What Does Ford Want The ‘Skyline’ Name For?

Skyline. To car guys and girls it pretty much means only one thing - Nissan’s iconic coupe and saloon models that have spanned over half a century. But now Ford has filed a trademark for the Skyline moniker, so it looks like the Blue Oval may be planning to use the name for an upcoming model.

The trademark application was found by Ford Authority, and it seems Ford wants to use it for “motor land vehicles, namely SUVs, trucks and automobiles”. Ford Skyline does have a bit of a ring to it, although it’d be hard for a model with that name to stand out - and it might be confusing for buyers.

Nissan is still using the Skyline badge, although the car it’s on is a far cry from the Skyline GT-Rs we’re all familiar with. The 13th-generation Skyline in Japan came to our shores as the Infiniti Q50 - and then left again when Infiniti quit Europe due to very slow sales.

What would a Ford Skyline be? Well, our guess would be something electric, given that Ford is aiming to only sell electric cars by 2030. Given the way the market is, we wouldn’t be surprised if it was an SUV.

The company did showcase a Ford Transit Skyliner concept back in 2014, which brought a super-luxurious interior that was envisioned to be like a “private jet on wheels”. So it’s possible that Ford is eyeing up a premium model or sub-brand, perhaps to take over from or sit above the chintzy Vignale specifications. Previously, the Skyliner name had been applied to Crestline, Fairlane and Galaxie models in the 1950s.

FoMoCo submitted the application but, of course, that doesn’t mean the Skyline name is planned for a Ford. It could come to market as a Lincoln Skyline. Alternatively, it could be a name for a piece of next-gen technology.

There’s no guarantee that Ford would actually use the name for anything. Sometimes carmakers trademark a whole suite of things just so no other brand can use them. Maybe Ford just wants to annoy Nissan; after all, its 7.3-litre V8 engine is already called ‘Godzilla’.

What do you think of Ford trying to pinch the Skyline name? Tell us in the comments.