Starting a car manufacture/company

[Timpo]

So if you wanna start your own car company, not exactly a manufacture, but more like building up your own brand by using other manufacture's vehicles. (just like Japanese cars like...Dodge Stealth, Eagle Talon, Pontiac Vibe, Chevrolet Prizm, etc) What would be the law?

If you want to start your own company, say "Revscene Motors" by offering lineups like Toyota Crown(toyota.jp ƒNƒ‰ƒEƒ“ƒ‰ƒCƒ“ƒiƒbƒv) and you would re-name it of course, how hard is it gonna be?

I'm NOT serious about this as I do not have money to start such company, but I was curious. Please do not give me lectures like "oh it's gonna be huge hassle what about dealer network, warranty, customer service and all that?" etc. I just wanna know if it's legal to sell "brand new" JDM cars if you're "car company" rather than "importer".

I picked Toyota Crown as an example because that's the easy example and seems like it will meet emission/safety standard.

Anyways, here are some questions.

1) Is it legal to sell brand new right hand drive vehicles? or only JDM cars get exempted? Are car manufactures allowed to offer right hand drive vehicles? or is it against the law?

2) Do you have to pass crash test on every single car? or more like every type of car? I am asking this question because some vehicles, there's no way they could have passed the crash test, yet still legal in Canada. Some brand new cars in Canada are still street legal. Campagna T-REX(Campagna Motors T-REX and V13R the Original 3 wheeler.), Super7Cars (Super 7 Cars Incorporated - Homepage) and some EV vehicles.

3) How could Dynasty, Canadian EV vehicle be legal for road use? This does not look safe.
Dynasty IT - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia was it because it was classified as "neighborhood electric vehicle" which can not exceed 72km/h like scooter? Neighborhood Electric Vehicle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

4) So what if you wanna offer "limited speed JDM vehicles" like these? Would you get exempted from crash test just like scooter? Not exactly crash test but would you get exempted from anything?

[jinxcrusader]

I'm pretty sure there will be some patent violation if you just rebrand a vehicle without permission.

[BoostedBB6]

Cant see RHD unless its passed the age that they are allowed, its imported as a diplomatic vehicle or a government vehicle (Canada Post delivery truck for example)

[thumper]

based on everything you listed, it sounds like china is the place you need to be.

[tiger_handheld]

I would ask the owner of KungShoes.com - he's got connections and skills.

[kkthind]

What are the regulations if I want to import an rs6 avant over from Germany?

[Timpo]

Originally Posted by jinxcrusader

I'm pretty sure there will be some patent violation if you just rebrand a vehicle without permission.

oh no of course I would talk to Toyota or whoever and buy them in bulk or whatever and make a contract.

A lot of car manufactures do that, for example Italian manufacture called Lancia has a lot of Chrysler lineups.

Lancia Thema


Lancia Flavia


Lancia Grand Voyager

[Timpo]

Originally Posted by BoostedBB6

Cant see RHD unless its passed the age that they are allowed, its imported as a diplomatic vehicle or a government vehicle (Canada Post delivery truck for example)

so it's against the law to sell RHD vehicle and only imported ones get exempted?

[thumper]

Originally Posted by Timpo

oh no of course I would talk to Toyota or whoever and buy them in bulk or whatever and make a contract.

A lot of car manufactures do that, for example Italian manufacture called Lancia has a lot of Chrysler lineups.

fiat owns both lancia and chrysler. lancia is selling like crap in their markets and fiat thinks rebadged chrysler stuff will work. so far it's not.

[BoostedBB6]

Originally Posted by Timpo

so it's against the law to sell RHD vehicle and only imported ones get exempted?

Correct. Only ones that meet the 15 year old laws currently in place. Cant bring in factory new RHD vehicles for sale.

[Timpo]

Originally Posted by thumper

fiat owns both lancia and chrysler. lancia is selling like crap in their markets and fiat thinks rebadged chrysler stuff will work. so far it's not.

yeah but I'm not specifically talking about a company that is owned by other company.
Toyota owns Subaru, thus FRS/BRZ but I'm not talking about that.

Look at Toyota Voltz, it does look like a Pontiac Vibe because Vibe is a re-badged Voltz.


Toyota Cavalier, it's a rebadged Chevrolet Cavalier.

[Timpo]

Originally Posted by BoostedBB6

Correct. Only ones that meet the 15 year old laws currently in place. Cant bring in factory new RHD vehicles for sale.

That brings up another question..so Transport Canada said no to RHD but they said that you can put steering wheel in the middle.

Right hand drive: illegal
Steering wheel in the middle: legal
Left hand drive: legal

Just like many of us know, this car called HTT Plethore, Canadian supercar manufactured in Quebec has center steering wheel.

[Marshall Placid]

I spoke with Scott Goodyear last year at the Audi Driving Experience (he sat at my lunch table).

He was an instructor there and he told me that another instructor at the same event (Antoine Bessette) started a small auto company.

See an article here:
http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/f...car-2014-01-29

From what I remember, if the production #s for the car model is fewer than 1,000 units per year, Transport Canada (or equivalent) has a different set of rules than for OVER 1,000 units per year models.

I forgot the EXACT numbers, but it's around there.

If it is over 1,000 units, the company needs to do extensive testing, while under 1,000 units is much more lax.

[tegra7]

Originally Posted by Timpo

yeah but I'm not specifically talking about a company that is owned by other company.
Toyota owns Subaru, thus FRS/BRZ but I'm not talking about that.

Look at Toyota Voltz, it does look like a Pontiac Vibe because Vibe is a re-badged Voltz.


Toyota Cavalier, it's a rebadged Chevrolet Cavalier.

da fuq

[rriggi]

I've dug into this topic so many times. It wont happen simply on the basis of compliance. Unless a car is issued a FMVSS or CMVSS certification it cannot be imported by a company into Canada at all until its 15 years old, the US is a little bit different. I don't know about the limited speed vehicles and the rules around those.

There was a company in the US who was importing Skylines in pieces from Japan and reassembling them. They issued US VIN numbers and what not under their new name and sold them. Eventually US Customs figured out, and seized and crushed nearly all the cars. Regardless that they were built in the US, they were nonconforming grey imports.

And kkthind, you will never have a Canadian reg'd RS6 Avant until its 15 years old. Which really really really sucks because I want a V10 Avant more than my next breath.

And no, you cannot convert a grey market car to US spec and import it legally into Canada...which again sucks

And in regards to crash testing, you have to crash a car that behaves the same in an accident more or less. So say if you have the Mercedes S-Class, you would only need to crash an S400 Hybrid. Not S550, S63, S65 all individually, if DOT thinks that a model might behave differently in an accident, it would then be required before that car received FMVSS/CMVSS certification.

[Timpo]

Originally Posted by rriggi

I've dug into this topic so many times. It wont happen simply on the basis of compliance. Unless a car is issued a FMVSS or CMVSS certification it cannot be imported by a company into Canada at all until its 15 years old, the US is a little bit different. I don't know about the limited speed vehicles and the rules around those.

There was a company in the US who was importing Skylines in pieces from Japan and reassembling them. They issued US VIN numbers and what not under their new name and sold them. Eventually US Customs figured out, and seized and crushed nearly all the cars. Regardless that they were built in the US, they were nonconforming grey imports.

And kkthind, you will never have a Canadian reg'd RS6 Avant until its 15 years old. Which really really really sucks because I want a V10 Avant more than my next breath.

And no, you cannot convert a grey market car to US spec and import it legally into Canada...which again sucks

And in regards to crash testing, you have to crash a car that behaves the same in an accident more or less. So say if you have the Mercedes S-Class, you would only need to crash an S400 Hybrid. Not S550, S63, S65 all individually, if DOT thinks that a model might behave differently in an accident, it would then be required before that car received FMVSS/CMVSS certification.

ok so let's pick Toyota Mark X for example.
So you go buy one and crash it and everything, what if it pass emission, safety and all that.
Now that car is proven to be safe and meets CMVSS standard, would you be allowed to import it and sell it?

[Timpo]

and are you talking about this article?

[UFO]

Originally Posted by Timpo

So if you wanna start your own car company, not exactly a manufacture, but more like building up your own brand by using other manufacture's vehicles. (just like Japanese cars like...Dodge Stealth, Eagle Talon, Pontiac Vibe, Chevrolet Prizm, etc) What would be the law?

If you want to start your own company, say "Revscene Motors" by offering lineups like Toyota Crown(toyota.jp ƒNƒ‰ƒEƒ“ƒ‰ƒCƒ“ƒiƒbƒv) and you would re-name it of course, how hard is it gonna be?

well for one, the cars you listed here are not simply one brand buying cars from another brand and simply re-naming them and reselling as their own. They were built with manufacturing partnerships, both brands contribute design, manufacturing, etc etc to develop a common platform that each can sell as their own. What you are suggesting is similar to me saying Toyota just bought a bunch of Subaru BRZ and renamed them FR-S to sell as their own.

[E30_vert]

at first I thought OP was just trying to get his post count up... and then I noticed 18K....

There are reasons that the 15 year rule is in place, it gives North American auto makers a fair chance at the market. A large portion of our economy is based around auto manufacturers, jobs, plants, etc. If you just let anything and anyone in that would pass regulation then you would have automakers selling cars at a loss, more cars being produced overseas causing loss of jobs, etc.

There would be no reason to produce a NEW rhd vehicle for NA... we drive on the right side of the road, I don't even think that would pass any sort of testing. Unless very low production numbers and maybe sold as a kit car? but then what type of "manufacturer" would you be?

[Hehe]

If I'm starting my own car company, I'd make it as mechanical as possible.

Modern cars are built with way too many electronics on them. Sure that make them faster, but it comes with the trade-off of having a far less reliable vehicle. Think of higher end Mercs/Bimmers from the 80s or earlier. They are built like tanks. With some proper maintenance, it could go problem free (nothing major at least) for a million miles.

My dad's E12 BMW 518 is still going strong while having 600k+ on its odo. Although it's not driven as much as he used to, but my dad kept it for sentimental values (his first luxury vehicle) and something he can work on when he feels like getting his hands dirty. (his new Flying Spur is not exactly user-serviceable)