Sign up for the PlasticsToday NewsFeed newsletter.
Sponsored By
What’s In a Name? When It Comes to Cars, Plenty
Automakers can be oblivious to languages and traditions when they brand their models.
Stephen Moore
August 8, 2024
2 Min Read
Mardis Coers/Moment Mobile via Getty Images
My first car was a 1977 Datsun 120Y wagon, an unremarkable model name for what was an unremarkable vehicle but that did the job of transporting the other three students in my carpool from home to college and back — a 50-mile return trip. Subsequent cars I owned such as a Toyota Starlet, Honda Del Sol, and Volkswagen Passat sported model names that didn’t sound that odd.
Dig a little deeper, though, and some pretty strange model names have been pinned to cars over the years. I always wondered, for example, whether the Mazda Bongo was named after the antelope or the drum, and what Nissan was thinking when it branded a compact sedan the Sylphy.
Faux pas roll call
A recent article in The Economist magazine had me laughing over multiple branding faux pas committed by OEMs. Here’s a selection, in no particular order of hilarity.
The Studebaker Dictator might not be an appropriate brand in many countries nowadays, and perhaps not even back in 1938 when the defunct automaker rebranded it as the Commander.
Mazda gets a second mention here with its Laputa, which translates as “prostitute” in Spanish. Ford did no better with its 1970s era Pinto, which means “small penis” in Brazilian slang.
Was fellow Japanese OEM Mitsubishi being tongue-in-cheek when it branded its large family car the Carisma? It utterly lacked that quality, as well as the “h.”
Chinese mobile phone giant Xiaomi recently unveiled its low-cost EV saloon the Modena. The Italian city is home to the headquarters of premium brands Ferrari and Maserati, and the city’s mayor reportedly is not pleased.
The Audi e-tron is similar to the French word étron, which translates to excrement or turd.
The Ora Funky Cat, from a sub-brand of China’s Great Wall Motors, was recently renamed the Ora 03. Was the name change part of a new global brand strategy, or was it just because it sounded daft?
About the Author
You May Also Like
