Car names -- why on EARTH are they so stupid

jimbo45

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Hi there

It's not only the names of varios OS releases that are idiotic -- such as Android Ice Cream sandwich or Jelly Bean.

I just for the life of me understand how some of the Car manufacturers decide on having such stupid names for their products.

For instance Volkswagen Passat (often said in colloquial English "Passed it").

Korean "Cash Cow" etc etc.

Surely anybody with a smidgen of sense in the marketing depts. of these companies should have people who understand the language in their export markets.

Mind you even BMW can have a problem outside its home state of Bavaria -- in Hamburg I believe these cars are known as "BAYERISCHE MIS- WAGENS" Or Bavarian Mistake Wagons !! - but that's just regional rivalry between N and S Germany I suppose.


Cheers
jimbo
 

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My two personal favorites:

The Honda Life Dunk and the Honda That's
 

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Yeah, there's a few of them here:
Foreign branding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Including Mitsubishi Pajero, Ford Pinto, Honda Fitta, Buick Lacrosse, SEAT Málaga, Toyota MR2, etc. I guess that's one of the problems with having a global brand.

Mind you I generally find product names annoying, especially non-descript ones. Even Windows falls into this category, changing from 98 to XP to Vista to 7, etc. and don't get me started on Microsoft Email products. Mail, Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Mail Desktop, Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live, Hotmail, MSN Hotmail, Outlook, Outlook Express, Outlook.com. It really is a stupid idea because when doing an internet search for a particular problem, you get all sorts of results returned I.E. Microsoft Office Outlook articles for Outlook.com search queries, etc.

That's one thing I like about BMW naming (not sure whether they still do it), where you can tell what the product is just by the name. I.E. 3, 5, 7, series etc, followed by engine size and a 'X' in the name if it's 4WD, 'M' if it's an M-Power. If you want to do specific searches you can use the factory model/engine codes to search such as E36 (denotes the specific type of 3 series), M52 (denotes the specific type of engine).

By far the worst for product naming though is some Eastern Electronics companies who think product names like DMRHWT230EB and KDL50W656ASU are somehow a good idea when no-one knows what they mean. To make it worse, these names are constantly changing making it near on impossible to keep track of or find decent reviews/pictures/forum posts, etc.
 

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In the US, we have the "Highlander", "Outlander" and "Uplander"... Talk about silly!
 

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For instance Volkswagen Passat (often said in colloquial English "Passed it").
Hey now, I just traded in my 2002 VW Passat GLX on a 2013 VW Passat TDI. I don't consider the name of the car stupid. While some may "pass me" on the freeway, here in the USA not many are probably getting 50MPG in a car that is the same size as mine :)
 

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