Edward. I cannot speak for the US automobile industry nor can I speak on the merits of a true free market but certainly in Europe in that industry, you do not see as many manufaturers coming together in the production of the final product and then competing in the same market. I recall Honda and Leyland did it many years ago for a short term before they split but ithis practice is much more widespread in lift trucks than it is in cars.

In the past certain brands have been lost- Boss and Lansing to name a couple but I dont think that trend will continue. Brands become shop-windows and the more shop windows a factory has, the more- routes-to-market available, is only going to increase volume which is the food these factories need.

The brand has to be not 'broken' however. The Boss name was about finished when Jungheinrich took it over but Lansing remained a strong brand. If Linde re-introduced the same Linde truck as a Lansing and painted it yellow through a local dealer netwoirk, the factory will not sell fewer machines as a result. Multi-branding from a single source is not new but the over-capacity will ensure this policy will remain.