I think it's kind of sad that car dealers are so scared of the manufactures who supply them vehicles that they can only criticize the automaker on an unattributed basis. In other words, it's too bad they're scared shitless of the suits. But hey, that's the way it is, and I can well believe Ward's Dealer Business couldn't find any VW dealers willing to go on record and say “The names (are) consistently insane. First we get Touareg, which is crazy, and now Routan, which is equally crazy." Scribe Byron Pope says "most dealers contacted by Ward's" (how scientific is that?) are just happy to have new product, while "some" are bewildered by VW's bewildering product names. VW's nameless spokesperson defended the new– well rebadged Chrysler minivan's name. It’s a “white space on our product map, and (it will) bring more people into the showroom. In some ways, the naming is secondary.” Of course, in other ways, it isn't.
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Better than the mishmash of letters and numbers that dominate the automotive landscape today.
At least they haven’t gone to a stream of letters and numbers that look like temporary passwords. I remember Toureg, distasteful as it sounds. R-3-Lx whatevers give me nothing.
Anything wrong with re-using the Vanagon name? I know, it’s so Eighties, but it’s got to have some brand equity left in it.
This was car company that brought back the Rabbit nameplate, after all.
at the same time they are difficult to say, they are also easy to remember even if you say the VW R-ro-ro…the VW minivan. its still 126.4% better than alphabet soup.
I liked the name Passat. A Miata driver in the office said he’d never buy a car that said Pass-It on the back, but I still liked it.
Routan sounds too much like Routine or Rattan.
Wolfsburg was a cool name. I’d say VW should us more place names, but many of them sound like food or have awful WWII connotations. Darmstadt’s not bad. They won the Solar Decathlon last year.
I’m with you starlightmica, bring back more names that have brand association and meaning!
Not only has Acura the blandest designs, they also have names to go with it: RSX TSX RDX MDX WTF
# quasimondo
Better than the mishmash of letters and numbers that dominate the automotive landscape today.
Well, I don’t know. To me, tuoueurxecqkg seems like a mishmash of letters.
And routan? what the heck is that???!
It’s easier to spell TSX, and it doesn’t make me think of a primitive litter made out of old branches, or an Indian pony drag (same basic idea).
At least Dodge has pretty cool model names – they all refer to acts of violence or penetration.
GTI?? Works because you know exactly what it is.
All they have to say to the prospective customers is, its European!
They are still better the the classic: Dahaitsu Charade, the name speaks for itself. or perhaps the Ford Aspire, aspire to what?
What difference does the name make in this case? Who in their right mind would go to a VW dealer and buy a Chrysler minivan?
Yuck, a badge engineered Chrysler van sold as a VW.
Indeed the Martians have landed.
At least Dodge has pretty cool model names – they all refer to acts of violence or penetration
I’ll agree with you, but 50 bonus points if you can explain if “caravan” is violence or penetration, I’m at a loss for that one.
The only person I know who owns a Touareg pronounces it “toe-rag” with a straight face, I don’t even think she does it to be funny. I think I’d buy a door rango before a toe rag
Routan is not a bad name, it reminds me a true personality- Burt Rutan from Scaled Composites who is building SpaceShip2 . God bless people whose hands are not afraid of a challenge. On the other hand name of a car is nothing compared it to the product itself. if America made good products and cars they could name them shitbags or tootsies and still sell them. Every single of them. The Product matters. And shut please up about dealer`s experience. Good products is what people buy not names .
I anxiously await the upcoming Ford Shitbag Hybrid Coupe… ;-)
jurisb:
That’s exactly what I think of when I hear the name. While I may not like the names that VW gives it’s vehicles, they are more memorables than the nomenclature used by Lincoln, Cadillac, Acura, Infiniti, etc. At least with Mazda, I can make sense of their names, but actual names would be nicer. What was the new name for the Miata, and does anybody actually use it?