The names of car companies also have an exciting history just like the inception of the company. Most of the time, the founder of the company has given its name to it. But there exist many car companies which are so called because of some other reason. Let us find out!
Volkswagen came into being on May 28th, 1937 as a response to Adolf Hitler's call for a car for the common folk. Volkswagen means “people's car” in German.
Car companies like Tata Motors, Toyota, Honda, Suzuki, Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari and Ford are named after their founders. But Maxwell Motor Company became Chrysler when Walter P. Chrysler bought up shares in the firm over a two-year period. Mahindra & Mahindra was called Mahindra & Mohammed initially after its owners, the Mahindra brothers and Ghulam Mohammed. The company was rechristened to Mahindra & Mahindra when Ghulam Mohammed moved to Pakistan to become its first Finance Minister after Independence.
But Audi has a different story. Audi was established by August Horch. He decided to name it his car company Audi as the word “Audi” is the Latin translation of ‘Horch’ which means ‘to hear’.
There are some car companies whose names are derived from acronyms. For example, Fiat stands for Fabbrica Italiani Automobili Torino, which means Italian Automotive Works Turin. Similarly, Saab stands for Svenska Aeroplanaktiebolaget. BMW is an acronym for Bavarian Motor Works.
David Buick founded the Buick Motor Car Company in 1903. When William C. Durant succeeded him, he kept the name Buick for one of his company divisions. In the same way, Chevrolet got its name from Louis Chevrolet who worked with Durant. William C. Durant formed the General Motors but did not like the idea of giving his name to the company. Moreover, General Motors began as International Motors Company, but Durant’s attorney asked him to name it General Motors Company because he felt that it would be easy for them to raise capital under a this name.
The British marque brand Jaguar got its name from a list of animal names compiled by a British advertising agency in 1935.
