What will VW name their new small SUV?

Unbeknownst to us a contest has been going on in Germany to name Volkswagen's new small SUV that's slated to be sold under the Touareg when it goes on sale in Europe next year and eventually in the U.S. VW was apparently displeased with names proposed for the vehicle by its own marketing department and executives were tongue-tied, as well. So they opened it up to the people and asked readers of Autobild, Germany's biggest automotive weekly, to vote for their favorite among five names chosen by the company as candidates. One of the readers who chooses the winning name for the SUV will get one free when it goes on sale.

These are the names they're considering

Nanuk: Eskimo for small polar bear.
Namib: a desert in Namibia.
Rockton: a play on the word "rock" and its strength.
Tiguan: a combination of the words "tiger" and "iguana."
Samun: a hot desert wind that blows in North Africa and some Arabian countries.

Source: AutoBlog

atomicbri - 6/28/2006 12:16:55 PM

+1 Boost

are horrible. WHy such strange names?? Maybe in America we can call it Kangaroo. (Since VW here is going back to rodents and animal names...) Kangaroo would be great since they have pouches to hold their young....kinda like this will have some space to hold humans' young and their cargo! LMAO!

CarFreak - 6/28/2006 12:20:51 PM

+1 Boost

Horrible and why are they copying Maserati with the names of desert winds

dsch_iter - 6/28/2006 1:49:17 PM

+1 Boost

Passat & Sirocco are named after wind, so here are couple names after looking into wikipedia on 'wind'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind

Names for specific winds in certain regions:
Alize, Bora (taken for Jetta), Gliavar, Khazri, Zonda(taken)

ted_in_boston - 6/28/2006 2:05:12 PM

+1 Boost

I'm sure Matt Groening won't mind.

chewy - 6/28/2006 5:30:31 PM

+1 Boost

Rockton is the best oune out of those. None are really good.

ted_in_boston - 6/28/2006 8:46:40 PM

+1 Boost

That just rolls off the toungue...

MercBasher - 6/30/2006 3:21:27 PM

+1 Boost

Since we're suggesting silly animal names - how about the "Beaver". Imagine the conversations in offices and bars across the country:
"have you seen my Beaver"
"let me tell you about my Beaver"
"your Beaver handles well for its size"

etc. etc.