Car Names That Sound Hilarious in a Different Language

If you enjoyed reading our first post named “International Boundary Blunders: Is Your Automobile Name a Source of Embarrassment, you are sure to enjoy this one.

Marketing can make or break brands, especially, if international customers are involved. Any brand name planning to attract international customers struggles with difference in culture and demand; however, the most challenging hindrance is language barrier. If you want know the importance of accurate translation, ask some of the most popular brands that have faced humiliation and financial loss because of translation blunders. Numerous tales are popular about intercultural blunders. This is a list of a few most unfortunately hilarious car names that embarrassed the brand owners.

Nissan Moco (in Spanish: ‘booger’)

Nissan faced embarrassment when they reached Spanish speaking countries with a car named Nissan Moco. They later realized that the name translates as ‘mucus’ in Spanish. The car is no longer sold in Spain and Spanish speaking markets because people do not want to drive something that means ‘Booger’ or to simplify ‘mucus.’

Chevrolet Nova (in Spanish: ‘It Doesn’t Go’)

Will you buy a car that just ‘does not go’? General Motors faced humiliation by marketing Chevrolet Nova in Central and South America because ‘No va’ in Spanish means, ‘it doesn’t go.’

Opel Ascona (in Spain and Portugal: ‘female genitalia’)

Now, this is not just hilarious, it is extremely humiliating. If Opel Ascona meant something like ‘little flower,’ it won’t be as embarrassing for the brand as ‘female genitalia.’ It embarrassed the brand owners among Spanish speaking countries and definitely falls under ‘the worst mistakes’ category.

Final Thoughts

Although, the above-mentioned blunders are funny, we are sure that no brand owner wants to end-up facing a situation like this. For correct language translation, contact us.

Have examples of car names gone wrong? Let us know in the comments section.

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