The 10 funniest names in the automotive world: from the Nissan Pixo to the Opel Manta

The commercial name of a new car is one of the elements that an automotive manufacturer takes the most care in, analyzes, designs, and evaluates. It is not easy to find a word that is easy to remember, has an attractive sound, and can be pronounced in most languages of the world, let alone make this word associated with the collective imagination of buyers. However, in recent years, several manufacturers have named some of their models with at least curious and fun names that will surely make you smile.

Nissan Moco

The Moco was a microcar or kei car that Nissan manufactured exclusively for the Japanese market, which is why they did not consider the reference that this word had in Latin languages. To top it all off, they presented the car painted green at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show, which made the presentation even more surreal.

Nissan Pixo

Nissan executives probably didn't know the meaning of the word pixo in Catalan or in Galician and Portuguese (it can refer to the penis). The Pixo was an affordable city car that did reach the European market in 2010, but it did so with more sorrow than glory. And it is that despite being called Pixo, this city car never managed to mark its territory.

Mazda Laputa

In 1999, Mazda foresaw the trend of SUVs or all-terrain vehicles worldwide. What they surprisingly didn't calculate well was the trade name they christened their car with and the meaning it would have in Spanish – and in Catalan – one of the most spoken languages in the world. The Laputa never made it to Spain, but it did in America, where it was the constant subject of all kinds of jokes. The car was not a success and the name was shelved among Mazda's great failures.

Toyota Isis

When Toyota decided on the name for its compact minivan – sold in Japan and the Asian market – in the early 21st century, they could hardly have imagined that its acronym would be used to name a terrorist group (the Islamic State or Daesh) in English. The Isis was in production until 2017, without continuity in the market,as it never achieved a major commercial breakthrough in sales figures.

Mitsubishi Pajero

Surely one of the best-known cases in history. The three diamonds brand chose this name in reference to a wild feline from South America, but for obvious reasons they renamed it Montero in the Spanish and Latin American markets. Curiously, lovers of this authentic old-school all-terrain vehicle (especially men) prefer the name Pajero, we don't know if it's out of fondness for onanism.

Opel Cascada

In 2012, Opel presented a convertible version of the Insignia, in a sporty coupe format, which they named Cascada. In the Spanish and Spanish-speaking market, they decided to change the commercial name to Cabrio, in reference to it being a convertible car.

Opel Manta

The Opel Manta was a coupé from the 70s that was in production for three generations and sold relatively well in our market, even though the word manta refers to a textile element or also to a lazy person. Curiously, in Germany a whole series of jokes developed around Opel Manta drivers (Mantafahrer), who corresponded to a stereotype of a young suburban guy, with few economic resources and little culture. A "study" manta, so to speak.

Tata Zica

It's bad luck that the commercial launch of a new car coincides with the expansion of a tropical disease in Brazil in 2014. At least Tata's executives were quick and changed the model's name to Tiago, which it still bears today, to avoid becoming a viral phenomenon(and avoid the outbreak of a pandemic).

Hyundai Kona

Hyundai has been marketing the Kona for a few years now, a B-segment urban SUV that has become a worldwide sales success, except in Portugal and Brazil, where it is called Kauai. The reason is simple: the word kona refers to the female sexual organ in Portuguese and Brazilian. But what they don't know at Hyundai is that Galician buyers speak the same language and the word kona has the same meaning, although surprisingly the car has sold quite well throughout Galicia, which speaks very favorably of the sense of humor of the people of that land. Do you think Catalans would buy a Hyundai Xona?

Rimac Refrigerator

It was the last car to join this list, and it's worth saying that, despite being a name that in Croatian refers to a type of electrical storm and being a high-performance model in electric format, it may not be the most appropriate from a commercial point of view. In fact, some may be frozen to learn that each Refrigerator costs more than two million euros.

'Bonus track'

To begin with, it's worth saying that in our country we have a manufacturer like Seat, which makes fantastic and high-quality cars, but which has an unfortunate name for English-speaking markets, where it's difficult to sell a car with a brand name that means seat. Perhaps that's why those from Martorell have spun off their high-performance subsidiary Cupra, which comes from the words cup racing but also has a sound similar to the Italian word capra, referring to goats.

The automotive world is full of similar cases, such as the Nissan Lafesta or the Lancia Marica, or local exceptions like the Seat Málaga, called Gredos in Greece, as there the word málaga also has masturbatory reminiscences. Or the case of the Fiat Uno, called Regatta in Finland because there the word uno is synonymous with the words idiot or imbecile. Something similar happened with the Subaru Brat, a pickup truck from the 80s of the last century that didn't take into account that the word brat means snot-nosed, whiny, or brat.

Even Ford had a prototype named Corrida, which they renamed when the company's management figured out what this word referred to in Spanish-speaking countries, and which was replaced at the last minute by the word fiesta, a model that became a legend for the American brand in Europe. 

Finally, some models were the subject of constant mockery and jokes, such as the Polo GT and its rapid pronunciation in Spanish, the Volkswagen Jetta, which had to change its name in the South American market, or the Lamborghini Reventón, which took its name from a bullfighting myth but we will agree that perhaps it is not the most suitable name for a sports car capable of driving at over 340 km/h.