VW Names Minivan After the Sex Pistols' Lead Singer
Usually I ding manufacturers for switching to stupid alphanumeric model names at the expense of memorable word names (Legend became the RL? Seville became the STS? What happened to the Continental?). But Volkswagen is doing their best to make anonymous letter/number combinations look more appealing by choosing the most unpronounceable names they can find/devise. First, we had the Touareg ("twa-reg"), which is embarrassing no matter how you say it (especially to the eponymous semi-nomadic tribe who didn't get a dime from the deal). Then VW unleashed the Tiguan ("tig-wan"), a cute-ute (their tails are made of rubber, their backs are made of springs). Yesterday, VW attempted to top both of those– and the Nissan Qashqai (don't ask me)– by calling their rebadged and slightly reworked Chrysler minivan the Routan. Route-tan? Rootin'? With apologies to Sid and Nancy, I'm going with "Rowten." Or not, as the case may be.
Immensely bored law student. I've also got 3 dogs.
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Sounds like it was named after a private-space-industry pioneer.
Funny, my first thought was Rutan, the aircraft designer, so I wondered if it would have a canard wing.
There's been a slew of shitty car names lately. One of my favorites; the Kia Borrego. I heard that it was called the Mohave in Korea. What's wrong with Mohave aside from correct spelling? I hate these car names that only Californians can "get".
Dam you VW you should have produced the Microbus!!!!!!!! Instead you give us a Chrysler, (ugh) I don't see how this is going to help VW reputation!! BTW, VW mini van is what a decade too late. My hope is Porsche will make some changes to VW product planning. The Passat Coupe looks great well like a VW "Mercedes" but nethertheless they should equip it with only a 300hp DFI V6, DSG, and Torsen AWD not that "poser" Haldex crap.