Which Car Company Has The WORST Model Names Across The Board?

When any kind of brand has a line of products, it is generally marketing's job to come up with some good, catchy names that really evoke what the product is about.

Take, for example, the Ford Explorer. Ford made sure that people associated the Explorer with adventure and thrill-seeking fun. Well, my one buddy Kurt who was the owner of two 1990s Explorer would be more likely to coin the Ford product "the Exploder," but that's because of his bad luck.

But that neatly brings us to our topic at hand. Car companies seem to have lost that marketing angle with their names and it seems some marques are coming up with names that make you say "What?"

A couple of models that come to mind: The Volkswagen Touareg and Tiguan. How about the Lincoln MKZ, MKX, MK-whatever else they can add one letter to?

The list goes on; however, we just want to know which manufacturer has the WORST model names across their lineup?


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sdcarguy - 8/9/2011 9:06:23 PM

+3 Boost

Touareg, Routan,Tiguan,Passat. Need I say more?

theoptimisticpessimist - 8/9/2011 9:26:36 PM

+5 Boost

Well the Z4 sDrive 3.5is is prett bad I have to agree with sdcarguy comments its VW.

Fijian - 8/9/2011 10:02:54 PM

+2 Boost

VW has everyone beat:Rabbit,Beetle,Bug,Bus,Scirocco,CC. One was so ugly they called it "The Thing"

iamdabest1 - 8/9/2011 10:32:14 PM

+16 Boost

i dont think anything can get worse than Lincoln. im a car guy and don't know the difference between mkx, mkt, mks, mkz .. just terrible.

veyron1001 - 8/10/2011 12:16:37 AM

+5 Boost

Uh hello Cadillac? By far the worst. At least you can tell most of the VW line up apart.Cadillac is all the same.

LACMAN - 8/11/2011 8:19:22 AM

+2 Boost

CTS = Catera Touring Sedan, SLS = Seville Luxury Sedan, STS = Seville Touring Sedan, DHS = Deville High-Luxury Sedan, DTS = Deville Touring Sedan, ETC = Eldorado Touring Coupe
---
CTS = C-series Touring Sedan
STS = S-series Touring Sedan
SRX = S-series Reconfigurable Crossover
DTS = D-series Touring Sedan
XLR = X-series Luxury Roadster
XTS = X-series Touring Sedan
ESV = Escalade Stretch Vehicle
EXT = Escalade Crossover Truck ('X' short for cross)
---

Since debut of the CTS Coupe and Sport Wagon, under the acronym 'CTS' instead of CTC/CTW (like intended) I can now say that I'm not exactly sure the strategy behind Cadillac's models anymore. I did once upon a time though so don't say Cadillac's models don't make sense just because YOU didn't know what they meant! ;)

BondMI6 - 8/10/2011 12:42:19 AM

+1 Boost

Without a doubt- V-dub.

Excepting of course- the GTI.

In fact all VW's should be called GTI. The Passat would be the GTI XL,
Toureg the GTI SUV, then there's the GTI CC........and the list goes on...

-Bond

Tarzan - 8/10/2011 1:10:25 AM

0 Boost

Nissan has the Murano (which phonetically sounds like the spanish word for pig), and then there is Juke (really?), Cube (duh!), Xtera (from planet X), Leaf (as in fig leaf?), and Infiniti has the QX...what is that?

M35MT - 8/10/2011 2:04:27 PM

+2 Boost

not sure how you can comment on the Qx without including every other luxury brand that uses a letter followed by numbers to represent the displacement of the engine

LACMAN - 8/11/2011 4:32:57 AM

0 Boost

^...and Chrysler was revelant to his post, how?

Willis - 8/10/2011 6:43:11 AM

+1 Boost

Cadillac, Lincoln and Acura.

BLIP - 8/10/2011 7:32:48 AM

+2 Boost

ACURA, because they discarded two ICONIC names for nonsense letters.. Plus they still use those old names every where BUT in the USA.. Legend = RL "Replaced Legend"? and Integra = RSX/TSX , Lincoln second.. I cannot keep straight what Lincoln model people are talking about.. All the "MK's", but at least the cars are different look and appeal from before...

PORSCHE is the bottom of the list.. New Names for New model's and ICONIC name continues..

westy1974 - 8/10/2011 9:26:15 AM

+7 Boost

I'd say it has to be a tie between BMW and Lincoln.

1c3am5 - 8/10/2011 10:44:48 AM

0 Boost

VW: Horrible.

Lincoln: Horrible.

Toyota/Lexus: All names/models chosen by a cyborg.

Cadillac: Dumb alpha-numerics, but at least most meant something at one time, ie. "STS = Seville"

222max - 8/10/2011 10:49:34 AM

+1 Boost

VW's naming is world class stupid. They sound bad, look bad in type.
They sound no better than Ringworm, Wigwaum, Turrok, Click Clack, Ding Dong. Just awful stuff.

jtz7 - 8/10/2011 10:56:25 AM

-1 Boost

Chevy Nova in Spanish.

222max - 8/10/2011 2:50:59 PM

+1 Boost

Well at least the Sonata means something. In music at least.

1c3am5 - 8/10/2011 11:23:04 AM

+1 Boost

Sonata and Elantra are what you get when you use the Korean version of the Toyota supercomputer that gave us Lexus, Venza, Yaris and other nonsense words.

1c3am5 - 8/10/2011 11:25:29 AM

+5 Boost

The Chevy Nova was never sold in Spanish-speaking nations, despite the urban legend. In Mexico it was called the Chevy 200.

jdotking - 8/11/2011 1:21:33 PM

0 Boost

Wrong, the Nova was sold in the US.

1c3am5 - 8/10/2011 11:26:44 AM

+1 Boost

"VW's naming is world class stupid. They sound bad, look bad in type.
They sound no better than Ringworm, Wigwaum, Turrok, Click Clack, Ding Dong. Just awful stuff."

--------------

This made me lol.

hans_gregor - 8/10/2011 11:52:30 AM

+9 Boost

mkx should be named CTRL
mkt should be named ALT
mks should be named DEL
tsx should be named ALTF4

1c3am5 - 8/10/2011 1:34:46 PM

+1 Boost

Couldn't agree more BSBB... Don't forget to "Escape", the shortest of the getaways.

I also think Jeep­­™ does a nice job with the sense of American adventure/heritage.

280SE - 8/10/2011 2:20:57 PM

+4 Boost

Lincoln is the clear winner. Two Reasons.

One, all of their models begin with MK - that is completely redundant. The fact that it isn't until the THIRD letter that you get something unique to the model shows really bad judgement.

Two, they have no continuity over time. The Zephyr became the MKZ. The pickup truck was called the Mk LT and they also have an MKT crossover-- this is pathetic. It is as though there is no long term plan here and the methodology changes every 3 years.

VW names may be quirky, Hyundai and Toyota names may seem computer generated, but nothing compares to the horrendous things going on with Lincoln.

I95SPEEDINGTICKETS - 8/10/2011 7:03:43 PM

-4 Boost

Jeep PATRIOT.

Dodge NITRO

GarysAutoShop - 8/11/2011 9:01:39 AM

0 Boost

Well what to say as a mechanic really like to work on even though any model is there :)