Volkswagen – ‘The people’s car’
A world-famous brand in automotive engineering, German manufacturer Volkswagen arrived in the UK in 1952 with the first two Volkswagen Mark 1s, or Beetles (the nickname crept into the vernacular as a result of its appearance), sold in the UK that year.
The brand’s name came from the German for ‘people’ (Volks-) and ‘car’ (-wagen) – put it together and you get the people’s car.
Volkswagen also whipped up the winds of change in automobile naming culture when they began to name their cars after various wind systems around the world. Here are some examples, and they’re off the Beaufort Scale in their inventiveness:
VW Golf
Golf isn’t to do with clubs, bunkers and the 18th hole. Actually, it’s the German word for the Gulf Stream. And the Golf certainly got a warm reception – since its launch in 1974, over 30 million models of this popular hatchback have been sold.
Polo
An award-winning supermini that’s become synonymous with the German car maker, the Polo name refers not to the lawn sport, but to cold polar winds.
Scirocco
The Scirocco has a luxurious cabin that makes settling in, even for those long motorway drives, a real pleasure. For this reason, it’s aptly named; the Scirocco is an influential warm wind that emanates from the Sahara, bringing scorching temperatures to Southern Europe in summer, but a balmy glow in winter (sometimes carrying with it that red sandy deposit, like the layer that dusted our cars in Spring 2018).
Honourable mention: the Volkswagen Touareg is a bold seven-seater, designed to carry a larger number of passengers, and with an impressive 810-litre boot, it still has room for a mountain of luggage, or for taking the family pet on its woodland walk. And taking its name from the convoys of Northwest Africa, it’s an SUV ready to tackle even the trickiest trails.
Find our Volkswagen range here
Volvo: Scandinavian build, Latin names
As the Swedish company originally made ball bearings, ‘Volvo’ means ‘I roll’ – from the Latin verb, volvere. When the company’s manufacturing switched to cars, they kept the name, and have been on a roll for more than a century. Volvo is known for including Nordic style touches throughout its range, including super-cool Thor’s Hammer headlights, while its 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating is the envy of the global car industry.
Find out more about our Volvo range here
Home SEAT home
SEAT leads the way in Spanish car manufacturing and there are a plenty of subtle references to Spain in its design and naming system. SEAT’s angled crest badge is the shape of the company’s home city Barcelona’s main road, the Avinguda Diagonal, and SEAT models pay homage to various locations in the country. Here are just a few of our favourites
Ateca
This fresh and stylish SUV is relatively new on the scene, but its name inspiration could hardly be older. Named after a small town in the Zaragoza province, even the Moors that arrived over 1,200 years ago referred to this small settlement as ‘ancient’.
Arona
Almost a pocket version of the Ateca, this car is named after a small town in the sun-kissed island of Tenerife in the Canaries.
Toledo
This super sturdy car has ticked all the boxes for private hire drivers for almost three decades, ever since the Mk1 arrived in 1991. Now in its fourth incarnation, it’s still a stalwart model which gets its name from the famous Spanish city.
Alhambra
This seven-seater vehicle is named after the palatial fortress in Granada in southern Spain’s region of Andalusia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Like its namesake structure, this multi-person vehicle is impressive.
Is the thought of owning a SEAT giving you wanderlust? Find our range here.
ŠKODA’s northern powerhouses
ŠKODA has a range of cars with generic names such as the Citigo, or the larger, business-like Superb, but with its SUV range they’re really letting their imaginations fly…
Karoq
The naming of this compact SUV came about after ŠKODA apparently consulted the residents of Kodiak Island, Alaska, and is a combination of two indigenous tribes’ words for ‘car’ and ‘arrow’, which feature on the ŠKODA logo.
Kodiaq
This power-packed SUV, peaking at 239 bhp on its sporty vRS (Victory Racing Sport) trim, gets its exotic name from the species of bear, the Kodiak (also the Alaskan brown bear). It’s powerful, intelligent and agile, so it’s easy to see where ŠKODA were going when they named their jewel-in-the-crown SUV.
Want to feel the roar? Czech out the ŠKODA range.
Toyota, where cars are king
Founded in 1937, Toyota’s reign spans more than 80 years. Selling more than ten million vehicles globally in 2017, Toyota’s car-naming culture has made perfect sense, with a regal feel running through its range.
Toyota Corolla
The iconic Corolla’s name stems from the botanical term for the ring of petals around a flower, derived from the Latin word meaning ‘little crown’.
Meanwhile, the Toyota Camry, a top-selling car in the United States, gets its name from the Japanese word ‘kanmuri’, meaning ‘crown’, continuing the thread of monarchical monikers.
Toyota Prius
And in a departure from the Japanese manufacturer’s regal roll call, the Prius, released in 1997, gets its name from the Latin ‘prior’ or ‘previous’, a nod to its maker’s industry-leading move to introduce mainstream hybrid technology.
To learn more about the Toyota range, click here.
Jeep, Jeep! Coming through!
The word ‘Jeep’ was coined in the 1940s, when American vehicles marked G.P. (for ‘general purpose’ or ‘governmental purpose’) began to be referred to as ‘Jeeps’. Since then, the manufacturer has enjoyed phenomenal success with its boxy all-terrain vehicles, such as the Wrangler, Grand Cherokee (above) and Renegade, becoming a familiar sight in the UK and North America.
Want to know more? Read about the history of the Jeep Wrangler.
Alfa Romeo: homage to Italia
From Italy’s famous car manufacturing heartlands of Milan and Turin, Alfa Romeo is well known as a car brand with finesse, and its owners were determined to see an Italian theme reflected in the names of the cars they produced.
Alfa Romeo Giulia
Giulia means ‘youthful’ in Italian, and this powerhouse saloon proves to be the car for the modern age with its dynamic-looking aesthetic and high-performing engines, such as the 2.9-litre V6.
Alfa Romeo Stelvio
Named after an Italian mountain pass, the Stelvio is named to reflect its versatility and its ability to navigate tricky, windy roads (like the Alps or the Dolomites) with consummate ease.
Interestingly, several models feature a quadrifoglio logo – a four-leaf clover – which, despite its associations with Ireland, is a widespread symbol of fortune and has adorned Alfa Romeos for almost a hundred years.
Find an Alfa Romeo here.
Ford: an American tradition
Ford’s American heritage is reflected in the names of some of its most recognisable models.
Ford Mustang
While you might think this car is named after the wild horses that roam the plains of North America – and the Mustang is certainly born to run, with the GT line’s 5.0-litre engine producing an immense 450 bhp – its actual namesake is the American-made P51 Mustang fighter plane.
Ford Taurus
This hatchback/saloon has seen its popularity shift from North America to Asia during the past decade, but its name is Greek for ‘bull’, as echoed in the Zodiac sign.
Find our Ford range here
