worst car name ever has been surpassed

eamon234 · 08-07-2007 7:40pm

let's not forget the Renault Twingo!

Owen · 08-07-2007 7:48pm

You're all wrong. The single worst company for coming up with names is Daewoo. Not only did the manufacturers name sound ridiculous, but the model names were worse. "Tacuma, Nubira, Leganza, Matiz" ... idiots. No wonder the brand flopped over here.

Max_Damage · 08-07-2007 7:50pm

Datsun Violet
Mitsubishi Starion
Renault Le Car (It was what the Renault 5 was called in the States)
Eagle Medallion (American Renault 21)
Skoda Roomster
Subaru Justy
Mitsubishi Pajero ('wanker' in Spanish!)
Reliant Robin
Hyundai Getz
Hyundai Terracan

Zaph · 08-07-2007 7:57pm

There's a good article about silly car names on the Channel 4 website here

crosstownk · 08-07-2007 8:12pm

unkel wrote:

Now look up what Mitsubishi Pajero means in Spanish

Very true. I know it used to be called a Montana in Spanish speaking countries. Not surprising, nobody wants to be seen driving a w*nker!!

DukeDredd · 08-07-2007 8:14pm

TVR. It's short for Trevor (Wilkinson)!

bazz26 · 08-07-2007 8:41pm

Nissan had a good share of them:

Cherry, Sentra, Stanza, Sunny, Cube.

Mazda had a large MPV inspiringly called MPV. :rolleyes:

Others that come to mind:- Austin Alegro, Mitsubishi Chariott (Spacewagon in Europe), VW Darby.

fricatus · 08-07-2007 8:49pm

Dyflin wrote:

Suzuki (all of them!!)

Hehe, quite true... I mean "Jimny", for cryin' out loud!

I saw an ad today for the Chevy Captiva. I'm sure Alan Johnston won't be buying one any time soon

maidhc · 08-07-2007 9:31pm

Morris Garages?

colm_mcm · 08-07-2007 10:34pm

How about the Volkswagen Rabbit (U.S Golf)

David Michael · 09-07-2007 4:19pm

ned78 wrote:

You're all wrong. The single worst company for coming up with names is Daewoo. Not only did the manufacturers name sound ridiculous, but the model names were worse. "Tacuma, Nubira, Leganza, Matiz" ... idiots. No wonder the brand flopped over here.

Going to have to correct you here. They were as far removed from a flop as you could want.
They did very well when they launched. The brand was a huge sucess and I think the CEO won entrepreneur of the year or man of the year in one of the big business mags due to the fact they went from 0 to something like 3% market share in two or so years. Which equated to knocking out about 10,000or so cars. Not really a flop.

It was the crisis in Korea which filtered down to the market and hurt consumer confidence that slammed the brakes on around 2001.

_Kaiser_ · 09-07-2007 4:30pm

Semi-related...

Do YOU name your car?

Ever since I got my big beautiful black Passat

, female friends keep asking me what I call it/her. When I insist that she doesn't have or need a name, they look at me as if I'm mad!

Is it just a female thing?

Owen · 09-07-2007 4:38pm

David Michael wrote:

Going to have to correct you here. They were as far removed from a flop as you could want.They did very well when they launched. The brand was a huge sucess and I think the CEO won entrepreneur of the year or man of the year in one of the big business mags due to the fact they went from 0 to something like 3% market share in two or so years. Which equated to knocking out about 10,000or so cars. Not really a flop.

In numerical terms, they held their own with the likes of Honda (Source : SIMI), but the brand as a whole was just lost. Clarkson used to revel the opportunity to say 'Dae' with a stern serious face, and 'woooooooooooo' with a huge smile, just to ridicule how absurd the name was.

prospect · 09-07-2007 4:40pm

ned78 wrote:

In numerical terms, they held their own with the likes of Honda (Source : SIMI), but the brand as a whole was just lost. Clarkson used to revel the opportunity to say 'Dae' with a stern serious face, and 'woooooooooooo' with a huge smile, just to ridicule how absurd the name was.

"That will be the Day-wooooooooooo"

Bloody annoying..

Owen · 09-07-2007 4:53pm

prospect wrote:

"That will be the Day-wooooooooooo"

Bloody annoying..

If it wasn't annoying, it wouldn't be Clarkson, now would it?

racso1975 · 09-07-2007 5:00pm

Yaris Verso
Xsara picasso
peugeot boxer
ford cougar
nissan fairlady

Stephen · 09-07-2007 5:01pm

Whoever said Skoda Roomster wins. What a stupid, stupid name.

prospect · 09-07-2007 5:02pm

ned78 wrote:

If it wasn't annoying, it wouldn't be Clarkson, now would it?

I am talking about the Adverts, that was the catchphrase.... uuuughhh *shudders*

Owen · 09-07-2007 5:06pm

racso1975 wrote:

ford cougar

I actually thought that was a good name for a car.

David Michael · 09-07-2007 5:09pm

ned78 wrote:

In numerical terms, they held their own with the likes of Honda (Source : SIMI), but the brand as a whole was just lost. Clarkson used to revel the opportunity to say 'Dae' with a stern serious face, and 'woooooooooooo' with a huge smile, just to ridicule how absurd the name was.

Don't want to fall out with you but the figures from SIMI 2000 show that Daewoo achieved a remarkable success with their brand. Those figures are the most (if only) available tool for measuiring said brand success. Not Clarkson. He just had an opinion.

Didn't really come on here to discuss brands but to point that it was incorrect to say the "flopped" here due to their name or what every. They very much didn't.

TOYOTA	253	25844	11.20%
FORD	67	25296	10.96%
NISSAN	144	24190	10.48%
VW	67	22761	9.86%
OPEL	143	21775	9.43%
FIAT	81	17259	7.48%
RENAULT	45	14194	6.15%
PEUGEOT	20	9892	4.29%
HYUNDAI	12	7435	3.22%
DAEWOO	5	6781	2.94%
SEAT	19	6240	2.70%
MITSUBISHI	10	5627	2.44%
CITROEN	10	4809	2.08%
MAZDA	10	4614	2.00%
ROVER	12	4539	1.97%
SKODA	29	4503	1.95%
MERCEDES	3	4218	1.83%
BMW	11	4005	1.74%
HONDA	4	3318	1.44%
ALFA ROMEO	14	2645	1.15%
AUDI	9	2260	0.98%
SUZUKI	6	2156	0.93%
VOLVO	6	2012	0.87%
SAAB	3	974	0.42%
DAIHATSU	2	933	0.40%
SUBARU	1	877	0.38%
LEXUS	0	569	0.25%
JAGUAR	0	298	0.13%
CHRYSLER JEEP	1	231	0.10%
ISUZU	1	133	0.06%
MG	0	56	0.02%
PORSCHE	0	40	0.02%
KIA	0	2	0.00%
SSANGYONG	0	0	0.00%

Heinrich · 09-07-2007 5:13pm

Ford Fiasco
Volkswagen Viagra
Vauxhall Virgin

Owen · 09-07-2007 5:17pm

David Michael wrote:

Don't want to fall out with you but the figures from SIMI 2000 show that Daewoo achieved a remarkable success with their brand. Those figures are the most (if only) available tool for measuiring said brand success. Not Clarkson. He just had an opinion.

Didn't really come on here to discuss brands but to point that it was incorrect to say the "flopped" here due to their name or what every. They very much didn't

If you took the time to read my post, you'd see that I agreed with you on figures, and even referenced the SIMI. I'm talking about the brand failing as a Marketing excersise, with the proof that they rebranded to Chevy in 2005, in the European market. So they very much did flop, in terms of a brand, as an identity.

alias no.9 · 09-07-2007 7:05pm

Nobody has mentioned the Mitsubishi Starion. It's reputed that it was supposed to be called stallion but the name was lost in translation from engrish.

folkswagen · 09-07-2007 7:50pm

Nissan Qashqai - like the car but not the name:eek:

Max_Damage · 09-07-2007 7:50pm

alias no.9 wrote:

Nobody has mentioned the Mitsubishi Starion.

I did actually.

TomMc · 09-07-2007 8:50pm

....

alias no.9 · 09-07-2007 9:05pm

Max_Damage wrote:

I did actually.

So you did. My bad.

rebel.ranter · 09-07-2007 10:39pm

folkswagen wrote:

Nissan Qashqai - like the car but not the name:eek:

I thought it had been re-christned "Cash Cow" in this country?

An SSIA miracle!

Fiat Panda is also a ridiculous name.

Max_Damage · 09-07-2007 11:02pm

Another batch of them...

Nissan Cube
Merkur XR4Ti (more so the make than model; they were American Ford Sierra's)
Fiat Ritmo (sanitary towel in the USA)
Morris Ital

rebel.ranter · 09-07-2007 11:09pm

Max_Damage wrote:

Morris Ital

My neighbour had one of these when I was a young fella. For years I thought the "y" had fallen off!!!

worst car name ever has been surpassed

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