Renamed cars for different global markets (Language)...

[TransAm]

For example -

In Spain the Ford Cortina was renamed a Ford Taunus. Why? Cortina means 'curtain' in Spanish...

Fiesta means 'party' in Spanish - is the Ford Fiesta (smallest hatchback) called that name in Spain?

A Sierra is a word for 'wind' in Spanish I think - is the Ford Sierra (medium hatchback) called that name in Spain? The XR4 three door hatchback was called the Merkur in the US...

(One that I'm sure everyone knows...) In Spain/South America the Nova wouldn't sell "No Va = doesn't go" in Spanish

In the US, the Mondeo = Contour - any reason why?

The Mitsubishi Pajero is not called that in the US it is called the Montero - Pajero is a hispanic slang term for 'wanker'

The Vauxhall Astra = Kadett in Europe and Vauxhall Carlton = Omega, I am not sure why.

The Holden Calais probably has an upmarket sounding name to Australians, but to the French and English it conjures up images of an industrial seaport. Hardly upmarket!

Can anyone enlighten me further?

Anyone else have any futher examples?

[mindgam3]

They name them differently because the big cooporate cheeses think they will sell better if they change the name.

How about vauxhall being called opel everywhere except in the UK?

[BADMIHAI]

I know of some Chevy that had to be renamed for sale in Canada because in Quebecois its name was the slang for masturbation.

EDIT: It was the Buick LaCrosse. Here's a small arcicle about it: http://news.excite.com/odd/article/i...7Creuters.html


"MAKUHARI, Japan (Reuters) - General Motors Corp will rename its Buick LaCrosse in Canada because the name for the car is slang for masturbation in Quebec, embarrassed officials with the U.S. automaker said Thursday.
GM officials, who declined to be named, said it had been unaware that LaCrosse was a term for self-gratification among teenagers in French-speaking Quebec.

GM officials in Canada are working on a new name for the car, a sedan that will go on sale next year to replace the Buick Regal.

The mix-up is reminiscent of another GM vehicle with an unfortunate name. In the 1970s, GM exported its Chevrolet Nova to Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, only to be told that Nova translated into "doesn't go." Despite the name, and contrary to popular folklore, the car sold well. "

[evoWalo]

Originally Posted by TransAm2001 The Mitsubishi Pajero is not called that in the US it is called the Montero - Pajero is a hispanic slang term for 'wanker'

Wanker is British for masturbator right?

[mindgam3]

Originally Posted by evoWALO Originally Posted by TransAm2001 The Mitsubishi Pajero is not called that in the US it is called the Montero - Pajero is a hispanic slang term for 'wanker' Wanker is British for masturbator right?

lol, yes

[BADMIHAI]

Wanker is British for masturbator right?

We here at JabbasWorld prefer the term "kitty killer".

[redbaron]

Opel would have called the '94 Astra Bip. The plural of bip is bips. A bips is the dutch translation for a human bottom/behind... The Astra/Kadett was hollands best selling car and with this name it definitely wouldn't be and would cost Opel a lot of money. Because of the dutch market the car was named Astra instead of Bip.

[sameerrao]

Ford Pinto ---> means male genitals in Portuguese

Opel Ascona --> female genitals in portuguese

Volkswagen Jetta --> "throw away" in a Neapolitan dialect

Honda Fitta --> female genitals in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish --> car renamed Jazz

Ford Fiera --> ugly old woman in Spanish

Ford Cortina --> Jalopy in Spanish

Ford Caliente --> "horny" or "prostitute" in Spanish

Nissan Moco --> Spanish word for mucous

Rolls Royce Silver Mist --> manure / shit in German --> car renamed Silver Shadow

Toyota MR2 --> MR2, which in France is pronounced "merdé" or spelled 'merdeux', means "crappy".

More poor names from cars and other walks of life --> http://www.i18nguy.com/translations.html

In a similar vein how a car got wrongly named - quote from some article
"Mitsubishi Starion"
Andrew Harris of Australia writes: "Mitsubishi had a very successful small car called the Colt. They brought out a slightly larger model, but right up to the last minute, couldn't decide on a name for it. The people here were in a last minute conference call to the Japanese execs trying to make a decision when the final word came through that 'Stallion' would be a suitable 'horsey' name to follow Colt. Trouble was, the name wasn't written, but spoken with a thick Japanese accent and the Aussie end were mystified, but duly wrote down 'Starion'. By the time the mistake was realised the badging and ads had been started and it was too late to stop it." "

[Paco]

An example of a poorly chosen name for a car: the FIAT Croma.

In The Netherlands, Croma is a brand of baking butter and it had quite an annoying commercial at the time.


Off-topic: @Redbaron: Eindhovuuh de gekstuuh

[RC45]

Which is why the best car names are encoded numerals and letters denotin engine size etc.

Mercedes Benz has this down to a fine art. The result - their cars are instantly recognizable frm Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe ... and no mistake the warlords/dictators/despots of all the countries in between know this as well

[sameerrao]

Originally Posted by RC45 Which is why the best car names are encoded numerals and letters denotin engine size etc. Mercedes Benz has this down to a fine art. The result - their cars are instantly recognizable frm Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe ... and no mistake the warlords/dictators/despots of all the countries in between know this as well

Someone has a vested interest eh? Guess what so do I

I wish MB, Ferrari, BMW still followed their naming convention with the same precision of old - their numbers are approximate now - E.g S600 has a 5.5 l engine and not a 6.0 engine ... BMW 745i has a 4.4 l engine..

Old conventions:
Merc was the simplest with engine capacity divided by 10 and pre-pended with the class - S, C, ...

BMW was engine capacity divided by 100 pre-pended by class - 5,7 ...

Ferrari used the swept volume by cylinder - E.g. 250 GTO had a 3.0 V12
--> 3000/12 = 250

Now it is a mix of strategies

[Mr.T]

The Vauxhall Corsa is renamed as the Holden Barina over here but I have no idea why. That's about the only car renamed for Australia that I can think of.

[Chaos in 1983!]

Most of them are spanish translations, LOL . There is a Daihatsu called Laputa, that in Spanish also means "the bitch". This car is only for sale in Japan, not in Spain actually, but the name is quite fun.

LOL...yeah I was gonna say that...it actually means The Whore...but well it's the same thing isn't it...LOL

[evoWalo]

In Brazil Ford had to rename the Pinto to Corcel because it ment "small penis".

[Ford Capri 2.8i]

Its very funny if we start reading carefully why some models have some name in some countries, and the name changes completely when the same car is sold somewhere else....ill get my contribution of some models that i dont understand why they are changed depending on which country you are visiting

Ford Example....in 1985 for launched the ford granadas replacement....ford called in europe Scorpio, whereas the name of Granada continued in the UK....once Granada is a beautiful city of Spain and its not offensive for nobody else...and Scorpio is an international name which means the same wherever you go

the 4 door VW Golf has been almost always called Jetta in the USA, whereas in Europe during the first 2 generation of golfs it was called Jetta, during the third golf generations period it was called Vento, and alongside the Golf IVs existance it was called Bora in Europe....furthermore.....the station wagon version of the Golf, Vento, Jetta, whatever...has always been named golf, when depending on the shapes generation it has always looked like quite more the Vento, the Jetta, The bora.....

Another curious thing,,,,,that the whole opel models has always had the same name for models in the whole europe, whereas the same car but named Vauxhall has very rarely had the same name of its model as Opels...in addition, the right hand drive cars in the Republic of Ireland are called Opel, and its models have the same as the other opels from the peninsula..........whereas there are other brands such as Renault, citroen, Fiat....which its model has had the same name regardless in which country they are sold