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Car company names all feel the same. Almost every automobile brand name sounds sleek and powerful; you can almost hear the company's wares zoom by in your mind as the name rolls of your tongue. Though enduring auto company names tend to have a similar feel, it turns out that these of companies take their names from some pretty unexpected places. While some car companies are named after ancient gods and precious jewels, others are named after animals and farmland. Some companies derive their names from words that trace there roots back deep into antiquity while others take their name from words made up just for their product. Whether you drive a Porsche or you're still rolling Mom's second-hand Honda, you'll appreciate these Literal English Translations of Your Favorite Foreign Cars.
Disclaimer: Yes, we know that the company names aren't all named after the exact translated word, we're just showing you what the names mean in a literal sense.
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Audi
Literal Translation: Listen (Latin)
Founder August Horch knew that his name didn't exactly have the perfect ring for a car company. Unlike many of his peers who simply put their last names on the masthead, Horch got clever. Horch means "listen" in German: the word's Latin equivalent, "Audi" sounds much better, so Horch listened to good sense and took Audi as the name of his company.
Citroën
Literal Translation: Lemon (Dutch)
Those familiar with American auto slang know that branding your car as a "lemon" might not be the best business move. The unfortunate coincidence (the company was named for founder André-Gustave Citroën) hasn't been a problem for Citroën. The company's cars are regular finalists for European Car of the Year and Citroën Racing usually wins the Manufacturer's Title at the World Rally Championship.
Ferrari
Literal Translation: Blacksmith (Italian)
"Ferrari" seems like it could have been a name hand-picked for a car company. As the Italian sports cars have long been known for their precision craftsmanship, the name seems appropriate. The name is actually a happy accident. Ferrari, like most of the car companies on this list, was name for its founder, Enzo Ferrari. With Enzo at the helm, Ferrari took a strange journey. The company began with a strict focus on racing, was seized by Mussolini's fascist government, briefly produced aircraft and machine tools, and then finally became the luxury auto brand we know and love.
Honda
Literal Translation: Main Rice Field (Japanese)
Honda has another one of those names that seems like a good fit for their brand. The workmanlike company does a lot more than make America's most stolen cars. The company has their hands in motorcycles, garden equipment, marine engines, personal watercraft, power generators, aerospace, and robotics. As of press time, they were not involved in the rice growing business, but time will tell on that one.
Hyundai
Literal Translation: Modern (Korean)
The modern iteration of Hyundai's auto sales, the Hyundai Motor Group, has only existed since 1997. As a result of the 1997 Asian financial crisis and founder Chung Ju-yung's death, Hyndai's automotive branch was spun off from its parent company and currently has no legal ties to Hyundai Group. Though the conglomerate once dealt in everything from department stores to heavy indusry, the Hyundai Group's dealings are now limited to container shipping services, the manufacturing of elevators, and tourism.
Isuzu
Literal Translation: Fifty Bells (Japanese)
Though few Americans have any idea that Isuzu means "Fifty Bells," the company used the name as inspiration for some of their early models. Two of their compact cars released in the 60s were called the "Bellel" and the "Bellet." "Bellel" comes from combining the word "bell" with "L", the Roman numeral for fifty. "Bellet" was a sligthly shortened take on "belle-ette," meaning "smaller bell."
Kia
Literal Translation: Rise out of Asia (Chinese)
Few of these translations make quite as much sense as Kia's. The cars do indeed rise out of Asia. Though Kia has been around since 1944, the company didn't sell its first vehicle in America until 1994. Kia saw rapid expansion in America through the mid-90s, until the 1997 financial crisis derailed the company, resulting in Hyundai acquiring 51% of the company.
Mazda
Literal Translation: God of Wisdom (Ancient Asia)
Props to Mazda for having an official explanation of their name that sounds like it was written by your hippie aunt. On Mazda's website, they explain the origin of their name like so, "The company’s name, 'Mazda,' derives from Ahura Mazda, a god of the earliest civilizations in western Asia. We have interpreted Ahura Mazda, the god of wisdom, intelligence and harmony, as a symbol of the origin of both Eastern and Western civilizations, and also as a symbol of automotive culture. It incorporates a desire to achieve world peace and the development of the automobile manufacturing industry."
Far out, Mazda.
Mercedes
Literal Translation: Mercies (Spanish)
"Mercedes" is best known to the Spanish as part of the title of the Virgin Mary, "Maria de las Mercedes." The original Latin meaning of "merces" was actually "wages" or "reward," but in Vulgar Latin the word came to mean "favour" or "pity," which is much closer to the definition we apply today.
Mitsubishi
Literal Translation: Three Diamonds (Japanese)
Mitsubishi is derived from a combination of two Japanese words. "Mitsu" means "three;" "hishi" meaning "water chestnut" or "rhombus." Those knowlegable of the Japanese language assure us that we are meant to interpret "water chestnut" to mean "diamond" in this instance. We'll take their word for it, as diamond seems like a more appropriate aspirational word. That being said, we have to give water chestnuts credit for tasting better than diamonds when wrapped in bacon.
Porsche
Literal Translation: Pig/Small Sausage (Latin)
This had to be the most surprsing translation on our list (the Roman family name Porcius means pig). While it is commonly accepted that putting lipstick on a pig will make it look a little nicer, putting lipstick on a Porsche will deeply upset the owner. Maybe some rims would be better. Porsche owners have had fun with the name's translation. In fact, one of our favorite Porsche paint jobs of all time is swine inspired.
Subaru
Literal Translation: Unite (Japanese)
Not only does Suburu mean "unite," but the name is also a reference to the constallation Pleiades. Though only six stars of Pleiades are visible to the human eye, there are actually hundreds of stars in the constellation. In Greek mythology Atlas's daughters turned into the six visible stars. If they had microscopes back then, Greecians would have seen several hundred more stars, and the legend of Atlas would have likely involved paying a lot of child support.
Toyota
Literal Translation: Bountiful Rice Field (Japanese)
It turns out that two major car companies are named after rice fields. Before you go blaming the rice lobby for making a brazen PR powerplay, know that this too was a coincidence. Toyota is yet another car company named after its founder, Kiichiro Toyoda. The slight change in spelling came about because "Toyota" takes eight strokes to write in he Japanese language, and eight is considered by the Japanese to be a lucky number.
Volkswagen
Literal Translation: People's Car (German)
Volkswagen's name reflects the reason the car was created. In Nazi Germany, there was a car shortage. Only one in fifty citizens could afford a car, as only expensive luxury brands were available. The Nazi Government founded Volkswagen to close the country's automobile gap: hence "People's Car." The company has never been able to fully extricate itself from its Nazi roots. In 1998, VW voluntarily began a restitution fund to pay back workers who made Volkswagens in forced labor camps under the Nazis.
Volvo
Literal Translation: I Roll (Latin)
Though a reference to rolling makes for a pretty solid car name, Volvo was not named for its automotive endeavors. Volvo started life as a ball bearing manufacturer. A subsidiary of SKF, a big player in the ball bearing game, was named "Volvo" in anticipation of a special new variety of bearing.