[chaudh2s]

Why is it, that car manufacturers name their cars in English (or some other language) only? It is understandable for global products like a polo or an octavia, but manufacturers like mahindra, tata or even maruti can easily name their cars in hindi.

As an example, a mahindra scorpio could easily have been instead named as a mahindra bichhoo. XUV5oo as a cheetah.

Tata sumo as Tata Pehalwan, Tata Nano as Tata Chutki.

Maruti Swift can be Maruti Pambheeri (a wasp in punjabi)

Fiat Punto as Fiat Bindu and linea as Fiat Lakeer.

Ok, these were just examples. Devnagri script can easily spawn some real beautiful/cool names.
It's high time we take pride in our mother tongue/language and begin naming models in Hindi.
Imagine two britishers discussing among themselves "Heard, Tata is gonna launch a new SUV in england this week tata pehalwaan. It's a really butch SUV, the name itself is so cool "PEHALWAN". Wonder what it means? The other guy says- it means a wrestler in Hindi. Both say-COOL Man!!
What does our BHPians have to say on this?

[asr245]

Probably because of our fascination from imported names to imported products. For most in India, imported = cool/better/stylish.

[carwatcher]

Premier Padmini
Ashok Leyland Dost
Rajdoot
GNAL Narmada150
Hero (Honda) Karizma (I am not sure whether its a Hindi word),
Ashok Leyland Cheetah
Mahindra Thar
Greaves Garuda
and not to forget
MARUTI

and few others in the past.

But as our psychology goes and also it does create an upmarket feel if the English names are used be it pet's name or especially the Real Estate project's name.
'Sherry' as a dog's name would definitely sound upmarket than 'Shera'.
DLF Millennium City would certainly find more takers than DLF Sahasrabdi Shahar.

Its a very serious and interesting topic if someone wants to discuss which gives an insight as to how a language develops itself.

We have very beautiful words in Hindi like in other languages that can be used and will give that 'upmarket' feel. For e.g. I would prefer 'Indraprastha' over Dilli/Delhi anyday but at the same time I would certainly not like it to be pronounced as Indraprasthaa, so its tricky.

As far as car name goes Cheetah, Maruti, Padmini have that 'upmarket' feel while Dost certainly hasn't, so it won't be easy to come up with a Hindi name that would be upmarket but certainly not impossible. As far as English names are concerned anything goes however weird it may sound.

My Do Paise.

[saket77]

We are ever so fascinated with English. Though there is a good reason to it as English now has become the global language and is the only link between nationals of different countries. On the other hand, Hindi, despite being our National language, is mostly confined to the Northern, central and somewhat western parts of the country. It's difficult to find people speaking Hindi in Southern and Eastern part of the country due to so many regional languages. In that situation, English is the only link between people even in our own country.

Probably, Hindi as a language has not been given the treatment which the National language deserves. Ever seen a 'Spoken Hindi' or 'learn Hindi' classes?

PS: Read carwatcher's post after posting and agree with him whole heartedly. There are a lot of Hindi words which sound awesome. Rajdhani Express sounds great when compared to Capital Express. Shatabdi against Century. Gati is cool when used over speed. Teevr, again is great when compared to fast. So many other examples too.

[hemanth.anand]

Ah someone else has also thought about this!

Have you seen any kids (Born after 2000) speak in their mother-tongue with each other?
We(most of us) always think that something from a foreign land/Something Imported is always better that something local(unfortunately it is true in most of the cases but not always)
We(most of us) see people talking in mother toungue as inferior compared to someone who can speak in English(even it if contains tons of slang)
Its hard to digest, but this is how we have evolved. Factor in the influence of British rule too.

OEMs (atleast Indian) can always give names in an Indian language, but again the above mentioned 'Complex' prevents them from doing it.
They somehow don't feel it appropriate when positioning the same car in the International market.
XUV5OO is a good example in recent times that comes to my mind
As you said, we Indians don't easily take pride in something "local"!

However we do have some vehicles with Indian names in the past/present

• Premier Padmini
• Mahindra Thar
• Force Toofan
• Force Gurkha

Other than cars

• Ashok Leyland Dost
• Ashok Leyland Cheetah Bus
• Bajaj Chetak

KSRTC in Karnataka has some good names to their bus services which can easily be used as vehicle names (If some OE wants to) like,

• Airavatha (Indra's white elephant)
• Rajahamsa (King Swan)
• Mayura (Peacock)

[PVS]

Interesting - In the US, auto manufacturers have a tendency to name some of their vehicles after places:
Hyundai - Tucson, Santa Fe
Kia - Sedona
Toyota - Avalon.. and so on and so forth..

I have always wondered, why Indian manufacturers (or Korean or the Japs manufacturing in India) never named any of their vehicles after places..

Say a Maruti - Chennai or a Hyundai - Mumbai??
Mahindra - Thar is an exception though!!

[srishiva]

As mentioned, its not just the car names. We have most real estate projects names with Spanish, Italian sounding words. Maybe we dont bother to Indianize things. We just follow what names they usually do elsewhere.

[deathwalkr]

Problem i see would be the fact that we have a number of languages to appease. If it was a localized product then a name in a regional language would be ok. But in a pan india frame i dont know how effective it would be.

I dont see a problem with coolness or the lack of it. Just dont think it would be feasible. I would admit that Hindi goes above my head and if you listen to me speaking hindi you would run away...far far away So yes i might be a minority but give me simple names anyday.

[saket77]

Talk of appeasing and an incident comes to my mind. My Honda bike (Japanese manufacturer) has a user manual entirely in Hindi, however, my friend's Bajaj has an English manual. Looks like global manufacturers try to appease the Indians by offering small things to their taste.

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by saket77

On the other hand, Hindi, despite being our National language, is mostly confined to the Northern, central and somewhat western parts of the country.

Be ready for some brickbats coming your way

Hindi is not our national language officially.

But the point is not that. There are two things, First , Indians in general have a tendency to view objects with foreign names as "premium". This point is already elaborated in earlier posts.

Secondly, we have so many regional languages and a person down south may not understand what a "Chutki Gaadi" and a person up north may not relate well with "Thalaiva Gaadi". So the appeal of teh name won't be pan India.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by DCEite

Indians in general have a tendency to view objects with foreign names as "premium".
So the appeal of teh name won't be pan India.

Yes. Exactly my thoughts.

Also, I guess we tend to ignore the meaning and just concentrate on the rhyming and don't bother about meaning of English words.

OT: Had me thinking what Renault Duster will be called if named in Hindi.

[blacksport]

That brings to my mind the hybrid names sported by premium apartments in Bangalore. The builder would have a traditional name (name of a God or the builder's wife) while the apartment would have an elite english name. Like:

Sobha Eternia
Purva Fairmont
Ajmera Infinity

So, it is not only with cars, it is true for every commodity sold here.

Having said that, I would definitely not buy a car with a Hindi name. Would sound so down-market. We have too many languages, so it is difficult to come to a consensus. There is enough debate on whether Maruti should be spelled Maruthi. So manufacturers should stick to foreign names.

[veyron_head]

Originally Posted by saket77

We are ever so fascinated with English. Though there is a good reason to it as English now has become the global language and is the only link between nationals of different countries. On the other hand, Hindi, despite being our National language, is mostly confined to the Northern, central and somewhat western parts of the country. It's difficult to find people speaking Hindi in Southern and Eastern part of the country due to so many regional languages. In that situation, English is the only link between people even in our own country.

I have nothing against hindi, but just for your information, Hindi is not the national language. Actually, there is no such thing as a national language. There are only 'official' languages which include hindi, tamil, telugu, kannada etc and all carry equal status. Even in countries like US and UK where english is widely spoken i dont think there is something called a national language because having one would be partial to people speaking other languages in the country. Sorry about the OT!

On the thread starter's point, I guess its about the current trend. It was about indian names earlier (premier padmini et al). Currently its about english/european/foreign names.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by DCEite

Be ready for some brickbats coming your way

Hindi is not our national language officially.

You know what...I was so wrong! I did not know about the Court ruling against it and just remembered what was taught to us as a kid:'Hindi hamari rashtra bhasha hai'!

Armoring myself for the bricks.

Thanks.


PS: Read veyron_head's post after posting mine, hence the edit.

Originally Posted by veyron_head

I have nothing against hindi, but just for your information, Hindi is not the national language. Actually, there is no such thing as a national language. There are only 'official' languages which include hindi, tamil, telugu, kannada etc and all carry equal status.

Yes, you are right. I did not know about it. Thanks for the useful information.

[Samurai]

It will be very hard to come up with names that are acceptable across the whole country. What sounds beautiful in one language may be incomprehensible in another language. Keep in mind we don't have one language that is understood in the whole country. Only English comes close.

Originally Posted by chaudh2s

It's high time we take pride in our mother tongue/language and begin naming models in Hindi.

What happens in non-Hindi states then?

Originally Posted by saket77

Probably, Hindi as a language has not been given the treatment which the National language deserves.

Because there is no national language in India. Hindi is just another language like Tamil, Telugu, etc.

Courts have ruled it long back: http://articles.timesofindia.indiati...language-hindi