Volkswagen christens the Concept A with an, er, interesting name
Volkswagen's penchant for giving its SUVs names people don't know quite how to pronounce lives on with the Tiguan, which we think might rhyme with the first two syllables of "iguana." Or not. The name is a combination of "tiger" and "leguan," the German word for iguana, and serves as the name of the production version of the Concept A we saw in Frankfurt. The compact ute, which will compete wtih the likes of the Toyota RAV4, will likely be seen again as a concept vehicle in Los Angeles this November before it appears in production form at the next Frankfurt Motor Show. The car is set to be produced at the company's Wolfsburg plant with the plan to go on sale in 2008.
The choice is based on a survey the company did of 350,000 European auto magazine readers, who chose the name over other mindblowers like Rockton, Nanuk, Samun, Namib and other equally inventive names dreamed up by Volkswagen's marketing department. Good thing, too -- can you imagine the jokes you'd get if you drove a Volkswagen Nanuk?
[Source: AutoWeek]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
AlmostAwake 10:12AM (7/20/2006)
Brace yourself for four million Napoleon Dynamite quotes.
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Puff Chippy 10:18AM (7/20/2006)
Giving your product a name that can be pronounced by the average human - obviously a very foreign concept to VW.
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ian 10:21AM (7/20/2006)
"Tiguan: Because every other word is already trademarked"
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Rob Lowe 10:46AM (7/20/2006)
I thought they should call it the "SISWFR": Sitting In The Shop Waiting For Repairs
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Oliver 10:53AM (7/20/2006)
VW needs to go to an Alpha-Numeric system. I know its boring, but it makes it a whole lot easier for the consumer. I still can niether pronounce nor spell Phaeton, or Tourag. Luckily, I can spell Rabbit.
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Eric J. 11:00AM (7/20/2006)
Everybody's going to alpha-numeric, and I think VW is right to buck that trend and stick with names. But how about names that are easy and intuitive to pronounce and that are spelled like they sound. In an age where word-of-mouth and internet search are two of the biggest marketing vehicles for product awareness and consideration, mis-spellings and mis-pronunciations will only hurt your business.
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Richard Warren 11:06AM (7/20/2006)
#5 Whats funny is VW had a numeric system well before anyone else Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Type 4 Yes they had names (except 411-412) but were pretty well known by type. They could have expanded that.
Me, I'd rather have a name instead of a number.
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epilonious 11:29AM (7/20/2006)
*shrug* Is it too wierd? Or just wierd enough for VW to do a quirky marketing campaign about how weird it is?
I'm guessing the latter... So I suppose I should brace for a smattering of spots with normal people trying to pronounce it ("Tee-gwan*cut*Tigg-own*cut*tyg-won*cut*...") or with an iguana roaring like a tiger or tigers swimming and eating insects... but done cleverly so lots of people will gush and provide youtube links right about the time it gets oldnoying.
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Clarence 11:30AM (7/20/2006)
The name is lousy. It will be called that tiggy whatchamacallit by the general public. The name will hurt sales. The original Concept A was interesting. I want a Miata AWD that can pick itself up about 15 inches off the ground so that I can ford streams and travel up mountain roads. When I come back to civilization, I want it to come back low to the ground.
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swe 11:30AM (7/20/2006)
im not really a fan of vw. i only like the golf but i have no problem pronounciating their names..
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Dr. Woo 11:48AM (7/20/2006)
VW Tiggy? Sure. Not particularly demeaning.
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John 12:07PM (7/20/2006)
Should have just called it the "Thing".
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Jonathan 12:11PM (7/20/2006)
VW should stick to names - but better than "Tiguan" and "Touareg" (although to their credit, at least the former is a real word, albeit in French). Wasn't there some talk of this being called the Marrakesh or Bedouin?
I think they should stick to naming the cards after winds, and perhaps name the SUVs after deserts - or hell, maybe even stick to nomadic Berber tribes.
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sirAQUAMAN64 12:53PM (7/20/2006)
What the heck was wrong with Bedouin???
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sirAQUAMAN64 12:56PM (7/20/2006)
What was wrong with Bedouin??? I liked it!
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asurroca 1:15PM (7/20/2006)
I've got one thing to say about this: Please, please, PLEASE, just tell Crispin Porter + Bogusky to come up with a name for the vehicle instead of polling Internet sites for the idea! CP+B are ad agency responsible for bringing the Rabbit name back in North America, and initial sales numbers are fantastic.
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RickDom 1:39PM (7/20/2006)
Because no one has done it yet, and #1 up there said it:
A Tiguan, it's pretty much my favorite animal. It's like a tiger and an iguana mixed. Bred for it's skills in magic.
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Google SEO 3:22PM (7/20/2006)
Well, what matters is not just a name, but also the performance, quality and style of the vehicle. Does anyone know that Japanese brand names like Suzki, Honda, Kawasaki, Toyota are either names of people or places in Japan.
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Jerry Chang 3:40PM (7/20/2006)
Tiguan is not quite a Liger...
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strangway 3:54PM (7/20/2006)
Actually the VW Rabbit doesn't even have the word "Rabbit" on it. Just the logo. Maybe it can be like TAFKAP-CKAP (Currently-Known-As-Prince), when he was known simply by his androgynous logo. Soooo off topic.
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