Re: Decoding The Manufacturer's Model Names For Indian Motor Vehicles Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO Hindi / regional language words are mainly used for two wheelers & commercial vehicles. Car makers don't appear to be too keen. |
True ! Right from the Rajdoot, (Hindi for Ambassador which is a car name) the two wheelers and even some commercial vehicles have been named with typical Hindi/ regional language names.
The Royal Enfield Sherpa that came along after the Ensign, is also an example.The successors were the Crusader and the Enfield 200 (also called as a Mini-Bullet by the company to prop up sales, but all in vain).Their scooter introduced around 1963 was named Fantabulus. Perhaps after the Sherpa, Enfield swore never to use Indian or Hindi names for its models. The Mofa, Explorer and Silver Plus bear testimony to this assertion. None of these models sold very well, other than the Bullet.
The Military use truck in collaboration with Mann of Germany became Shaktiman. Many of our army jawans have been calling the Nissan as "Nishaan". ![Smile](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.png) Thats a forced Hindi name for a Japanese one. Spending my childhood in the Army environs as the son of a serviceman, I am privy to this pronunciation.
Ashok Leyland has many such names like Cheetah and so on. One of its early models was called Comet.There was also a Viking.
The Priya scooter by Maharashtra Scooters is another example.
Next comes the Vijai.Scooters India Ltd had the licence to use the trade name Lambretta for it scooter in 1972 when it bought Innocenti, Italy's scooter brand. But it preferred to use its new name"Vijai."It came as the Vijai Deluxe to soon become the Vijai Super.The exported scooters though not in very large numbers were named as Lambretta GP (GP for Grand Prix). The 125 cc scooter it introduced was Lambretta Cento and was marketed as such. Its satellite plants built in collaboration with State Governments had many brands like Aravalli (Rajasthan), Digvijay (West Bengal), Allwyn Pushpak (A.P.) and so on.Also the three wheelers made by Scooters India Ltd was named Vikram that is sold till this day.
The Rajdoot Bobby was a half "phoren" and a half Indian name. ![Decoding The Manufacturer's Model Names For Indian Motor Vehicles-picture-375.jpg](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/indian-car-scene/1001993d1691435749t-decoding-manufacturers-model-names-indian-motor-vehicles-picture-375.jpg)
A scooter called Girnar Leo was introduced by Gujarat Scooters in the late 1970's. This was based on a Piaggio model. ![Decoding The Manufacturer's Model Names For Indian Motor Vehicles-picture-377.jpg](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/indian-car-scene/1001992d1691435749t-decoding-manufacturers-model-names-indian-motor-vehicles-picture-377.jpg)
The Sipani Automobiles cars were named as Badal - its first three wheeled car from the mid 1970's. The Dolphin came later in the early 1980's, which was based on the Reliant Kitten from U.K.They also had introduced the D 1 which was an utter failure. For their Rover Montego of 1990, they did not meddle at all with the original name as christened by Rover.
Last edited by anjan_c2007 : 17th October 2012 at 23:43.
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