The Origins of 16 Automobile Brands

It’s rather interesting to discover the origins of 16 automobile brands that people depend on so much these days. Some of them are even a little amusing in a way.

Cadillac

This is actually a coat of arms taken from Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. He was an explorer who founded Detroit.

Honda

Back in 1948, this company was founded by Soichiro Honda. Some of us might even remember that it’s the name of a Street Fighter character, but the word itself means “original field”.

Hyundai

When exploring the origins of some things you don’t always expect to hear what they actually mean. This Korean word means “modernity”, and the tilt in the logo is meant to convey motion.

Chevrolet

As you might have already guessed, the origins of this symbol came from the founder, Louis Chevrolet. The nickname Chevy didn’t come until the 1930s.

Jaguar

The original name of this brand was S.S. Limited. But in the interest of not being associated with the Nazis, the company changed their name at one point.

Citroen

A freemason named Andre-Sutave Citroen founded this company. His last name sounds like a citrus fruit, doesn’t it? It means lemon and shares a root with citrus, go figure.

Chrysler

People have a big deal with naming things after themselves, right? Walter Chrysler was no different, but oddly enough, his name means “spinning top”.

Infiniti

Considering that this name, a version of Infinity, came out in the 80s, it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. The logo is meant to depict a road leading off into infinity.

Volkswagen

This was known as the “people’s car” back in the day, and it’s fair enough since plenty of VWs were seen at one time. But the latter term came in 58.

Toyota

This company was founded by the Toyoda company, no joke. But strangely enough, they switched it to Toyota since the slight change took only eight brush strokes to accomplish.

Mitsubishi

This word means “three diamonds” in Japanese, hence the logo. It’s the family crest of the founder that you see on these cars.

Mercedes

This is named for the daughter of a rich Austrian diplomat. Initially, the cars were commissioned for racing.

Suzuki

The name means “bell tree” in Japanese. It was founded in 1909 as a loom company, which is funny to think about.

Lincoln

If you were thinking that this was named after the president of the USA, you’re right. The founder of this company had a sense of history it would seem.

Tesla

Yep, this one was named after none other than Nikola Tesla, since names are meant to convey one thing or another. And since Tesla was all about electricity, it makes sense.

Mazda

Out of all the cars on this list, this is the only one named after a deity, Ahura Mazda. At least, that’s the story.