need to be thinking about an export program, I need to be thinking about what's the next platform or what's the next powertrain that we need to be bringing in to this model line-up."

Pictured: Pontiac G8 GXP