One of the reasons that autocratic rulers don't open themselves up to democracy is because there's a good chance they won't get what they want. The ruler in this case is Alfa Romeo, which held an online poll to name its next car, and the winningest result was "Furiosa." It has been speculated that Alfa is furious with the name, and that, in the best tradition of unhappy autocrats, the results have been vacated: the car will not be named the Furiosa.
Alfa supposedly thinks the name is too close to the movie series The Fast and the Furious, and the company also objects on the grounds that the word "furiosa" connotes a woman who is angry and/or gay. Which, hypothetically, isn't the image they're trying to promote with the car. Now it is said that the car will appear during at the Geneva Motor Show with a name -- as yet undecided -- that begins with an "R." Any suggestions?
Thanks for the tip, Carlos!
[Source: Argentina Auto Blog]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
lava @ Nov 24th 2007 3:46PM
Rufiosa
aman @ Nov 24th 2007 3:50PM
Thank God. Furiosa was almost as bad as Tiguan
Hank @ Nov 24th 2007 3:51PM
Then why'd they bother with a poll? Or, why'd they allow a choice they couldn't live with to be on the poll? If you can't take the answer, don't ask the question.
chiohmann @ Nov 24th 2007 4:04PM
True True.
500 @ Nov 25th 2007 2:36PM
Reminds me of the highly-hyped nationwide contest Ben and Jerry's did back in '94 where you could submit an essay of why you wanted to be CEO, and supposedly they would choose one of the entrants to be their new CEO.
After receiving tens of thousands of entries, they instead decided to make a big deal out of hiring their first African-American CEO, who had not even entered the contest. He stepped down the following year.
tbyron @ Nov 25th 2007 3:20PM
It is called a benevolent dictatorship. And, as it relates to Alfa, I'm just fine with that.
Andrew van der Stock @ Nov 24th 2007 4:03PM
If it's made as well as Alfa's of old, Rustiosa would be a good choice.
Andrew
Michael @ Nov 24th 2007 9:53PM
Bravo! Well said, and don't forget about those electrical gremlins.
rgseidl @ Nov 24th 2007 10:51PM
The Italian word for rust-colored is "ruggine". Other candidates: "ridiculo" (ridiculous), "ritratto" (withdrawn), "rotto" (broken) or "rovinato" (ruined).
If you want to be more charitable, there's "radicale" (radical), "rapace" (rapacious), "ribelle" (rebel), "rinnegato" (renegade) or "rivale" (rival).
BowserUSC @ Nov 28th 2007 2:58AM
They're going to start selling some Alfas at Maserati dealerships. Unless plans have changed, some of the more affordable cars will be hitting the US by 2010 I think. Dont take my word for it though, things could have changed.
chiohmann @ Nov 24th 2007 4:15PM
I know this is a pretty stupid question, but why cant Alfa Romeo come into U.S?
I would buy that new Hatch if its still has that design for the production car.
WillDaThrill @ Nov 24th 2007 6:16PM
We used to have some Euro cars sold here, but they didn't sell so well. Now that they are making some good ones they are getting a fan base again. I don't think they're really interested in investing in us right now/again, especially with our falling dollar value. Renault used to sell here, and I think Alfa was on too. Not sure though, but there are some people who post here that know.
psarhjinian @ Nov 24th 2007 8:40PM
Because the infrastructure needs to exist to support the cars. That's what killed Renault, Alfa, FIAT et al the last time: the cars weren't as solid as, say, Toyota or Honda, and the parts and service were abysmal.
You can have poor parts availability and do ok if you're reliable (which is how Toyota and Honda were, at the start) and you can have crappy cars but good aftermarket support (Hyundai and Kia, until recently). You can't lack both and expect customers not to hate your guts.
The Germans manage to skirt this partially by virtue of reputation, but also by keeping aftermarket performance _just good enough_ to allow people to be slightly annoyed, but not running for the hills. And, flakey as the German and Scandinavian products are, they've got nothing on the French and Italians.
adrian @ Nov 24th 2007 4:26PM
Just call it Alfasud, and be done with it.
RWD fan @ Nov 24th 2007 4:35PM
Could have been worse, as it could have been Touareg.
Fragmaster170 @ Nov 24th 2007 4:36PM
Are alfas still made in the south?
Joseph @ Nov 24th 2007 7:21PM
No not anymore. Alfas were made in Alabama from the 1960s to the late 1980s but they closed up shop when they left the US market.
Their highest production total was 62,000 cars in 1981.
SherbornSean @ Nov 24th 2007 5:04PM
Retardo?
Jeff @ Nov 24th 2007 5:21PM
R... R...
Ragingdyke?
Quattrofan @ Nov 24th 2007 5:59PM
"The web contest offered online voters a choice of twelve names, and Furiosa got the most votes, beating out Agea, Enos, Everson, Fira, Milo, Mod, Nevo, Solea, Sparvo, Velvetta and Ventura."
Oh yeah.... Velvetta would be just terrific.