Christening Cars

Detroit fusses over nameplates

To ballyhoo the two-seater sports car they will introduce this month, Pontiac executives summoned the press to a sneak preview in a cavernous auto plant. At the climax of the meeting, officials did not show off the car. Instead, they unfurled a banner displaying the result of their hard work. FIERO, it said, revealing the auto's name, which is Italian for "proud." It was no small disclosure. Detroit carmakers spend millions of dollars each year dreaming up prospective auto names, and they risk much more when they finally choose one.

To avoid backfires like 1958's lame Edsel, named after Henry Ford II's father, or the Studebaker Dictator, a model introduced in 1927 but discontinued in 1936 as jackboots began marching across Europe, car manufacturers today are careful and scientific in their selections. Ford polled 600 consumers in shopping malls to help choose Tempo and Topaz to evoke the right image for its new compact models. The company rejected nominees like Coventry, Serval and Majestic. NameLab, a San Francisco firm, employed a computer to help christen Nissan's new Sentra. The coined word derives from sentry, which implies protection, and central, which suggests moderation.

What's in a good name? "It ought to create a surge of satisfaction in the owner when he hears it spoken," says Thomas Moulson, a marketing-research manager at Ford. Still, the definition is elusive. Birds of prey, even imaginary ones, have been big successes (Thunderbird, Eagle, Skyhawk), as have weapons (Cutlass, Le Sabre, Javelin, Dart). American cars generally have more aggressive names than European models, which often wear numbers (3201, R-18), and domestic Japanese autos, which often have docile names (Fairlady, Bluebird, Sunny).

Hidden traps can exist for name makers. When Chevrolet marketed its Nova in Puerto Rico, the company discovered that the car's name can be read no va, which translates as "does not go." Chevrolet also found out that many American Indians refused to buy the Apache pickup truck because that tribe had been their traditional enemy. And fundamentalist Christians condemned the Dodge Demon. A few of the pitfalls are obvious. Royalty, for example, sometimes can be a profitable quality to evoke (Monarch, Grand Marquis, Crown Victoria), but there will probably never be an automobile called the Chevy Shah. - This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.