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Mallya considering name change for Force India

Published on 14 Jun 2017 17:02
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By: Fergal Walsh

Force India will consider changing their name in the future to become more attractive to sponsors. The team has increasingly gained an international reputation while their association with India has diminished. Therefore, team boss Vijay Mallya now intends to give the team a different name.

"The other shareholders and I indeed need to consider it", the Indian businessman said to Motorsport-Total.com. "We are studying the necessary steps we should take. It's a big decision, so we will carefully think about it."

"There are voices saying that the current name Force India is limited psychologically and has an inhibitory effect on our development. Therefore, we'll discuss whether we should change the name in order to get a more international image."

This, of course, is not the first time that the team has considered changing its name. For the 2016 season, the Silverstone based squad was close to rebranding itself as Aston Martin Racing, however, the deal fell through.

Fergal Walsh

mcbhargav

Posts: 1,332

Naturally. He is not in good light in India and hiding in UK, with an extradition case in progress.

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Jun 15 2017 - 14:10

F1 News Force India

Replies (7)

f1fan0101

Posts: 1,804
This would be cool... Maybe attract a partnership with a road manufacturer?
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- Jun 14 2017 - 17:13
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  I have been waiting for a couple of years now for a road manufacturer to jump in. I cannot imagine a better scenario to acquire a team. I would love for BMW to come back, although I reckon that would be unlikely with a Mercedes engine.
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  Jun 14 2017 - 21:16
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Yeah, that wont happen. And I doubt BMW would return right before a regulation change. As a matter of fact, BMW seem pretty much uninterested in F1 as it stands today. It would be nice to see them back, but I doubt it'll happen anytime soon. No, if FI get to name their team after a car brand, it'll likely be a Mercedes connected one.
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  Jun 14 2017 - 22:16
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
"There are voices saying that the current name Force India is limited psychologically and has an inhibitory effect on our development."

I find that argument very hard to follow. I think its more likely that Mallya is attempting to remove the associations the team has with India, while at the same time maybe attract attention from a new big sponsor or such. A new deal with AM is unlikely: they sponsor Red Bull, and are very pleased with that deal. They also lack the funds to go in as a title sponsor or namesake. But if it'll be a carbrand, it'll most likely be one of the Daimler owned brands.
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- Jun 14 2017 - 18:11
k.gandhiin

Posts: 17
The might loose big chunk of Indian fans. But the other owner i.e. Sahara group might not allow such thing to happen.
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- Jun 14 2017 - 19:58
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  It depends on how much money Sahara give FI. Looking at the amount of stickers and sticker sizes on the car, and looking at the livery change, I'd say there are currently other companies giving bigger money, so Sahara might not be an as big of a factor as it used to be.
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  Jun 14 2017 - 23:14
mcbhargav

Posts: 1,332
Naturally. He is not in good light in India and hiding in UK, with an extradition case in progress.
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- Jun 15 2017 - 14:10