What is it with the VAG group and daft names for their products? From the Sharan Carat to the Bora, what are they thinking? Do they not care how words sound in English?

Skoda doesn't fair much better, in my opinion. 'Octavia' was always a sadistic ostrich in Pipkins, rather than a car. Fabia was a pretty non-descript sort of word, but whe the 'Superb' was launched, it made the Fabia look like a pun (fabby-er?). Where will this route lead to? A Skoda F****ng Marvellous?

I'm not one to be put off by a name, so it's not put me off buying one. But does anyone else thing that VAG 'could do better' (starting with the 'VAG' acronymn...)?

not sure on names... always liked Octavia.. Fabia sounds like L**** but that just sums up the owners...:P as for the Superb.. if they had made it RWD it would have been......

VW has some good names. Phaeton is wicked... but the van thing named after an arsenal player is crap.

Octavia, Fabia and Superb are all names previously used within the Skoda product line up...they seem to be going through a trend of using their old names...

Rob.

so when can i have a rwd estelle coupe then?

By current patterns, about another 50 years...

Or you could buy one of the old ones off E-bay!

Rob.

at least they didn't call any of their cars a skoda w*nker which is pretty much what mitsubishi did with their shogun - originally called pajero which means in spanish 'one practised in the art of self-relief.'

Here is where the names fabia and octavia are from - doesnt look to promising however i think his comment at the very bottom is a nice way of saying learn your naming schemes first

Roman Aristocracy:

Octavia (with a model called - ungrammatically - "Ambiente" - ambiens signified going round bribing the voters: an ideal car for a Blair Babe seeking reelection?). But which Octavia are we to conjure up when we see this Skoda? The dull sister of Octavian (not yet Augustus) whom Mark Antony abandoned to go off with Cleopatra? Or Nero's wife - daughter of the emperor Claudius - whom he kicked to death while expecting his baby? Neither really seems to evoke class.

Fabia: another Skoda. Cicero's sister-in-law was a Vestal Virgin called Fabia. Or there was the Fabia who murdered her husband Fabius Fabricianus, to get off with a young man she fancied. Her son grew up to murder his mother and her lover. Virtue or vice. Take your pick. The Skoda marketing team need some Roman history.

IIRC, Octavia means "eighth-born", and Fabia means "bean grower" or something...

I'm sure most customers wouldn't be overly familiar with Roman history, nor especially care!

Rob.

and Fabia means "bean grower"

Rob.

you sure?

i assumed the "bean flicker" link was something to do with the sexual preference of Fabia owners! Still I have always wanted to be a lesbian:D

Still I have always wanted to be a lesbian:D

Well, you're already half way there!

Rob.

Well' date=' you're already half way there!

Rob.[/quote']Which half, though?

Which car manufacturers exactly don't have stupid names ?

Cavalier, Mondeo, Focus, Vectra, Fiesta, Impreza, Vitara, Punto, Saxo, Astra ........ that's just looking out of my window to the car park !

None of them are particularly classy or meaningful.

Which half, though?

Indulging in same gender nookie. Now all that's needed is gender realignment...

Rob.

Don't forget the Mitsubishi Carisma!

Don't forget the Mitsubishi Carisma!

And the Suzuki Swift!

Rob.

And anything Volvo

Still thing the old terminals we used at BNFL take some beating.

They were called Wayne Kerrs

You can buy a Mazda Bongo Brawnee in Japan...

What is it with the VAG group and daft names for their products? From the Sharan Carat to the Bora' date=' what are they thinking? Do they not care how words sound in English?

[/quote']

IIRC VW used to name their cars after wind systems. Whether this is true or not I don't know. The Bora is still called the Jetta in the US due to the fact that the Bora sounded like Bore too much. There has been a few blunders, the first Toyota into the USA was called the Toyotalet or something around that! Chevorolet had problems with the Nova in S America as in Spanish it means crap. And same with the Ford Pinto in Brazil. Portuguese means that it apparently is something very dirty that non of the South America counties caught.

A few more useful meanings can be found..... http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~loxias/classiccars.htm

Nova is spanish sounds like No Va = Doesn't go

Rolls Royce Silver Mist didn't sell in german. Mist = Manure

The Superb was a Skoda in the 40s.

at least they didn't call any of their cars a skoda w*nker which is pretty much what mitsubishi did with their shogun - originally called pajero which means in spanish 'one practised in the art of self-relief.'

I thought it was only me that smiled at those ... nice one, mate

Talbot Matra?

Reliant Kitten?

Ford Probe? - I mean, seriously, what where the Ford Exec's smoking that day?

Hyundai Terracan......Confuses me no end. Terra = Earth. Can = john, bog, loo, toilet..........plus, whever you say "Hyundai", it always sounds like you're in the middle of vomitting.......

Ford went throught the porn mag era with the Fiesta and Escort Probe cracks me up too especially after my last job

You can buy a Mazda Bongo Brawnee in Japan...

And the Nissan Cedric and Sylvia.