How these famous car brands got their names

And the car you own and drive is exactly the same. So we thought we would head into the Old School historic vault and uncover the origins of the names of some of the world’s most well known and loved car brands.

The Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company was founded back in 1947 by Chung Ju-yung with its automotive division started in 1967. The word Hyundai is Korean for ‘modernity’. An exact translation into English would be 'Hyeondae' which is close to how we Aussies pronounce it as Hi-un-day. While the H in Hyundai’s logo does stand for the company’s name, it’s also a stylised image of two people shaking hands.

One is a company representative and the other is a satisfied customer. Once you see it you can never un-see it.

SsangYong translates to ‘double dragons’ in Korean and is a reference to a folklore story in which two dragons waited 1000 years to ascend into heaven. A cintamani wish-fulfilling jewel, which was necessary for the journey to heaven was released into their world. Each dragon encouraged the other to take the jewel and make the trip. They kept offering each other the opportunity to take the jewel, this kindness and courtesy went on for so long that both dragons missed out. The king of heaven was so moved by each of the dragons’ selflessness that he released a second cintamani and the two dragons entered heaven together. Why they didn’t incorporate dragons into their logo is beyond us.

The name Subaru is Japanese for ‘unite’. It’s also a term for a cluster of six stars in the Taurus constellation named Pleiades by the ancient Greeks. Subaru was the first auto brand to use a name derived from the Japanese language (that wasn’t a family name).

The company we know today as Mazda started life as a cork manufacturer back in 1920. Back then, the company was called Toyo Kogyo and launched their first vehicle, a tricycle truck called the Mazda-go. Toyo Kogyo was managed by a man named Matsuda and the name Mazda-go appears to pay homage to him. So why Mazda and not Matsuda? The word Mazda comes from Ahura Mazda, the god of harmony, intelligence and wisdom and the company saw Mazda as a symbol of the automotive civilization and culture. Striving to make a contribution to world peace and to be a light in the automotive industry, Toyo Kogyo was renamed Mazda Motor Corporation. Zoom Zoom.

Toyota Motor Corporation was founded by the Toyoda family in 1937. When it came time to name the company which would eventually become the world's biggest seller of vehicles, the family name 'Toyoda' which uses ten Japanese strokes to write was overlooked for the word 'Toyota' which uses only eight. Eight is considered a lucky number in Japanese culture and the rest as they say is history.

Kia’s brand name is a compound word in Korean that is made up of the characters 'Ki' and 'A'. Ki meaning 'to rise from' and the A is a common way to depict Asia. When put together the word Kia translates to 'To rise from Asia' which is a great way to describe what the car brand has done over the past decade on the global stage.

The brand name Volvo was originally registered in 1911 by SKF ball bearings for their new series of products. The word Volvo means 'I roll' in Latin, which is quite appropriate for ball bearings and now cars, SUVs and trucks. In 1927 the SKF group launched their first car the Volvo ÖV 4 and they've been on a roll ever since.

The famed electric sports car brand's name was derived from physicist Nikola Tesla, inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist who’s best known for his contribution to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.

The legend started in 1910 when Cavalier Ugo Stella acquired the Italian factory of Società Italiana Automobili Darraq. The company changed its name to Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili hence the acronym of ALFA.

During the First World War, Alfa did not have sufficient funds to upgrade its automotive manufacturing and was put up for sale. Nicola Romeo, a successful electrical engineer from Naples purchased Alfa and the name of the company evolved to become Società Anonima Italiana Nicola Romeo & Company. The new logo was changed to become Alfa-Romeo Milano.

In 1918 the car maker become a publicly listed company and once more evolved its name to became purely Alfa Romeo.

Type the word Škoda into Google Translate and what you see might shock you…when using a capital S, the Czech to English translation returns 'Too bad!' while if you use a lowercase s, the translation says 'damage, harm, detriment and injury'. Not too comforting at all.

The name Škoda actually originates from its founder Emil Škoda, who used his family name to brand military equipment his company built. Škoda was Austria-Hungary's leading arms manufacturer producing equipment for the navy as well as manufacturing trains, planes, ships and tools too. The company merged in 1924 with bicycle maker Laurin and Klement and moved into the automotive world where the brand remains today.

Munich based car brand BMW’s name is an acronym of Bayerische Motoren Werk, or as we know it in English as Bavarian Motor Works. The company first started life in 1916 with a very different name and structure. The Flugmaschinenfabrik Gustav Otto Company merged with Bayerische Flugzeug-Werke and for many years was known as BFW.

The BMW emblem cleverly incorporates the Bavarian state colours of blue and white into it’s design with it first appearing in the company’s advertising as a rotating plane propeller paying homage to its heritage as an aircraft builder.

Yataro Iwasaki, the founder of the old Mitsubishi conglomerate, chose the three-diamond logo as the emblem for his company as a mark of respect to the three-leaf crest of the Tosa Clan, his first employer, as well as the three stacked rhombuses of the his own family crest.

The word Mitsubishi means three-diamonds and is a combination of the Japanese words mitsu meaning three and hishi meaning water chestnut and rhombus/diamond. In Japanese, an ‘h’ sound often turns into a ‘b’ sound when it occurs in the middle of a word making mitsu and hishi become Mitsubishi.

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