The name game

The first day at the Chicago auto show passed with a series of low-key announcements about product updates and expected new models. There really wasn't a true breakthrough vehicle to wow the jaded media crowd. Flipping through my notebook… The all-new Toyota Highlander sounds quite impressive. The Saturn Vue range expands predictably with the Green Line and Red Line. The new Volkswagen R32 boasts refinement, but it will be a good 50-hp shy the rally-bred Japanese competition. The Pontiac G8 sounds like a classic American car, one that should have been imported from Australia years ago instead of the GTO. So what is the news of the day? Names.

As Jim Travers posted previously, FoMoCo resurrected the Taurus and Sable names for the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Sable. Now that the previous-generation Taurus and Sable have been retired, their brand recognition can be slathered on the newer, more-enticing cars that have struggled to succeed. Wrestling through this concept, I continue to be haunted by the press event itself, where Ford Group Vice President, Marketing, Sales and Service Cisco Codina spoke convincingly about the "1.9 million Sable customers who have been waiting for this car" as he introduced these sedans as if they were all-new.

Really? Have almost two million Sable owners sauntered into dealers, entranced by the Montego, only to walk away disappointed when they saw the badge on the trunk?

Ford is not alone with the challenges in creating and marketing a name. Looking around the show, one has to wonder how the Pontiac G8 will be received. The G6 is offered in four- and six-cylinder forms. Similarly, the G8 will be available in V6 and V8 configurations. So, the 8 means… it is bigger than the G6. No connection to the powerplants, as is often the case with the latter half of the alphanumeric amalgamations that have replaced simple nouns on the back of many modern cars. As the G8 is readied to compete against the Dodge Charger, one can't help but wonder how "LeMans" or "Tempest" would look on the decklid.

The same GM stage was used earlier to unveil the Saturn Astra. The name neatly falls in line with Saturn's short, A-word conventions. GM expects this supposed import fighter will benefit from its direct Opel lineage. Retaining the name on this rebadged machine is expected to carry some of the respect from Europe stateside when it goes on sale here. It may well do that. As an auto enthusiast, I can't help but see how the "different kind of car company" developed mediocre products since its inception, then overnight it is transformed with rebadged Opel products. It is probably best that Saturn cheats, but it hardly seems fair.

At least Cadillac had the good taste to change the Chevrolet Cavalier model designation to Cimarron when it dressed up that compact in the early 1980s. More recently, Cadillac called its version of the Opel Omega, Catera. Hmm… Perhaps the lesson here is that there is no clear, hard-fast rule for naming. When in doubt, focus group it!

Ultimately, it is the product that gives a name meaning. But in the spirit of saving marketing dollars on establishing new monikers, will the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan will be redubbed Tempo and Topaz at the New York auto show? Anything is possible. The Lincoln edition of this CR-recommended trio has had two names, so far.

--Jeff Bartlett