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]