Who gets to pick the names for new vehicles? Maybe Beergirl can help us out a little with that question. Seems like she’s in marketing. But I think whoever is doing it has questionable qualifications.
For example, why name a mini-van Astro? To me, Astro is the Jetson’s dog. Kind of dopey and – a dog. I don’t want a vehicle that’s a dog.
And what’s a RAV 4? I remember in the 80’s when things were RAD. Maybe someone with a speech impediment said RAD, but the person writing it down heard RAV and it stuck.
Chevelle is a good one. What’s that, like a feminine Chevy? Can only women and feminine guys buy this one? Chevy has one called Nova too. Isn’t that a super explosion of some kind? I don’t want an explosive car.
Toyota has Corolla and Celica. Maybe these are a different language, but Celica sounds like a big bug and Corolla sounds like something you could be arrested for, like “Dude, c’rolla joint.”
Some of the names do make sense, like Caravan. Car & Van mixed. Give that person a bonus. And Maxima. Sounds like the maximum you can get for your bucks.
I love BMW, but the names should be embarrassing to them. Like the 325 I. I envision the Engineers talking: “OK Heinz, this is our 325th try at getting this right. Let’s make it count.” The I would stand for idea, I guess.
I’d like to name a few new vehicles. The first one would be called ‘ItDoesn’tSuck’. All one word. That gets the point across and face it, you would have to check out something called ItDoesn’tSuck. A mini-van called ‘The Grocery Getter’ would be pretty cool. How about a Mercedes called ‘Imasnob’. Or a Hyundai called ‘Poorguy’sJag.’ (They look like Jaguars anyway.) That works for me.
I don’t think I’m too far off base here. The names they use now just don’t make sense anyway. Let’s make them real.
3 comments:
I was reading something the other day, where a license plate of a Saab owner was SNAAAB. hee hee.
I do love those Chevelles. I think they are made for girls.
He he he. Not only do I work in advertising/marketing, but my father has always been a big dude with auto manufacturers, so this is something I am always entertained by.
Names come up from all sides - from the auto maker's operations staff, marketing dept, the ad agency, all corners. Whichever one wins a popularity vote gets stuck on the back of the new car. Many times it is an esoteric word that has nothing to do with the actual vehicle, but is supposed to evoke an emotion, or draw some sort of immediate response from the target market. Luxury cars are named with #s and letters because to pretentious people, it sounds more intelligent. Trucks are named to appeal to the dominant side of people, etc. Lots of automakers call their cars different names in different countries. Toyota's Scions are called that to denote the fact that they are the "heirs" of Toyota, to appeal to young drivers in the US, while drawing a strong correlation to the Toyota name. In Japan, they are just sold under the Toyota brand, and called names like the Black Box and Avensis.
The Chevy Nova was always a poorly named car. The sales flopped in Mexico, and Chevy couldn't figure it out. It was because "No Va" means "No Go" in Spanish. Who wants to buy a car that doesn't go?
See, told you Beergirl could help us out. That story about the No Va / No Go is hilarious!
Who would call a car 'the Black Box'? That's appropriate for the looks, but it's pretty boring.
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