A word is a powerful tool. It can instill deep feelings, trigger emotions, and just generally play with someone’s head. And when a singular word happens to be the name of a company, its creators had best choose wisely.
Wednesday’s joint announcement from Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group got plenty of people talking about words — well, one particular word. Let’s play a game.
As you read yesterday, FCA and PSA plan to name their merged companies Stellantis. It’s a take on the Latin word “stello,” meaning “to brighten with stars.”
While us uneducated boors here at TTAC World Headquarters haven’t boned up on our Latin lately, we assume few others have, either. Which is why the creators of Stellantis faced an avalanche of jokes.
do not take Stellantis if you are pregnant or might become pregnant
some common side effects of Stellantis are dizziness, difficulty breathing, aging products, insomnia, and hellcatitis
talk to your doctor to see if Stellantis might be right for you https://t.co/b6CtI4mxqZ
— Team Radar Love (@midnightdorifto) July 15, 2020
To most, the word means nothing, so the brain instead associates it with something that sounds like it. Space ships and man pills and the like come to mind.
Maybe you’ve got a better name for a fusion of FCA and PSA. Surely you can think of a title for the group poised to sell Dodges and Peugeots under the same umbrella?
[Image: Fiat Chrysler]
NOPANTTIS?
If they are being honest, they would call it Jeep-Ram, since that’s the only part of the business that’s going to make any profits for them.
Not true – PSA bought Opel from GM and did what GM couldn’t: make it profitable (pre-covid). Now Dodge will have Buicks to sell.
Simca?
+1
I wonder if there’s anyone left at PSA from those days who get to break out their now-ancient Chrysler Europe name badges.
“While us uneducated boors here at TTAC World Headquarters..” you’re probably right
To me, word “Stellantis” wouldn’t be meaningless. I know clearly that Stella = star. Stella is also a fairly popular name in Europe.
Now, how would I name the corporation?
PSA + FCA = … using binary method of combining the names and multiplying resources, the new name I’ve got is “ĬĬĄ”
Outside of the logical names, I would call it a metaphorical name – Titanic
Let’s just cut to the chase:
“Covid-20”
Looking at how many brands they’ve got under one roof I’d suggest a slogan for the new company:
“Suck it VW.”
Or Ford-2
I was hoping for The French Connection, but whatev.
Rootes Group. Though they were the British marques that Chrysler combined back in the 60’s and 70’s. Simca was part of Chrysler France.
When you think of it Iacocca shouldn’t have divested of them since it would of left a foothold in Europe.
Rootes….The Plymouth Cricket rivaled the Chevy Vega “Complaints of rust, unreliability, plus the general unpopularity of smaller cars on the American market, saw it withdrawn from that market after only two years.”
Yet at the same time Chrysler gave us the captive import Mitsubishi built Lancer ie Dodge Colt which sold well and was quite reliable.
I once saw an abandoned Plymouth Cricket on a street in the South Bronx. It was during the mid 80’s era of high levels of car theft and or leaving junkers on the street because the value of scrap metal was nil.
Other junked vehicles would get picked apart for parts or some valuable metals but the Rootes based Cricket sat basically untouched.
MRF, agree with you about the Cricket.
The first-generation Colt was the Galant, not the Lancer. My first-ever new car was a ’76 Dodge Colt with the Freeway Cruise package. Nothing exciting about it, but it sure worked well.
My not-yet-my-wife bought a second-generation Colt hatchback a few years later, which was the Lancer. It had the twin-stick transmission. She also had a great experience with it, and it sold both of us on the benefits of the hatchback configuration.
Well, Chrysler is dead, so the two main families are the Fiat founding Agnelli’s and the Peugeot family, so call it A&P.
Google would likely ball, but call the merged FCA-PSA Alfabet*?
*Misspelling deliberate, with Alfa in the portfolio.
I would call it Betelgeuse. It is largest known star. Its diameter is about 700 times the size of the Sun.
If you want to call after person – call it Edison.
Frank Rizzo Motors.
I really don’t care what they call this company, I will never buy another one of their products again. Enough coverage on this.