Saturday, January 22, 2005

Carlos Osorio/ Associated Press The Ford Syn(us) is shown at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The auto show provides a fascinating catalog of vehicle names -- some snappy and attractive, others hard to comprehend or even pronounce.

Auto show brings out best and worst in vehicle names

By Sarah Karush / Associated Press

What's in a name? How names are given: Marketing experts say names can help or hurt vehicles. At Ford, employees brainstorm options and then test their favorites with consumers. Sometimes first choices don't work out because of trademark conflicts. Weird names: The weirdest names are found on concept vehicles, such as the Ford Syn(us) and GM's Sequel. Among production vehicles, examples include the Subaru B9 Tribeca and the Volkswagen Touareg. Best name: The Ford Mustang ranked the highest in focus groups by CNW Marketing Research. Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

DETROIT -- For some auto show visitors, it may be a disappointment that Ford's futuristic-looking Syn(us) won't be going on sale any time soon. Others may be relieved to know that if it ever does, it will likely be under a different name.

The North American International Auto Show is an opportunity to peruse the newest models and get a sneak preview at what the future may hold. It also provides a fascinating catalog of vehicle names -- some snappy and attractive, others hard to comprehend or even pronounce.

Among the notable names at this year's show are the Lincoln Zephyr, the Honda Ridgeline, the Subaru B9 Tribeca and the Dodge Charger, a revival of a classic nameplate.

The Syn(us) is probably the most unusual. But don't judge Ford too harshly for it: Because it's a concept car, the designers just gave it the name they wanted without the help of focus groups or marketing experts, said Elena Ford, director of North American product marketing at Ford Motor Co.

"It would be challenging to market a name like Syn(us), to be honest," she said.

The name -- pronounced "Sin U-S," not "sinus" -- stands for "synthesis" and "urban sanctuary," said J Mays, Ford's vice president for design.

Another hot concept vehicle unveiled at the show last week is GM's Sequel, a car powered by a hydrogen fuel cell that doesn't sacrifice performance for efficiency.

"It's the sequel to the first 100 years of the automotive industry," said GM spokeswoman Renee McClelland. But she conceded that she, too, wondered when the sequel is ever better than the original.

When automakers give names to actual production vehicles, the standards tend to be higher. That's a good thing, since a name has the power to help or hurt a vehicle, said Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research in Bandon, Ore.

Spinella recalled one particularly bad name from history: the Fairlady, as Nissan Motor Co.'s Datsun Z sports car was originally called. The name, inspired by the musical "My Fair Lady," was changed for the U.S. market when the company realized it "wasn't going to play real well with the male-dominated audience they were looking for for a sports car" in the 1970s, Spinella said.

One new name that will make it to dealerships is the Ford Fusion. The mid-size car, unveiled at the auto show last week, is something of a fusion of the smaller Focus and the bigger Five Hundred.

"Fusion is all about coming together. The Fusion vehicle has come together and fits nicely in a niche we haven't been in in a while," Elena Ford said.

But Fusion wasn't the company's first choice for the vehicle's name. Ford originally wanted to call it the Futura, but a federal court ruled that auto parts retail chain Pep Boys owned the rights to that name. Pep Boys has used "Futura" on some of its tires.

Avoiding such issues is the main advantage of using letter and number combinations -- a practice favored by luxury brands such as Cadillac, which just unveiled the STS-V. But such names are confusing and consumers have a hard time remembering what vehicles they stand for, Spinella said.

In recent focus groups conducted by CNW, the Ford Mustang scored the highest of any name. But Ford also had one of the weaker monikers -- the Freestar minivan.

The study gave the lowest score to the Volkswagen Touareg, Spinella said.

"People had absolutely no clue what it was," he said. "They hated it, couldn't say it right, didn't even want to know what it was."

The name, shared by a nomadic people who live in the Sahara Desert, is apt for a rugged vehicle that can handle extreme terrain, said Volkswagen spokesman Tony Fouladpour.

Though it can be hard to pronounce, "it hasn't hurt us from a recognition standpoint that we know of," he said.