The Surprisingly Thorough Process Behind Naming Cars

Car companies go through a great deal of deliberation and agonizing thought when naming cars to give us an enticing name we can enjoy.

Have you ever wondered why your car has the name that it does?  Are you driving a car that has a number for a name and wonder where that number came from? How can car companies name cars the way they do? The surprising part of the entire process is the fact that car companies go through a painstaking process to come up with a name that seems to be right for the vehicle, only to find out that it just won’t work. Let’s explore.

A Few of the Starting Points

This process isn’t the same for every automaker, but most will start with potentially hundreds of names that could be used for new models before the list is whittled down to a few names that make the most sense. Once this list is found, the real fun begins.

The car company has to decide to either pay for trademarks for some names or take a chance in having the name pulled by another company. An example of this happened to Tesla. The Model 3 was supposed to be the Model E, but Ford already owned a patent for that name, so Tesla had to turn it around.

Names Can be Market Specific

The language and culture of the region in which a vehicle is going to be sold will heavily influence that car and what its name could be. Some names are only for specific markets, while others are used in every market a vehicle is sold. One name that comes to mind that wasn’t popular was the Chevy Nova. While this was a good car in America when it was sold, it didn’t do well in Spanish-speaking countries because of the name. Nova literally means “no go” in Spanish, and who wants a car that doesn’t go?

Character Matters in the Naming Process

The marketing team of any company will have a huge part in naming cars that are made. The idea is to bounce of the characteristics of the vehicle and find words that reflect these items. When you think of the muscle cars of the 1960s, you see names that stand out and still bring respect and excitement today. Think of the Mustang, Challenger, Charger, Thunderbird, Impala, Corvette, and at the end of the decade, the Camaro.

Some Companies have Themes in Their Naming Structure

When you consider the brand name, you might already know that you’re going to get a vehicle that’s named after a specific item. Lamborghini loves to name its cars after fighting bulls, while Volkswagen uses the names of various wind currents in different parts of the world. Think of the names Jetta, Bora, Scirocco, Passat, and even Golf which are all named for some of the winds in different regions of the world. Of course, with some brands we see today, you know what you’re going to get by the letter and number configuration used.

Animals are Always a Good and Safe Choice

We don’t expect wild animals, especially predators, to act in any way other than aggressive, mean, energetic, and strong. Because of these factors, we have had names for cars that have come from the animal world for a long time. Names like Mustang, Colt, Viper, Jaguar, Ram, and Cobra are all names that have been used to give names to cars that we’ve loved. These names give you an idea of the character of the vehicle and what you might expect when you take it for a drive.

Places Make Great Names for Cars Too

Not only will car companies use some famous locations when naming cars, but they will use these names in the trim levels that you find in the vehicles that you want to drive. The latest version of the Ford Bronco, an animal name, has many locations as the trim names. These trims are Badlands, Outer Banks, and Big Bend, to name a few. Other vehicles that have used places like the car names include the Malibu, Tucson, Ibiza, Monterey, Murano, New Yorker, Cambridge, Seville, and Montreal, to name a few that we have enjoyed.

Racing Makes it Way into Naming Cars

Do you remember the Chevrolet Monte Carlo? That happens to be a sports car that’s named after a famous racing circuit. Often, the idea is to have a car that reflects some of the qualities of the track that it is named after. Some names that have been used in the past are Monaco, Panamera, Bonneville, Sebring, and Daytona. If you look around the automotive world and see the various names that have been used, you’ll find some of the most famous tracks in the world have made it to the naming structure many times.

Interesting Naming Facts You Probably Didn’t Know

Some of the most famous names that have been used wouldn’t have been possible without some interference and influence. Let’s take a look:

• The Porsche 911 was going to be the 901, but Peugeot had trademarked all the numbers with a zero in the middle before Porsche could grab the desired name
• The Citroen DS is pronounced “Day Us” in French, which moves to the Latin word for God or Deity
• Naming the De Tomaso Mangusta was a response to the Shelby Cobra. Mangusta is Italian for Mongoose, which is one the only animals in the wild that can kill a Cobra
• Dino and Edsel are named after the sons of the founders of the respective car companies
• The Lotus Elise was named for the granddaughter of the chairman of Lotus
• Most of the car companies we know are named after their founders. Ford, Rolls-Royce, Auston, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Renault, Citroen, Honda, Toyota, DeLorean.

Now You Know

Next time you head out on the road in your vehicle, you can stop and think that a great deal of time, effort, and energy was spent coming up with the name of the car you drive around in traffic every day. It just makes you think of what goes into the name of a vehicle and what names we’ll see in the near future.