Jaguar to ditch current nameplates for alphanumeric badges?

An automaker can't make it in the fringe anymore. Everything's going either upmarket or mainstream, and Jaguar has opted primarily for the latter. The company that not so long ago offered essentially one sedan and one two-door is rapidly expanding to a full lineup. So what's the next step? According to the rumormeisters over at Autocar, it's ditching its current model naming strategy.

According to the UK publication, Jaguar is preparing to jettison nameplates like XJ and XF in favor of a more conventional alphanumeric system like those employed by its German and Japanese rivals. The thinking is that while the faithful know Coventry's naming system, it's not immediately evident to newcomers and outsiders where one model sits in the line-up vis-a-vis the next. Besides, it won't be the first time Jag has slapped alphanumeric badges like XJ8 on the flanks of its cars.

One model could possibly hold out, though, as the C-X75 heads down the road to production. Filling the shoes of the iconic XJ220, the company is reportedly toying with the idea of naming the new supercar XJ330. The original was named for the 220 mph top speed it was aimed to reach (but never did), and the new model is targeted to hit a more realistic 205 mph – or 330 km/h on the metric scale.

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/06/01/j...umeric-badges/

 

I wish more automakers would switch to actual words with meaning than some acronyms and numbers.

To me Honda Legend is the perfect name for a luxurious automobile. Shame it didn't last.

 

FWIW - I heard Honda regretted using memorable names for their models because people did not mentally link the model name to the brand. With model names like LS460 or S500 people tend to also mention the brand Lexus and MB. Thus the brand becomes more memorable.

 

I agree it would be nice to keep nameplates that we smile at when we think of them, but I understand why its harder to use words with meaning than acronyms and numbers. The Ford Pinto is a good example. The word Pinto in Spanish and Brazilian slang meant "male genitalia". Ford had to completely rebadge all the cars with the new name "Corcel" which means horse.

 

I owned a Maxima, and it was always a Nissan in my mind..

 

hmm..I would have been happy to drive a car called a "Ford Corcel Pinto" though. It would have been good advertising..

 

Don't change alphabetic monikers.

Add numbers if you want.

Just don't make it overwhelming, like LS600hL.

 

^^ the LS I can live with its the X5 xDrive35i that makes me cringe

 

When my friends and I reminisce about our high school/early college days, we say things like "remember the time we were in your Continental" or "this one night, we were in George's Eldorado when we met...". When we try to say "Oh yeah, this one time we were in Jimmy's 328ci.." it just doen't have the same ring to it. It also just causes confusion to anyone else who is part of the conversation. One time a girl thought we were referring to a computer. The nameplates of the luxury cars, for the most part, had a somewhat regal sound to it "Continental", "Eldorado", "Deville", "Legend", "Vigor" (jk on te last one.

...and it works for Bentley and Rolls so I don't see a reason why the other brands don't give it a shot.

...and I still know a Navigator is a Lincoln and an Escalade is a Cadillac. IIRC, they sold pretty well for a while and still sell pretty well, respectively.


Michael

 

I'm not sure I agree with that statement. Porsche, for example, has been a low-volume automaker out there on the "fringe" for decades.....and is doing just fine. Porsche also uses both alphabet and numeric badges.......Panamera, Cayenne, Boxster, Carrera, Cayman, 911, GT2, GT3, etc.....

 

I think that this is a good step for Jaguar. They never really even come to mind when I'm talking about cars come to think of it. I don't even know what the different kinds of cars they offer are called, except now I know the XJ (and I'll probably forget haha). I do, however, think that alphanumeric badges do help the car stand out and be remembered more, as I find it harder to think of older cars that are named with meaning, rather than aplhanumeric badging. The S500 or even others like the IS350 are great examples of this, because I immediately think of Mercedes and Lexus, and can distinguish the two because Mercedes only has one letter (s class significaiton) and the IS has two letters followed by numbers.