[muni]

Yesterday, I was watching a downloaded episode of Top Gear in which, our infamous Jeremy C and his folks
were poking fun at the manufacturers for giving funny names to the Cars displayed at the Tokyo Motor Show 2005.
For example: Suzuki's 'MOM'S PERSONAL WAGON' (It's a funny name indeed!)


The current picture:
I know there are a lot of cars with beautiful, catchy and ugly names given to them by the manufacturers and
we loathe and love them for the names they have.

The manufacturers have been making and naming Cars/bikes for 100(+xx/-xx) years or so and i think there
needs to be some convention that needs to be followed which is common across the whole world.

Can a normal Auto entusiast recall the names of cars manufactured by Nissan, Toyota or a mercedes that
were manufactured in the 60's and 70's or 80's?I dont think that it is possible at all.

The problem lies in the fact that the names are used by different manufaturers for different models and
this keeps on repeating. Also the manufacturer changes the name of the same car when it is introduced
in different countries.

Though,the car manufacturers may be having some kind of naming convention to name their cars, I feel
all in all it is a kind of a mess and there should be some common regulatory mechanism whereby..

1) Name for a particular Car registered by a particular manufacturer cannot be used by another manufacturer.
2) Name should remain the same globally to avoid any confusion.
3) There should be a mechanism to identify the cars from the sports cars, the SUVS etc, the Engine capacity and
some critical specs by the names itself.


I know that this would mean that we dont get interesting names and may kill some of the charm associated
with the car but the idea is to identify and remember a car name manufacturer more easily without having to
become an enthusiast.

A rough example being a car name should read like Ford fusion1.3LPH05 where Fusion=name

1.3L= engine capacity in Ltrs(this can vary)
P= Petrol. Can be (Petrol/diesel/hybrid/etc)
H= hatchback. Can be ( hatchback/sedan/estate/sportscar etc)
05=The year it was launched. This keeps the name standard and only the year can be changed.

This would effectively mean that the manufacturers dont have to play around with the names and complicating it for us to remember.


Does it make any sense to you..

[cnu]

Originally Posted by muni

1) Name for a particular Car registered by a particular manufacturer cannot be used by another manufacturer.

We do have this rule but it is specific to a country.

Originally Posted by muni

2) Name should remain the same globally to avoid any confusion.

Most of the manufacturers do keep the name same across countries. For eg, Accord, Camry.

Originally Posted by muni

3) There should be a mechanism to identify the cars from the sports cars, the SUVS etc, the Engine capacity and
some critical specs by the names itself.

I dont think this is a practical approach. Who will remember names with all those details ? and say if people just use the name of car to address the car without all those details then why do you want all those details in the name ? These are all available on the paper anyway.

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by cnu

I dont think this is a practical approach... say if people just use the name of car to address the car...

Exactly. and more.

For. e.g In Trivandrum, the Mahindra PIK-UP jeep is popularly called inside its user community as "Vaal Maakri". Mind you, its user community is made of drivers, masons, bricklayers, head-load workers etc.

In Malayalam, Vaal Maakri means tadpole...

[muni]

Originally Posted by cnu

We do have this rule but it is specific to a country.


Most of the manufacturers do keep the name same across countries. For eg, Accord, Camry.


I dont think this is a practical approach. Who will remember names with all those details ? and say if people just use the name of car to address the car without all those details then why do you want all those details in the name ? These are all available on the paper anyway.

The Swift is the same name for Esteem sold worldwide( and Hatch back in Canada) before the new launch in India/other countries if am not mistaken. Also the idea was to check the usage of some repetitive/ odd names through a regulatory mechanism. After 10 years if someone were to recollect Swift, which one would come to the mind and from which country??

One manufacturer would be using a name used by another manufactuerer if it were made country specific and that sure is a drawback.

Make it global is my point.

We already have details put on the car like say Octavia 1.9tdi. We refer to them as Octavias only in general but the details i mentioned need to be put so that we look at a car and we should know the critical specs without having to ask somebody or refer the net to get the details. The car woud read Esteem 1.9TDS05( 1.9 litre turbo diesel sedan 2005 model) if it were to follow some rule.

Referring to it with some local name is well and fine but the common release should be global.


Just an Idea though

[Abhay]

Naming convention for cars ?

Cars arent chemical compounds... Many names are funny, stupid but soem are exotic, relevant and damn nice but they do evoke emotion in your hearts (good or bad feelings hehe)

How does it make a difference if you are me can't remember a car made in 60s ?
If that car really means something to us we will remember it anyway.

Fusion1.6LPH05 or whatever sounds weird !
Its like if I ask you tomorrow to also write your b'day next to your last name since your last name is shared by so many !

[muni]

Originally Posted by Abhay

Naming convention for cars ?

Cars arent chemical compounds... Many names are funny, stupid but soem are exotic, relevant and damn nice but they do evoke emotion in your hearts (good or bad feelings hehe)

How does it make a difference if you are me can't remember a car made in 60s ?
If that car really means something to us we will remember it anyway.

Fusion1.6LPH05 or whatever sounds weird !
Its like if I ask you tomorrow to also write your b'day next to your last name since your last name is shared by so many !

Haha.. Fusion1.6LPH05 does sound weird and like a chemical compound

We have 2 things here one having a common name and secondly having more details to the car. Well The common name can be made a rule and the details one can be a bit tricky.

I know cars are not chemical compounds and it would look weird if it would read like Fusion1.6LPH05. I want these details to be put somewhere on the car with small fonts without it spoiling the looks of the car.

Am sure when you land in a foreign country, you would see a lot of cars from diff manufacurers parked and am sure you would only be able to get the name of manufacturer and the car name only when you see them. Wouldnt it be nice if these details are also printed somewhere on the car itself. It would help you identify, appreciate and remember the car better.

On the flipside if these details were there, it would help ppl to pick the cars they would wanna rob/steal by seing the critical specs

[Shan2nu]

Most of the manufacturers do keep the name same across countries. For eg, Accord, Camry.

No they don't. The american Accord in japan is called the Inspire. The European Accord in the US is called the TSX.

Shan2nu

[cnu]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

The american Accord in japan is called the Inspire. The European Accord in the US is called the TSX.

The models may be different in each of the countries but you have a car with the same name in all the countries. We have both Accord and Inspire in Japan though Inspire is a form of American Accord. And though European Accord is introduced in the US as TSX, you still have the American Accord there.

http://www.autozine.org/html/Honda/Accord.html

What I mean is you cannot have the same model with the same name in all the countries. You any way need to modify the model as per the local conditions of each country.

[Shan2nu]

The models may be different in each of the countries but you have a car with the same name in all the countries. We have both Accord and Inspire in Japan though Inspire is a form of American Accord. And though European Accord is introduced in the US as TSX, you still have the American Accord there.

So, the Accord isn't really a global car, it's a global name.

Shan2nu

[adya33]

Originally Posted by muni

1) Name for a particular Car registered by a particular manufacturer cannot be used by another manufacturer.
2) Name should remain the same globally to avoid any confusion.
3) There should be a mechanism to identify the cars from the sports cars, the SUVS etc, the Engine capacity and
some critical specs by the names itself.


A rough example being a car name should read like Ford fusion1.3LPH05 where Fusion=name

1.3L= engine capacity in Ltrs(this can vary)
P= Petrol. Can be (Petrol/diesel/hybrid/etc)
H= hatchback. Can be ( hatchback/sedan/estate/sportscar etc)
05=The year it was launched. This keeps the name standard and only the year can be changed.

This would effectively mean that the manufacturers dont have to play around with the names and complicating it for us to remember.


Does it make any sense to you..

nope it doesn't makes sence at all

1. as someone said it country specific & manufaturers have to change name since someone else has already taken that name

2. Doing it now will mean scratching everything & starting off again
not practical

3. Manufaturers don't want to give out such specific details to customer
MUL will not b very keen on selling 800 as Maruti 800 PH1985
nope manufaturers won't do it
besides it will get more confusing to remember names
as for speerating petrol from diesel most manufaturers are already doing that
e.g. Diesel Indica variants start with D DLS, DLG, DLX etc which petrol ones with L LSi, LGi etc

[muni]

Originally Posted by adya33

nope it doesn't makes sence at all

1. as someone said it country specific & manufaturers have to change name since someone else has already taken that name

2. Doing it now will mean scratching everything & starting off again
not practical

3. Manufaturers don't want to give out such specific details to customer
MUL will not b very keen on selling 800 as Maruti 800 PH1985
nope manufaturers won't do it
besides it will get more confusing to remember names
as for speerating petrol from diesel most manufaturers are already doing that
e.g. Diesel Indica variants start with D DLS, DLG, DLX etc which petrol ones with L LSi, LGi etc

I have mentioned in my later posts that You dont have to put it alongside the name as it spoils the looks and does look like a chemical compound. Mention it small fonts in some insignificant place for someone to recognise. I have also mentioned that it may not be practical also.

Suzuki Esteem was sold as a SWIFT before it was launched in India in 90's( was it beforethat?) and i dont recollect any car name with SWIFT existing in India offered by other manufacturers.

Now, most of the manufacturers retain the same name but I want that to be a standard. That is it.

Assuming Hindustan motors had a car named as Accord in India and does that mean that Honda should not use the same name when it is released in India. Am not sure about this but heard that the old Honda City sold here was a Honda Civic sold else where.

[sbasak]

The railway locomotives are named in simlar way - WDM3A, WAP4 etc.

It's a problem that various models are sold under different names thruout the world.

India's Alto VX model is currently selling as Alto in UK.
Before 2002 or so, India's Zen was known as "Alto GL" in UK.

Suzuki Swift in Europe = looks like same as Esteem minus boot (till 2005). Now Swift is same as India's new Swift.

Suzuki's Jimny was sold to India as Gypsy.

Nissan continues to use "Micra" though before 2003 and after 2003 Micras look completely different.

[adya33]

Assuming Hindustan motors had a car named as Accord in India and does that mean that Honda should not use the same name when it is released in India

yes

Now, most of the manufacturers retain the same name but I want that to be a standard. That is it.

sorry if it sounds rude but it is not going to happen any time soon

[cnu]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

So, the Accord isn't really a global car, it's a global name.

Right, and its absolutely impractical to have a global car since the local conditions specific to a country (like fuel quality, roads, rules etc) are not the same across countries.

Also, in many cases, manufactures look for a name that would be well accepted and suited for a specific country. For eg, as someone has pointed out Jimny would not have been liked by many instead of Gypsy. Assume Tata launching Indica/Indigo in US. Would anyone in US like those names ?

[GTO]

A name can mean different things in different countries. Thats why a few smart manufacturers add a number e.g. BMW 540, Mercedes C220 and so on.

GTO