Following is part of an article that appeared in today's Charleston WV Gazette/Mail. It is written by their humor columnist.
July 06, 2003
Rick Steelhammer
What's in a name?
If you're an automaker, millions of dollars and thousands of hours.
The name of a new model car, truck or sport-utility vehicle can make or break a new vehicle that has taken years to design, develop and bring to market......
A new name can also breathe new life into an old model.
General Motors is playing just such a name game in an attempt to lure younger, more affluent buyers to a redesigned fleet of vehicles with older, poorer names.
For instance GM's venerable economy car, the Chevrolet Cavalier, is being renamed the Cobalt, which, to me, sounds a bit more like radiation therapy than basic transportation. The S10 truck is trading its drab, alpha-numeric identity for a macho, geographical one, with a switch this fall to the Colorado.
Other GM car model names on the way out are the Grand Am, Park Avenue, Century, Tracker, Seville and Sonoma. Ford is no longer bullish on the name Taurus for its midsize sedan, and plans to replace it with Futura, a name from long ago in the carmaker's past.
Since some of the best and brightest minds in the ad industry have spent considerable time and energy searching for the ultimate car name, some of their selections have been surprisingly bad.
Among my least favorite motor vehicles names are the Ford Probe, which sounds like the type of examination a compact-car driver could expect to receive if abducted by aliens. Then there's the now-discontinued Ford Aspire, which never fulfilled its dream of becoming a real car some day, and the Chevy Citation, a vehicle that sounds more like a speeding ticket than an economy car. The Plymouth Expresso, which cashes in on the common misspelling of a high-octane coffee drink, is also on my do-not-resuscitate list.
To me, the name of the relatively new GM sport-utility pickup, the Avalanche, conjures up images of out-of-control speed, damaging collisions, and the likelihood of going downhill way too fast. But, if it proves successful, there are sure to be imitators, perhaps a Mazda Mudslide or a Toyota Tsunami.
Buick plans to add a new SUV named the Rainier to its lineup this fall. Maybe they'll add a sporty version with more power and a removable roof and call it the St. Helens.
...........
July 06, 2003
Rick Steelhammer
What's in a name?
If you're an automaker, millions of dollars and thousands of hours.
The name of a new model car, truck or sport-utility vehicle can make or break a new vehicle that has taken years to design, develop and bring to market......
A new name can also breathe new life into an old model.
General Motors is playing just such a name game in an attempt to lure younger, more affluent buyers to a redesigned fleet of vehicles with older, poorer names.
For instance GM's venerable economy car, the Chevrolet Cavalier, is being renamed the Cobalt, which, to me, sounds a bit more like radiation therapy than basic transportation. The S10 truck is trading its drab, alpha-numeric identity for a macho, geographical one, with a switch this fall to the Colorado.
Other GM car model names on the way out are the Grand Am, Park Avenue, Century, Tracker, Seville and Sonoma. Ford is no longer bullish on the name Taurus for its midsize sedan, and plans to replace it with Futura, a name from long ago in the carmaker's past.
Since some of the best and brightest minds in the ad industry have spent considerable time and energy searching for the ultimate car name, some of their selections have been surprisingly bad.
Among my least favorite motor vehicles names are the Ford Probe, which sounds like the type of examination a compact-car driver could expect to receive if abducted by aliens. Then there's the now-discontinued Ford Aspire, which never fulfilled its dream of becoming a real car some day, and the Chevy Citation, a vehicle that sounds more like a speeding ticket than an economy car. The Plymouth Expresso, which cashes in on the common misspelling of a high-octane coffee drink, is also on my do-not-resuscitate list.
To me, the name of the relatively new GM sport-utility pickup, the Avalanche, conjures up images of out-of-control speed, damaging collisions, and the likelihood of going downhill way too fast. But, if it proves successful, there are sure to be imitators, perhaps a Mazda Mudslide or a Toyota Tsunami.
Buick plans to add a new SUV named the Rainier to its lineup this fall. Maybe they'll add a sporty version with more power and a removable roof and call it the St. Helens.
...........
