December 21, 2009
SAAB Car Naming and Branding Up in the Air
The saga around the SAAB brand name is pretty sad. It looks like the
company is history, the car is history, and perhaps only the name will
remain to be sold to the highest bidder.
The blogosphere is full of bitterness about this, with one engineer commenting 'This is as if a bad guy [GM, current owners of SAAB] watched someone die and then snatched his ID card to sell it.' Ouch.
There are tributes galore about the little car - an offshoot of the airplane industry - while a last ditch effort is made by Dutch luxury car maker Spyker to acquire the name from GM. Right now, GM is "winding down" the brand name.
But all is not lost, sort of. Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings Ltd. (BAIC) has the technology for two SAAB models and might - might -make an offer for the name.
I feel this would be a real coup. The SAAB name has so much equity that if the cars are good enough, people would be prepared to buy them from Chinese sellers. Don't believe me? Just look at Land Rover, which was owned at one point by German automaker BMW and then Ford and now Indian car giant TATA.
Land Rover is to English car making as, well SAAB is to Sweden. Yet buyers keep buying Landys, no matter who builds them.
I would hate to see the SAAB brand name die and do hope that somebody acquires it. Soon. A Chinese SAAB? Well, why not?
Technorati Tags: General Motors, SAAB, BMW, Ford, Tata, Automobile Brand Name
Posted by William Lozito at 9:09 AM| Comments (0)
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December 18, 2009
Bad Car Naming and Branding Alive and Well in 2009
Every year the worst car names are discussed across the Internet and this year has a bumper crop. Amanda Wegerzyn at Cars.com weighs in with a hilarious, brutal post that trashes not only the entire Lincoln lineup ("What's the difference between the MKZ, MKX and MKS? Gimme a second to look it up because I honestly can't remember which is which.") as well as the Toyota Yaris for being "ridiculous and nonsensical."
She also skewers the Subaru B9 Tribeca: "Here we've got a family crossover named after a fashionable neighborhood in lower Manhattan and... a World War II bomber?"
Her lowest blow is saved for the Ford Aspire: "When Ford slapped the Aspire name on the back of this car, they were basically saying: 'Yeah, even our car knows you wish you were driving something cooler.'"
Go Retro takes a longer look back in time, hammering the Dodge Diplomat ("A misguided advertising attempt to make a soccer mom feel like she's royalty or something.") as well as the utterly un-PC MG Midget ("saying that you drive a Midget just sounds weird.")
She also hammers the Ford Probe, as does nearly every other car blogger ("I don't know about you, but anything that sounds like something that would be inserted into any of my bodily orifices during a medical examination or procedure is definitely a turnoff to me.")
Bill Classman reminds us of some classic horrible names, among them the Rolls Royce Mist (in German this means, um, well, read the blog), the Opel Ascona (read the blog) and the ill fated Honda Fitta (ditto).
But the most hilarious post comes from Jalopnik, who looks at some historically awful names (the
1920s era Studebaker Dictator was a pretty bad one), as well as some current bad naming choices, most of which come from Asia.
The "Isuzu Mysterious Utility Wizard" is pretty awful, as is the "Toyota Estima Lucida G Luxury Joyful Canopy."
But the "Nissan Homy Super Long" really takes the cake.
Technorati Tags: Lincoln MKZ MKX MKS, Subaru B9 Tribeca, Ford Aspire, Dodge Diplomat, Ford Probe, Rolls Royce Mist, Opel Ascona, Honda Fitta, Studebaker Dictator, Isuzu Mysterious Utility Wizard, Toyota Estima Lucida G Luxury Joyful Canopy, Nissan Homy Super Long
Posted by William Lozito at 10:48 AM| Comments (0)
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December 3, 2009
Will Chrysler Replace the Lancia Brand Name in Europe?
So by 2011 Fiat S.p.A may be replacing their Lancia brand name with the Chrysler brand in Europe.
This is a surprise move that may signal the demise of the 103-year-old brand name. It is also further proof of just how serious Fiat is about making Chrysler a global brand name.
Most Americans are unaware of the very popular Lancia name but it has tremendous equity in Europe. However, it may end up that the Lancia name will only be used in a few markets - like in Belgium and Italy, where the brand hails from.
The other option is to sub-brand the Lancia name under Chrysler on top models, but it seems unlikely that Italian buyers will go for that.
Chas Hallet of Autocar.co.uk puts this interesting relationship nicely when he says, "Both are brands with pretensions of grandeur and both have very little impact outside of their home territories."
Still, there is tremendous equity in the Chrysler brand name and a great deal of affection for the Lancia automobiles. This move would give Chrysler an instant presence in Europe.
Interestingly, the one blog has already created photoshopped imaginary cars that migtht grow out of this union.
The final decision comes at the end of 2010, but I think this is ultimately a good move. If Lancia continues to bring out interesting cars, this could really bolster Chrysler's image.
Technorati Tags: Lancia Brand Name, Chrysler Brand Naming, Lancia Branding, Automotive Branding, Car Brand Names, Car Naming, Car Branding
Posted by William Lozito at 9:47 AM| Comments (0)
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November 30, 2009
Alfa Forced to Drop Milano Naming and Branding After Worker Protests
Alfa Romeo has decided to remove the Milano name from its new 147 model just a few days before the Bologna Motor Show.
The reason? Laid off Alfa workers in Milan feel that the company is being hypocritical by naming the car after a city they have left behind after moving to Turin.
Alfa was founded in Milan and was there for 99 years before this cost cutting move took place thanks to Alfa's parent company, Fiat. In fact, the Milano name was once incorporated into the car's badge.
The new name will probably be Giulietta.
This would be the third Alfa to carry that name and according to The Motor Report "Previous Giulietta models include a sedan and coupe built between 1954 and 1965, and a sedan built between 1977 and 1985."
This name was also one of the names that came after Fiat switched back from alphanumeric naming.
I'm thinking this is enough for them to reconsider using alpha numeric naming.
Technorati Tags: Alfa Romeo, Milano Car, Guilietta, Car Brands, Car Names, Car Brand Naming
Posted by William Lozito at 11:43 AM| Comments (0)
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November 12, 2009
GM Bets Naming of New Buick Regal Will Drive Younger Buyers To Its Doors
It's pretty much been an open secret since last month on the blogosphere that GM is planning on bringing back the Buick Regal.
This brand name revival will essentially be modeled after the Opel Insignia, which has been selling very well in Europe and was in fact the 2009 European Car of the Year - 64,000 of these have also been sold in China over the past year, where Buicks are very well regarded.
The mainstream news has finally broken the story, but notes that this premium brand has traditionally appealed to older buyers (the average age of a Buick buyer is 57 vs 46 for all new vehicle purchases, and five years ago it was 62). However, this new youthful, sporty design is meant to "drive the age down" into the mid 40s.
The Regal nameplate has been on the market for six years and is still one of the names most associated with Buick by consumers. Which explains why they are pushing the brand hard in LA, especially since Buick traditionally sells poorly in age-obsessed California and this is where the image of the brand name might find a lift.
Many people out there think that the Regal name, and indeed the Buick name, is beyond redemption, but its clear why GM is hanging on to both: The Chinese love the Buick and Regal names and the car itself has proven to be a winner overseas.
Buick is betting that name recognition will carry the day in the US. As an automatic win in China, a probable win here in the United States, where the car is clearly geared for the younger buyer, doesn't sound like bad odds.
This appears to be a good branding move simply because there is still a large amount of equity in the Buick Regal name. Time will tell.
Technorati Tags: Regal Naming, Buick Regal, Buick Branding, Name Resurrection, Name Revival, Rebranding
Posted by William Lozito at 9:52 AM| Comments (0)
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November 5, 2009
Chrysler Gets New Brand Identity and Ram Dodges Criticism About Split
So before Chrysler could even release their new logo yesterday, the blogosphere was flooded with reviews of the change.
For one, Motor Authority described it as lovely retrospective of past logos:
The logo, which seems oddly compressed in the vertical axis, is a sort of retro-modern combination of the winged Chrysler logos of the 1990s with a modern typeface and the Chrysler name. It may be yet another visible aspect of the Fiat restructuring and rebranding of Chrysler though the symbol also bears at least a passing resemblance to Aston Martin's famous winged icon.
For those disappointed to see the old logo go, don't get too upset because it seems that the familiar Pentastar will not be wholly retired, living on as the company's corporate identity.
But the new logo hasn't been the only news coming out of Chrysler recently, the Ram brand is also making a big change, divorcing itself from Dodge.
I have written about this before, but now the company's new "My name is Ram" ad campaign is reintroducing the brand to hard core truck lovers.
One executive asks that we think of the relationship between Dodge and Ram as akin to that shared by the iPod, iMac, and iPhone brands with Apple: "They are part of Apple, but also compelling brands on their own." A very nice thought, but also a comparison that Automobile Magazine calls "a reach." I agree.
In fact, there is much anger in the blogosphere about the Ram brand. Pickuptrucks.com gives us "5 Reasons Why It's Wrong To Divorce Ram From Dodge" and number one is "Dodge Ram pickup truck owners say they drive a 'Dodge Ram'" and dropping "Dodge" from the name leaves a "void."
The company is going to push the Ram name and the truck hard, promising "you'll never have trouble recognizing what a big bad Ram looks like."
Maybe so, but some odd combinations just seem to work well together, like a banana split. No one quite knows why, but dessert definitely sounds a lot less exciting when you're just eating a banana.
Good luck Ram, here's hoping the move proves to be a fruitful one.
Technorati Tags: Chrysler Rebranding, Chrysler Logo, Car Logos, Ram Trucks, Dodge Ram
Posted by William Lozito at 8:08 AM| Comments (0)
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November 2, 2009
Global Brand Name in the Dictionary: Nissan Leaf
It's extremely rare these days to have a word in the dictionary that is trademarkable globally.
Congratulations to Nissan for the Leaf brand name, for its first electric car.
To develop a trademarkable brand these days usually means a coined name or combination of words from a language other than English.
Technorati Tags: Nissan, Leaf, Electric Car
Posted by William Lozito at 9:58 AM| Comments (0)
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