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June 8, 2009

Amarok Ute: Will VW's New Vehicle Name Make it to the Streets in the U.S.?

The new Amarok "ute" naming coming out of Volkswagon both intrigues and puzzles me.

Ute, by the way, is short for "utility vehicle."

This particular vehicle is kind of a hybrid pick-up truck and is set to be sold everywhere in the world except the U.S.

However, VW has registered the trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, leading some to suspect that we may see the "ute" on streets close to home pretty soon.

The irony in the name is that Amarok means "wolf" in the Inuit language, and since the Inuit are Native Americans who hail from the upper 48, Alaska and Canada, they will not be able to drive one, because the Amarok will probably not be sold in these places, at least right away.

One VW CEO said, "This name fits to a tee the characteristics of our utility, which will set new standards in its class. We took great care selecting this name, which can be used globally. The Amarok is meant to invoke positive associations in all relevant international markets and make a more convincing argument than its established competitor's right from the start."

VW calls the division that makes these vehicles in Germany "Nutzfahrzeuge," meaning "use vehicles" and thus the "ute," or "utility," moniker that may or may not be useful to the product naming.

This moves the naming scheme for VW even further away from the Golfs, Sciroccos, and Corrados of years past and toward a much more esoteric naming nomenclature.

Their Toureg is named after a nomadic tribe in the Sahara (where you can't buy VWs, nomads generally walk anyway) and their Tiguan is an amalgamation of "Tiger and Lizard" that was put in place thanks in part to the enthusiasm of AutoBahn readers, but quickly was named one of the 10 worst car names ever by at least one blogger.

Nonetheless, VW had better be very careful about referring to their new vehicle as a "ute" if they do come to our shores, not least because another North American tribe, called the Ute Tribe, tend to be very protective of their name, as the University of Utah found out when they tried to name their sports team the "Running Utes."

Technorati Tags: Amarok, VW ute, VW Naming, SUV Naming, Automotive Naming

Posted by William Lozito at June 8, 2009 11:01 AM
Posted to Automotive | Brand Naming | Branding | Industry | Linguistics | Marketing | Naming | Naming Rights | Product Naming | Trademarking

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