What’s in the name? How famous car companies got their name

Have you ever wondered how famous car companies got their name? We bring to you how some of the top auto brands got their name.

1. Mercedes Benz: Karl Benz, one of the founders, lent his name when Benz& Cie was created in 1883. At the same time, Gottlieb Daimler and Emil Jellinek created the Daimler Mercedes brand in 1900. Mercedes was Emil Jellinek’s daughter’s name. In 1926, these companies merged to form Daimler-Benz AG, with Daimler’s trade name ‘Mercedes’!
2. Cadillac: Henry Leland, in 1902, founded the Cadillac Car Company. The name came from Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, the French explorer who founded Detroit city at the starting of the 18th century.
3. SAAB: SAAB actually is a short form of "Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolag", which is Swedish for "Swedish Airplane, Limited." The company began producing automobiles in the 1940s; before that, it used to manufacture aircraft!
4. Nissan: Started as DAT Motorcar in 1914, a businessman Yoshisuke Aikawa's company bought out DAT in 1931. His ventures name, Nippon Sangyo, later got abbreviated as Nissan. That how the Nissan brand came into existence!
5. Toyota: In 1933, Toyoda’s son, Kiichiro, started the motor division in his father’s Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. In 1936, as a result of a logo designing competition, the name got tweaked to Toyota. The reason being, Toyota sounded better and was lucky as it needed eight brush strokes to write!
6. Dodge: John and Horace Dodge formed a Michigan bicycle company in the 1890s. They later started supplying transmission to Olds and Ford in 1903. But their love and talent for automobiles pushed them to create Dodge, the second-hottest sellers in the USA.
7. Volvo: The Swedish carmaker’s name is Latin for "I roll". It started as a Swedish ball bearing company, SKF, later trademarked the ‘Volvo’ name in 1915. Volvo only started its car business in 1926!
8. Mazda: Named on the Zoroastrian God, Ahura Mazda. Mazda is seen as a symbol of the beginning of the West and East civilization. It also symbolizes the automotive civilization and culture!
9. Audi: When August Horch was founding the automobile company, he got to know that his name was already taken. The solution, he chose the Latin translation of his name, that is, Audi!

So now you know that these car company names were not as simple as the founder’s family of the first name. There is a lot of history behind each and every car company’s name! Isn’t it fascinating?