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Single-vehicle marques

Automobile manufacturers generally attempt to have a family of vehicles sold under a single marque. Occasionally, however, manufacturers have deemed it important to sell a single vehicle under its own marque. Sometimes this is done because the vehicle is thought of as inappropriate for the other marques of the manufacturer, as was the case with the Dino from Ferrari. Other times, the single-vehicle marque is created as a fashion statement, as is the case with the new MINI. These sometimes develop into full-fledged marques of their own, but just as often disappear as the vehicle is merged with another marque or sales cease entirely. Of course, some manufacturers never make it past selling a single vehicle.

Many marques never made it past their first vehicle model. This list contains just those marques that were never intended to have a full roster of different models.

  • Surprisingly, only one vehicle was ever offered under the General Motors marque: the EV1. The "GM" badge had previously been used sporadically in the 1960s in addition to the marque. In 2005, the company decided to add the badge to all GM vehicles, beginning with the Pontiac G6.

Eponymous marques

This list is only for those special single-vehicle marques which are eponymous, that is named for their only intended vehicle.

Ford: After the Ford Model T became popular, and for decades after Model T production ended, many Americans called full-size Ford models "the Ford," whether or not they had model names [1].
The Hummer H1 was retroactively given that designation when AM General introduced the H2. Previously, the car was simply known as Hummer or Humvee.
Imperial was a separate marque off and on. The vehicle has just as often been sold as a Chrysler.
The modern MINI car is its own marque of BMW; The Cooper name is a trim level. BMW reportedly plans to expand MINI into a full marque in the future, but it is currently the only eponymous marque sold in the United States.
Saturn sold coupé (SC), sedan (SL), and station wagon (SW) versions of a single vehicle. Though they did have model names, the company encouraged calling them "Saturns" and considered them a single eponymous model. All three were virtually identical. Today, Saturn is a much more traditional marque.
Smart was a separate marque with just its one eponymous microcar. Later, the marque was expanded and the initial car renamed the Fortwo to make room for the Forfour and Formore.
Valiant was a separate marque for 1960 before the vehicle was reassigned to Plymouth. For many years after, it teetered between model name and marque in Australia. The same goes for Oldsmobile's Cutlass and Aurora, and Ford's Thunderbird.
In the 1970s, the top Chrysler model in Australia was called The Chrysler by Chrysler.
The Portuguese Portaro and Spanish Hisparo had no model names, being Daihatsu-powered export versions of the Aro 24 Series.
Smaller manufacturers sometimes have no need to give other names to their models. That is the case of the original Venturi range, the Hommel and the Gillet Vertigo, which is simply known as Vertigo.
With the rebadging of GM Daewoo models as Chevrolets in most of the world, Corvette becomes a single-vehicle marque outside the United States.
Range Rover has been used as a separate single-model marque under the Land Rover company in some markets.
AC Cars sold its Ace and Aceca without any marque at all. In fact, the correct pronunciation of these cars, according to a 1959 issue of Road & Track is "A-See" and "A-See-Ka", meaning the Ace would be pronounced the same as the builder, AC.

Multi-marque models

Models are often sold under different marques in different markets, and are sometimes moved from marque to marque, especially when the former marque disappears. But the case of the same vehicle (with the same model name) being sold under multiple marques in the same market and model year is much more unusual.

The Colt was both a Dodge and Plymouth, though Plymouth previously used the name, Champ. Mitsubishi Motors, maker of the Colt, previously used this name for the entire marque, making the Colt an eponymous model as well. Colt continues to be the name for Mitsubishi's operations in many countries, including the United Kingdom.
The Neon was available from Dodge and Plymouth, and outside the USA, as a Chrysler.
The Conquest was a rebadged Mitsubishi Starion sold from 1983 to 1989 by the Chrysler Corporation. From 1983 to 1986, the Conquest was sold under both the Dodge and Plymouth names, until 1987 when it was only sold as a Chrysler.
DaimlerChrysler sells the Sprinter van under the Freightliner, Dodge, and Mercedes-Benz brands in many markets.
The original Suburban from General Motors was sold under both the Chevrolet and GMC marques. In the 1990s, it was also sold as a Holden.
The original Mini was sold at the same time as Morris Mini and Austin Mini in the European market.
The Russian Oka minicar is sold by both Lada and Kamaz, as well as a special version for handicapped drivers marketed by SeAZ.
The BMC "1100" (and later 1300) was sold under the Austin, Morris, MG, Riley and Wolseley marques.
In general most British Motor Corporation vehicle had a common chassis and mechanics and only badges or slight bodywork/engine differences. This carried over into the British Leyland period to some extent.
Both the Austin and Morris versions of the BMC "landcrab" were known as the "1800".

Unrelated models

Sometimes, automakers use the same marque and model name on two unrelated models in the same market and model year.

The best current example is the current Chrysler Sebring. The coupé is based on the Mitsubishi Galant while the sedan and convertible are based on Chrysler platforms. Despite the name, they share very few components.
Oldsmobile sold four quite different vehicles in the late 1980s under the Cutlass name - the Cutlass Calais, Cutlass Ciera, the Cutlass Cruiser wagon and the Cutlass Supreme.
The Jeep Cherokee and Grand Cherokee of the late 1990s shared very few parts. This was a repeat of the marque's use of Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer in the previous decade.
The Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero and Pajero/Montero Sport are entirely different vehicles, and unrelated to the Pajero Mini and Pajero Pinin/Montero iO.
There is little in common between the Nissan Pathfinder and Pathfinder Armada. Nissan decided to drop the Pathfinder name from the Armada shortly after the vehicle's launch, but the Pathfinder badge remained for model year 2004.
The Ford Transit Connect has nothing in common with the Ford Transit apart from the name.
It is common for a previous special model (especially a convertible or other low-volume style) to continue in production even after the rest of the line has been converted to a new platform. Examples include the Cabrio version of the VW Golf, the 2004 Ford F-150 Heritage, and the 1983 Toyota Corolla Levin.
Likewise, a derivation has preceded the base model's release and was sold alongside its predecessor, case of the Ford Focus C-MAX mini-MPV, sold alongside the Focus' first generation for a year.
In Australasia, the Japanese/European Honda Accord sedan is sold alongside its American Accord sedan "cousin", although both have different platforms. The former is called the Accord Euro.
There is not much in common between the Japanese Suzuki Wagon-R and Wagon-R Solio (this one the Wagon-R proper in other markets). The same happened to the Suzuki Jimny and the Suzuki Jimny Sierra SUV (the last one using the Jimny name in Europe).
In most markets, Toyota uses the Land Cruiser name for two distinct models, the KZJ120 (the "regular" Land Cruiser or sometimes Land Cruiser Prado) and the HDJ100 (usually called the Land Cruiser 100 or Land Cruiser Amazon, equivalent to the American Land Cruiser).
In 1976, Dodge marketed two intermediate coupés with different bodies under the Charger badge, one of which had previously been the Dodge Coronet coupe.
The Ford Motor Company has used the "Zephyr" nameplate on different vehicles in all three domestic lines of cars — as a Ford in the 1930s, a Lincoln, and Mercury as well as in the UK from 1950 to 1971 with the Ford Zephyr.
The 2006 Land Rover Range Rover Sport shares its platform with the Discovery/LR3 rather than the Range Rover as might be expected from the name.
Production of the Chevrolet Vega station wagon continued for 1978 and 1979 after the demise of the rest of the model line, rebadged as the Chevrolet Monza wagon but unrelated to the rest of the Monza line.

Identical models

Other times, automakers will use two (or more) different model names for the same vehicle.

In the 1990s, after changing the name twice in a decade, Oldsmobile sold one vehicle as three different models - the 88, LSS, and Regency.
At the same time, Buick sold one vehicle with two names, Regal and Century.
The 1970½ Ford Falcon and 1970 Fairlane and Torino were versions of the same car.
Cadillac's Fleetwood and DeVille were two badges for the same vehicle from 1987 through 1992.
In South Korea, the Kia Optima is sold both as Optima and Regal. The same happens to the Kia Carens, also sold as X-Trek.
In Japan, the Toyota Corolla RunX differs from the Toyota Allex on minimal design aspects. The same happens (or happened) to the Japanese company's Allion/Premio, Noah/Voxy, Progres/Brevis, Tercel/Corsa/Corolla II and Cressida/Mark II/Cresta/Chaser. For some years in the 1990s, the Toyota Corolla and Sprinter were identical, too, though in most years there were body differences.
In Australia, there were only trim differences between the Holden Belmont, Kingswood and Premier (and before that, the Holden Standard and Special). The same applied to its rivals, the Ford Falcon and Ford Fairmont, there. Today, Holden officially badges its Commodore, Berlina and Calais as separate models.
Nissan, and its predecessor Prince, sold its large car as both the Cedric and the Gloria in Japan.
In the 1980s, the Pulsar, Langley and Liberta Villa were practically the same car.
The second generations of the Audi 80 and Audi 100 had identical models (with different engines) called Audi 90 and Audi 200.

Racing homologation specials

Some manufacturers have occasionally built limited editions of a few models in order to obtain a minimum production requirement for motor racing.

Alfa Romeo produced a Turbodelta version of the Alfetta for FIA Group 4.
Audi developed the Audi Quattro model for the Group B class in the World Rally Championship.
BMW created a limited run of the BMW M3 Sport Evo with a 2.5 L engine for the Group A rules in the European Touring Car Championship.
Citroën created the limited-production BX 4TC for Group B rallying.
Fiat created a coupé version of the Fiat 131 powered by a 2.0 L DOHC engine for FIA Group 4.
Ford] is widely considered to be an expert on homologation specials, starting with the Escort RS1600 Mk.I powered by a 1601 cc Ford BDA engine, small enough so it could be enlarged to 2.0 L in Groups 2 and 4 and retain low weight. In the 1980s, Ford was one of the makers that created a Group B-specific car, in this case the RS200. Later, both Ford Sierra Cosworth (the Mk.I RS500 and the Mk.II RS 4x4) were produced so the company could be competitive in FIA Group A touring car racing and world rallying. Likewise, the same happened to the Escort Cosworth, which had nothing to do with the Escort at all.
Lancia also had some expertise in this department. Both the Lancia Stratos and 037 Rally were created to win rallies in FIA Group 4. The italian make would also create the Delta S4 for Group B, and, to replace this outlawed class, the Delta Integrale.
Mercedes-Benz came up with the AMG Evolution II version of the 190 E to have a 2.5 L car that could go up against the BMW M3. The low-production Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR was developed specifically to race in the FIA GT Championship even though the 25 road cars were delivered only after the 1998 season when the series was discontinued due to lack of remaining competitors
MG Rover started early, in its BMC days, with the powerful Cooper versions of the Mini. Later, in an attempt at returning to world rallying, the PRV-powered MG Metro 6R4 would appear... and flop.
Mitsubishi is no stranger to the world of homologation specials. Starting with the Starion 4WD, moving on to the Galant VR-4, and finally, every incarnation of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, were created, sales success nonwithstanding, to keep Mitsubishi going on in the WRC.
Nissan succumbed as well to the attraction of the WRC, with the 4WD turbocharged Sunny GTi-R. The first two generations of the Skyline GT-R were also homologated to create an unbeatable car in Group A touring cars. And finally, Tom Walkinshaw Racing once developed the prototype-like R390 in the permissive GT1 regulations in the FIA, racing even though the car never actually achieved the required production minimums.
Opel has created a variety of versions, including the Cosworth-powered versions of the Ascona 400 and Manta 400 for world rallying, the limited-edition Omega Evo.500 for the DTM, and the Astra OPC, for FIA Group N 2000 rules.
Peugeot was another one to run in Group B, with the successful 205 T16 which would later be converted to Dakar-spec. More recently, in order to obey minimum length regulations for the WRC, the french automaker created the awkward 206 GT with enlarged bumpers.
Porsche's history with homologation specials begins with the 934, a special version of the 911 Turbo for Group 4 racing, followed by the Group B 959. The 924 Carrera GT was developed with the IMSA Championship in mind. More recently, the German company came up with the 911 GT1 (closer to the 962 than to the road-going 911), and the stripped-down 996 GT3-RS, both for FIA GT.
Renault's most famous endeavor in the homologation specials is the 5 Maxi Turbo, a mid-engined 160 hp beast created for FIA Group 4. In the early 1990s, Renault produced a limited edition of the Clio Williams, with a 2.0 L engine, for the then new Formula 2 category in the WRC.
Subaru has assumed the position of Mitsubishi's main competitor in the Group N rallying arena, with the WRX and WRX STi versions of the Impreza.
Toyota concentrated its efforts on the World Rallying Championships, with three GT-4 generations of the Toyota Celica.
Volkswagen is best known for a special version of the Golf G60, called G60 Rallye, with 4WD and engine capacity reduced to 1763 cc (to fit within the 3000 cc weight limit, while most other Group A cars had to run in the 3500 cc class).

Not for sale

Some car models have been produced but never offered for retail sale:

The American Chevrolet Classic is only sold for rental car fleets.
The Chevrolet Beretta was also a rental-only model for its first year of production.
The General Motors EV1 was only ever leased, and all have been removed from consumer hands.
The London Taxis International TX series is sold to London cabbies, and in limited exports to Japan, but is not offered for retail sale. Its predecessors, the LTI Fairway/Austin FX4, the Austin FX3 and others were also not offered for retail sale but there was a retail version of each called the FL1 and FL2. The direct competitors, the Beardmore Paramount and the Winchester taxi were also restricted to the licenced taxi market.
The Metrocab, formerly the MCW Metrocab, is not offered for retail sale.
Grumman Long Life Vehicle, the right-hand drive U.S. Post Office vehicle
Ford Flexible Fuel Vehicle, U.S. Post Office replacement for the LLV
The Dodge Neon supplied to automobile rental fleets has a three speed automatic transmission unobtainable in the model for retail sale, which is equipped with a four speed automatic.

See also