[Tanoc]

>Imagine Ford paying someone to make five car-designs, ending up using one of them, and ultimately losing full control over the remaining four...

Which is how things used to work. The Isuzu Impulse was originally a design for Audi and then BMW by Giugiaro which was turned down, and Giugiaro then reworked it a bit when Isuzu came asking for a new design. Originally the Cizeta V16T was a Lamborghini Countach replacement, before Lamborghini turned it down and Moroder bought the rights to it. The Chrysler minivans of much fame were originally a Ford design from 1972 called the Ford Carousel that Henry Ford II told Lee Iaccoca to buzz off with... Which he did after a minor rhinoplasty to the thing. And they were a smash hit that was half of the equation that saved Chrysler in 1983 and left Ford almost dead.

[rickdeckard]

If the designs were PAID by Ford, but then resold by the designer to its competitors, it sounds like a lesson learnt for Ford...