Derailments of the marketing people - Le Car
When Ferrari presented the super sports car "La Ferrari", the guys from Top Gear took delight in poking fun at the lack of imagination of the salespeople from Maranello. And some followed their example. In the history of the automobile, however, there have been numerous missteps and unfortunate naming decisions, and you don't even have to think of the Pajero, whose name means "wimp" in Spanish, or the Fiat Uno, whose name the Finns associated with "jerk".
The American Motors Corporation made a particular linguistic gaffe when it marketed the Renault R5 as the "Le Car" at the end of the 1970s.
At the time, the mixed-language name was intended to indicate the European (French) origin of the car, which had long since passed the test of time. The car was touted as the "French Golf" and its practicality and personality were emphasized in advertising.
Le Car" was sold with moderate success via the large AMC dealer network with 1,300 outlets. Despite the detoxified 1.4-liter engine with 55 hp, it showed impressive economy talents, running 35 miles per gallon (mpg) of fuel, which corresponded to a consumption of 6.7 liters per 100 km.
