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Reminds me of Datsun. The story goes that they invited a highly paid PR consultant to visit. On arrival he was told that there is a board meeting that evening a

Reminds me of Datsun. The story goes that they invited a highly paid PR consultant to visit. On arrival he was told that there is a board meeting that evening and he is expected to attend and come up with the best name for their cars. Apparently, his reply was: "that soon?"

teh_klev 10y ago
I don't think so :) In 1931, Dat Motorcar Co. chose to name its new small car "Datson", a name which indicated the new car's smaller size when compared to the DAT's larger vehicle already in production. When Nissan took control of DAT in 1934, the name "Datson" was changed to "Datsun", because "son" also means "loss" (損 son) in Japanese and also to honour the sun depicted in the national flag - thus the name Datsun: Dattosan (ダットサン Dattosan?). Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datsun https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datsun
timrichard 10y ago
Reminds me of the Starion. It's a shame we're unlikely to get to the truth. The legend has it that the Japanese team wanted it to be the Stallion, but communications to the American Marketing department were less than ideal. http://uniquecarsandparts.com/images/car_info/large/mitsubishi_starion_turbo.jpg http://uniquecarsandparts.com/images/car_info/large/mitsubis... Snopes remains undecided : http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/starion.asp http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/starion.asp
- Someone 10y ago
  From that snopes article: "the “claim that the name is an amalgam of star and Orion is daft, but then this is a company that called one of its economy cars the Lettuce.”" I had to google that, and got http://uk.complex.com/sports/2012/07/the-25-most-ridiculous-car-names-of-all-time http://uk.complex.com/sports/2012/07/the-25-most-ridiculous-.... If that's a joke, it is taking it too far, so it just be true. => Apparently, the 'Lettuce' was a car, and they also sold the "Mitsubishi Mini Active Urban Sandal". Most cars there are Asian, so I guess this is a sign of a cultural chasm between 'the west' and 'the east'.
grecy 10y ago
...and the difference between the 180B and the 200B? 20 more problems.
dano 10y ago
The consultant was German, therefore, his reply with a heavy accent was: "Dat zoon?" and thus the name was born. :-)

teh_klev 10y ago

I don't think so :) In 1931, Dat Motorcar Co. chose to name its new small car "Datson", a name which indicated the new car's smaller size when compared to the DAT's larger vehicle already in production. When Nissan took control of DAT in 1934, the name "Datson" was changed to "Datsun", because "son" also means "loss" (損 son) in Japanese and also to honour the sun depicted in the national flag - thus the name Datsun: Dattosan (ダットサン Dattosan?). Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datsun https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datsun

timrichard 10y ago

Reminds me of the Starion. It's a shame we're unlikely to get to the truth. The legend has it that the Japanese team wanted it to be the Stallion, but communications to the American Marketing department were less than ideal. http://uniquecarsandparts.com/images/car_info/large/mitsubishi_starion_turbo.jpg http://uniquecarsandparts.com/images/car_info/large/mitsubis... Snopes remains undecided : http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/starion.asp http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/starion.asp

Someone 10y ago
From that snopes article: "the “claim that the name is an amalgam of star and Orion is daft, but then this is a company that called one of its economy cars the Lettuce.”" I had to google that, and got http://uk.complex.com/sports/2012/07/the-25-most-ridiculous-car-names-of-all-time http://uk.complex.com/sports/2012/07/the-25-most-ridiculous-.... If that's a joke, it is taking it too far, so it just be true. => Apparently, the 'Lettuce' was a car, and they also sold the "Mitsubishi Mini Active Urban Sandal". Most cars there are Asian, so I guess this is a sign of a cultural chasm between 'the west' and 'the east'.

grecy 10y ago

...and the difference between the 180B and the 200B? 20 more problems.

dano 10y ago

The consultant was German, therefore, his reply with a heavy accent was: "Dat zoon?" and thus the name was born. :-)