7 World-Famous Car Brand Names and their Meanings

We would all love to be the owner of world-famous cars, but hardly any of us know what the names mean and stand for.

For example,

Do you know that Aston Martin got its name from Aston Hill? That’s the place where its founder lived.

Knowing the origins of car brands can turn out to be quite fascinating. The below list of famous car brands will give you a decent insight into the way these companies got their names.

1. Aston Martin 

This name is derived from the name of its founder, Lionel Martin & Aston Hill, the place of his residence.

Lionel was obsessed with beauty, performance, and luxury. He gave more importance to perfection in all the 3 key parameters. Hence, this iconic brand became identical with Hollywood movies and celebrities.

2. BMW

Formed as a result of an amalgamation of the three German companies, BMW started its operation in 1912.

The name BMW stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke AG; meaning, Bavarian Motor Works in German.

3. Audi

August Hoch, the German engineer, founded the company August Horch and Cie. Motorwagenwerke AG, in 1904.

Due to the miscommunication and misunderstanding among partners, August Horch left the company and formed his own – August Horch Automobilwerke GmbH. After he was charged for infringement of trademark, he was forced to change the name.

4. Chevrolet 

Chevrolet, AKA Chevy, was founded by William C Durant and Louis Chevrolet in Detroit as the Chevrolet Motor Company.

Louis Chevrolet was an automotive engineer and a Swiss race car driver. His brand overtook Ford vehicles as people were in favor of the tagline – “a car for every purse and purpose.”

5. Datsun

Datsun, a Japanese company, is primarily associated with the production of small and affordable cars.

Established in 1931, the name “Datson” originated from the surname initials of three partners – Rokuro Aoyama, Kenjiro Den, and Meitaro Takeuchi. After three years, Nissan took over the company. It dropped the word “son,” as it means “loss” in Japan and added “sun.”

6. Ford

Henry Ford founded the Ford Motors Company in 1903, in Detroit, Michigan.

Ford left Cadillac, his first company, and started his private business with a $28000 investment.

He fine-tuned the mass production of vehicles by introducing moving assembly lines. This allowed him to cut cost on production and offer affordable cars to the American middle class. His famous vehicle model, the Model T, was sold over millions over the next twenty years.

Soon afterwards, Ford made various acquisitions, including Troller, Volvo, and the FPV brands.

7. Honda

The founder of Honda, Soichiro Honda, was a mechanic with an acute interest in racing cars.

After the failure of the piston rings supply contract, he went on to study the Toyota quality manufacturing process and started mass production of quality piston rings by 1941.

Honda had immense expertise in manufacturing internal combustion engines, motorcycles, and cars over the century.

Article by Plate4less.