In 2022, Toyota launched the all-electric bZ4X. Journalists rolled their eyes and made an effort while everyone else that read about it instantly forgot the name. The alphanumeric soup of a name represents Beyond Zero in reference to its emissions, 4 being how Toyota classifies the size of the vehicle, and X signifies that it’s a crossover. However, Toyota has realized its mistake and its second electric crossover is called Urban Cruiser. According to Andrea Carlucci, Toyota Europe’s director of marketing and product development, via the UK’s Autocar, the return to a real name is due to “a clear request from Europe that was very much heard and followed by Japan.”
Toyota
Toyota is a Japanese automaker founded in 1937 that has developed a reputation for reliability across a multitude of segments, from sports cars and family sedans to pickup trucks and off-roaders. Famous models from the brand include the Hilux, Land Cruiser, Camry, Crown, and Corolla, the latter being the world’s best-selling vehicle nameplate, with more than 50 million Corolla-badged vehicles being sold since it was first introduced. Toyota typically competes in the mainstream market, but is also famous for launching Lexus as a luxury sub-brand to take on Mercedes-Benz.
Proper Alphanumeric Soup
The Toyota BZ series is part of the automaker’s all-electric vehicle plan, and as far back as 2022, it registered the names bZ1, bZ2, bZ2X, bZ3, bZ3X, bZ4, bZ4X, bZ5, and bZ5X. Instead, Toyota is looking into its back catalog of currently unused names for the new cars. If Toyota had done some research, it would know that’s a terrible idea for all sorts of reasons.
Add CarBuzz to your Google News feed.
“We have a number of models,” Carlucci told Autocar. “If you start multiplying by technology, by segment, the nameplates tend to proliferate too much. We wanted to rationalize this.” He also says that Toyota wants to “avoid this inflation of nameplates for the simplicity of the consumer.”
Related
The 2025 Toyota 4Runner Has Finally Arrived In America
Toyota’s immensely popular off-roader has just arrived on American soil.
Toyota Has A Deep Back Catalog Of Names
The name Urban Cruiser comes from a 2008 concept car, then was applied to rebadged Suzuki models. The new Urban Cruiser is, in fact, a Suzuki e Vitara with Toyota bodywork and built in India. Toyota hasn’t been too interested in all-electric vehicles beyond using them to meet legislated fleet emissions goals, hence the badge engineering. Instead, Toyota has been concentrating on the more realistic demand for hybrid vehicles.
Digging into Toyota’s back catalog for names could be quite fun, and we feel that Voltz should be high on the list for an all-electric car (we knew the Voltz here in the US as the Pontiac Vibe in the 2000s). Other names we think should make a comeback are Blade, Blizzard, Cynos, and Matrix, then there’s the obvious choices of the Toyota Celica and Toyota FJ Cruiser.
Source: Autocar
News Summary:
- Toyota Reusing Classic Car Names Instead Of Confusing Alphanumerics
- Check all news and articles from the latest Tech updates.
- Please Subscribe us at Google News.