How do car companies name their cars?

There must be hundreds if not thousands of car names out there

, from the iconic Rolls Royce Silver Shadow to the almost unheard of Taylor Aerocar, and manufacturers don't seem to be slowing down the production lines just yet. Every car that gets released, even if just as a concept vehicle, is given a name and whether it's just a series of numbers and letters or a reference to the car's inspiration, someone has to come up with it.

Like most exercises in branding, consultants are often used to make sure that the name chosen best reflects the car's quirks, values and intentions, whilst also strengthening and developing the manufacturer's reputation at the same time. In cases like this, a team of brand consultants could come up with up to 1,000 different potential names before narrowing it down. Once a selection has been chosen, these will normally be tested' against the product for appropriateness. For example, when an American car manufacturer called their new car the Incubus', they neglected to double-check the meaning of that particular word in all of the countries which the car would be marketed in. In many languages, an incubus is a demon or ghost which visits women whilst they are sleeping. Needless to say, it was an expensive mistake which didn't pay off. Fiat had a similar problem when they found out that extremely poor Swedish sales of their new car were in fact due to the literal translation of its name Regatta: cow in Swedish.

Assuming a handful of names are appropriate, sound good and are easy to say, unlike the Isuzu Mysterious Utility Wizard which was released only in Japan, the team of experts will then approach a test audience to gauge their reactions to the name and the accompanying brand' the new car is supposed to represent. These percentage-based test markets are used to try out virtually every product on the market, from cars to soap to insurance to hairdryers. Once they feedback their opinions on the chosen names, the creative team will either run with the most popular name, or instead go back to the drawing board if the results are negative.

Ideally a name should speak for itself, like the Land Rover, but if that isn't always possible then the car name should at least aspire to a visual reference. For example, one of the most iconic cars in history, the Corvette, was named after a World War II warship thanks to its slick curves and pointy nose. Likewise, Crysler called their sports coupe Crossfire, as it was supposed to convey the fine line between exhilaration and elegance.

The important thing is that the car lives up to its name. There's no point calling a car The Invincible' if the windscreen cracks if you go over the slightest bump in the road and, unfortunately, this is advice that car manufacturers don't always bear in mind.

How do car companies name their cars?

By: Paul Buchanan

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