[Thilak29]

Excellent thread, nice read Emvi.

My two cents.

Erstwhile British brand Austin was named after Herbert Austin, it’s founder.

Italian Abarth was founded by Carlo Abarth

What we know today as Skoda was once called Laurin and Klement , with its founders Václav Laurin & Václav Klement.

New entrant, Rimac gets its name from founder Mate Rimac

Trivia : Modern Cars have significant number of components designed/manufactured by Robert Bosch and it’s again a case of being eponymous.

[mayjay]

First off, great Post!

Just want to add to the Audi story.

The brand Audi as we know it today had a direct predecessor in the form of Auto Union.
This was an amalgamation of four manufacturers: Horsch, DKW, Wanderer and Audi.

Formed in 1932, it had the famous four ring logo, one ring for each of the manufacturers that comprised it.

Auto Union was also famous for its legendary racing team, and with Mercedes they were referred to then as the ‘Silver Arrows’. One of the greatest ever race car drivers, Bernd Rosemeyer, raced for the Auto Union team.

Later in the 60s, Auto Union was acquired by Volkswagen and merged with NSU and the combined entity was renamed to Audi.

[narayans80]

Bruce McLaren of McLaren group
Charles Rolls and Henry Royce of Rolls-Royce group

If we include motorsporting teams, there are quite a few famous ones like Williams, Brabham, Toleman, Brawn, Super Aguri, Minardi, Dallara that are eponymous.

Originally Posted by Thilak29

What we know today as Skoda was once called Laurin and Klement , with its founders Václav Laurin & Václav Klement.

It didn't end there. The Skoda Works group that acquired Laurin and Klement was also eponymous

[drivingmelody]

Originally Posted by Emvi

What’s in a name? Well, there’s a lot in a name.
Here I am talking of automobile brands that have been named after surnames/names of the founders. While majority of them are founders’ namesake and their origin are well known, there are also a few whose lineage are rather not straightforward and I certainly wasn’t aware of. Thought of sparing some time and make a list of eponymous automobile brands.

Ashok Leyland

Ashok Motors was founded in 1948 by Raghunandan Saran. He was an Indian freedom fighter from Punjab. After Independence, he was persuaded by India's first Prime Minister Nehru to invest in a modern industrial venture. Ashok Motors was incorporated in 1948 as a company to assemble and manufacture Austin cars from England, and the company was named after the founder's only son, Ashok Saran. The company had its headquarters in Chennai, with a manufacturing plant in Chennai. The company was engaged in the assembly and distribution of Austin A40 passenger cars in India.

Leyland Motors joined in 1954 with equity participation, changing the name of the company to Ashok Leyland

[anandavinash]

Originally Posted by Emvi

It was in 1911 a transportation business company was first established in Madurai under the TVS banner. About 7 decades later TVS first ventured into automotive manufacturing and in 1980 rolled out India’s first 2 seater moped, TVS 50.

Fun fact about Mr. Iyengar. When he ran his bus transportation company, I am told that buses used to run late on account of a lot of metal trash such as nails, screws etc being on the road all the time and causing flat tyres. Mr. Iyengar had a system of first running bullock carts with magnets underneath the carriage to get rid of all the possible metal objects that would remove any sharp metal objects that could puncture his bus tyres thereby delaying them. He took great pride in the fact that TVS's bus service always ran on time and it was thanks to this foresight of his.

[condor]

Massey Ferguson:

From Daniel Massey and "Harry" Ferguson.

Massey initially started off as Newcastle Foundry and Machine Manufactory in 1847, and was renamed by his son as Massey Manufacturing Co. Later teamed up with Alanson Harris' A. Harris, Son and Company to become Massey-Harris. In 1952/53, Massey-Harris merged with Ferguson Company to initially become Massey-Harris-Ferguson before finally becoming Massey-Ferguson in 1958.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massey_Ferguson
https://www.reliableaftermarketparts...guson-tractors

[Bhalla]

Founder of Mazda was Jujiro Matsuda

[Eshan Joshi]

Bimota:
Bimota is a small volume motorcycle manufacturer from Itally. It's name is derived from the first two letters of it's founders sir names:
Bianchi
Morri
Tamburini.

[DudeWithaFiat]

One more to the list

Premier Padmini.

The brand Premier Padmini was named after the 14th-century princess Padmini/Padmavati.

[condor]

Originally Posted by DudeWithaFiat

Premier Padmini.

The brand Premier Padmini was named after the 14th-century princess

Was Princess Padmini founder of Preimier Automobiles Limited ?

Do Check the first part of the first post in the thread:
" automobile brands that have been named after surnames/names of the founders "

[Reinhard]

MORRIS MOTORS the British car maker was named after William Morris.

Not to be confused with MG/Morris Garage, the Morris Motors was known for its MINOR and Oxford (under a different name) models in India. The Oxford of course lives even now as the Ambassador.

On a bit of a tangent - the BajajTempo/Tempo/FORCE Motors' "F" logo I believe was after the surname of the founding Firodia family

[DudeWithaFiat]

Originally Posted by condor

Was Princess Padmini founder of Preimier Automobiles Limited ?

Do Check the first part of the first post in the thread:
" automobile brands that have been named after surnames/names of the founders "

Eponymous means named after someone, some person.

Pretty sure that's what the OP meant to, or at least wasn't strict about having to be named after the founder. Otherwise, he wouldn't have added Tesla, Audi, and Mercedes to the list.

[BennyA23]

Love it! Its so great to see the history & legacy of brands and trivia around it. Most people tend to take it for granted. Thanks for the excellent post!

[Shreyfiesta]

Tata Sumo

Sumo, the popular brand from Telco group has no connection with Japanese wrestlers. The name ‘Sumo’ was inspired by the name Sumant Moolgaonkar, who was the chief executive of Telco. He used to interact directly with truck owners and drivers who had come to have their mid-day meal at dhabas for discussing with them the merits and shortcomings of the trucks, while engaging in having food with them.

He did not just contribute to the company mechanically but worked hard to add value to it by way of his wholehearted service. He set a great example of how a leader ought to be and clearly demarcated the underrated quality of humility throughout his life. The name Tata Sumo is by far the highest corporate tribute ever given to an executive by a company.

[sandeepmdas]

Great thread. When I saw the title of the thread, for a moment I thought it was started by Dr. Sasi Tharoor.

My contributions:

Sipani Automobiles Ltd.: the makers of Sipani Dolphin and the Sipani Rover Montego, was named after its founder R K Sipani.

Jessop & Company: the erstwhile leading maker of road rollers and the only tram manufacturer of India was bought and renamed by William Jessop in 1820.

Simpson & Co: The Chennai-based company was involved in making steam-powered buses! It was established in 1840, and is still making diesel engines.