Unlikely to launch Splash brand car in India: Ford

Auto major Ford said on Wednesday it is unlikely to introduce a car as 'Splash', despite registering the brand in India that forced Suzuki to change its global hatchback with the same name to 'Ritz' to sell in the country.

"We are not expected to use that name (Splash), because we are going to use global names as we move forward (in India)," Ford India president and managing director Michael Boneham told PTI.

Ford had registered the name 'Splash' with the Controller General of Patents Designs and Trademarks Registry on August 16, 2002.

Later Japan's Suzuki Motor Corporation also approached the trademarks authorities for introducing its fifth global model 'Splash' in India through its subsidiary Maruti Suzuki India.

Suzuki had applied for the trademark registration on December 22, 2005, which was eventually withdrawn.

Asked what is the reason behind the company's decision not to use 'Splash' in India, Boneham said: "What we intend to do is to use global names here, rather than specific names for one country."

He, however, declined to comment whether Ford India would withdraw the name from the authorities.

It was a setback for Suzuki with MSI saying at the time of launching 'Ritz' that it could not bring in the car as 'Splash' as it was already registered with 'an automobile company' in India.

Consequently, MSI launched the global car, presented as a concept car in Paris Motor Show in 2006, in India as 'Ritz' last year. MSI, the country's largest carmaker, manufactures both petrol and diesel versions of 'Ritz' at its Gurgaon facility.

The car, which has been developed on the existing hatch-back Swift's platform, has 85 per cent localisation in components. Suzuki launched 'Splash' in 2007.

The car is manufactured in Hungary and Japan, and is sold in Japan and across all Europe.