[SS-Traveller]

I've been wondering for some time now, and there seems to be no answer:

Today's cars (at least a large majority of them) have names that end with a vowel, most commonly 'a' and 'o' - such as
Astra
Corolla
Cedia
Optra
Verna
Versa
Indica
Vista
Innova
Tavera
Laura
Octavia

Indigo
Palio
Scorpio
Bolero
Xylo
Alto
Santro
Cielo
Sumo
Estilo

Omni
Safari
Maini

Notable exceptions (which are far outnumbered by the list above) are
Accord
Accent
Civic
Fusion
WagonR
Logan
i10/i20/SX4 (ending with numbers)

Old-time cars seemed to bear names that ended more with consonants, or numbers - notable exceptions being the Padmini and Contessa (which started life as a Victor).
Morris8
Morris Oxford
Hindustan14
Minor
President
Ambassador
Herald
Gazel (that's how it was spelt, not Gazelle)

Can anyone offer any explanation for this? What forms the basis for selection of names for a car?

[anekho]

interesting analysis! I used to ponder on the same too. All of honda's models in india end with a consonant:

Jazz
City
Civic
Cr-V
Accord

could there be some logic behind this?

[sunil8089]

I don't find any logic. Other exceptions are as follows:
Spark
Matiz
Ikon
Astar
Ritz
SRV
Fusion
Endeavour
800
Esteem
Gypsy
Zen
SX4
Swift
Lancer
Outlander
Xtrail
Supereb
Camry
Altis
Passat

[diabloo]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Can anyone offer any explanation for this? What forms the basis for selection of names for a car?

My user id ends in a vowel. While yours ends with a consonant. Well, just observed this now

[jassi]

i am going to hang around this thread to see what logic comes out :-)

[Superleggera]

Interesting, Check out Ford's naming standards:

Trucks:
F-150, F-250 etc

Cars & Cross overs:

Focus
Fivehundred
FreeStyle
Fusion
Fiesta
Flex

SUVs.

Explorer
Expedition
Excursion
Edge
Endeavor
Escape

Taurus, Mustang and Crown Vic are the exceptions, may be they are old timers..

[Sn1p3r]

ha ha ha
Come on guys, this is so hilarious. Its like my friend and his wife keeps on fighting each other about finding the name for their baby.

@jassi: If you hang in there, you will be here for quite a long time
@diabloo: My handle and SS-Traveller ends with same two letter er

[SkyWalker]

Originally Posted by Sn1p3r

@diabloo: My handle and SS-Traveller ends with same two letter er

mine too ends in ~er. Superleggera has two er's but doesn't end with it. I am sure this's a conspiracy

[MileCruncher]

My handle also ends with "er" like Sniper and SS Traveller.

Btw what kind of guy/gal thought of car names like Xylo, Major, Commander, Marshall, TATA Winger et al.

[SilentEngine]

It must have got some thing to do with how the name was formed. Depending on the language of origin, there may be some pattern

e.g: fiat cars end in vowel
uno
palio
sienna
petra
punto
linea
panda
cinquecento
bravo
stilo

[sammyboy]

lol, you guys are mad. Seriously, SS that was one wild analysis.

By the way, all guys who have listed cars in this er..analysis have handles starting with "S"
SS-Traveller
Sunil8089
Superleggera
Silent Engine

Anekho is the only odd one out with a nick starting with an A

Oh Jeez, I am an "S" too
I love this place

[RajaTaurus]

Well, there is some kind of logic that works here. Generally, names ending with A, E, I and sometimes O are more of feminine and those cars names ending with vowels are supposed to be feminine - cozy, comfortable, utility-oriented, status symbol.
Those ending with consonants are generally Masculine and those cars ending with consonants are generally aggressive sports utility and with a rough roader / off roader image.
Again, this doesn't fit to ALL brands, some wanted to be an exception and they reversed this logic.

Now check back the names and the above logic... Does it make some sense..???

[sgiitk]

I suspect that in many civilisations female names tend to end in Vowels. In Sanskrit feminine words are mostly 'deerghant'.

[SS-Traveller]

One common consensus that seems to be appearing is that most manufacturers want their car names to sound feminine, or it may be because of the language of origin (e.g. Italian) where most words tend to end with a vowel.

Do you prefer your car name to sound feminine? Would you subconsciously prefer to buy a car with a name ending in a vowel rather than a consonant?

Originally Posted by SilentEngine

Depending on the language of origin, there may be some pattern

e.g: fiat cars end in vowel

Originally Posted by RajaTaurus

...names ending with A, E, I and sometimes O are more of feminine and those cars names ending with vowels are supposed to be feminine - cozy, comfortable, utility-oriented, status symbol.
Those ending with consonants are generally Masculine and those cars ending with consonants are generally aggressive sports utility and with a rough roader / off roader image.
Again, this doesn't fit to ALL brands, some wanted to be an exception and they reversed this logic.

Now check back the names and the above logic... Does it make some sense..???

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I suspect that in many civilisations female names tend to end in Vowels.

Originally Posted by sammyboy

lol, you guys are mad. Seriously, SS that was one wild analysis.

By the way, all guys who have listed cars in this er..analysis have handles starting with "S"
SS-Traveller
Sunil8089
Superleggera
Silent Engine

Anekho is the only odd one out with a nick starting with an A

Oh Jeez, I am an "S" too
I love this place

In the English dictionary, the credit for the maximum number of words beginning with a particular letter goes to the letter 'S'.

[suman]

Methinks this thread should be in Shifting Gears