What? Shock surprise as Ford applies for Skyline name

In a surprise and unexpected development, Ford has effectively, and probably indirectly, caught Nissan off guard after a trademark submission in the name of the Blue Oval was discovered for the name Skyline towards the end of last week.

Uncovered by the FordAuthority online forum and subsequently late on Monday evening by Road and Track Magazine, the patent – submitted to the US Patent and Trademark Office on 12 July – is listed underneath “motor land vehicles, namely, SUVs, trucks and automobiles”.

However, for the time being, it remains unknown as whether the Blue Oval will use it outright for a new or existing model, or secure it via the application and not use at all simply to prevent other manufactures from doing so.

While famous for using the Skyliner designation on a retractable hard-top convertible version of the Galaxie made between 1957 and 1959, and more recently on a concept campervan version of the Transit in 2014, the use and reason for deciding on Skyline remains a mystery, especially as Nissan never relinquished the designation when production of the R34 that spawned the very last Skyline GT-R ended in 2002.

Instead, the Skyline moniker has lived on, with the Infiniti Q50 being marketed in Japan as the latest generation Skyline under the V37 internal moniker since 2014 in sedan form only.

At present, it remains to be seen what the Ford badged Skyline will look like but as indicated, don’t expect an immediate unveiling.