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The last decade has seen the resurrection of many car model names. And as I’m sure you’ve noticed, the new vehicles often look nothing like their namesake predecessors. Some are more egregious than others (Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, Ford Maverick), but the question remains—why do automakers do this?
As our Editor-in-Chief and video host Kyle Cheromcha explains in the latest mini-doc on The Drive‘s YouTube channel, there’s more to zombie car names than nostalgia-baiting cash grabs. Naming a car is a deeply complex process involving a lot of stakeholders. Getting more mileage out of an old one has a lot of appeal to automakers trying to sell products to a huge range of cultures and markets.
But, also, nostalgia really is a heck of a drug. Even if consumers aren’t entirely sure why they recognize a name, something with even the faintest glimmer of recognition has a better shot of firing synapses in consumers’ brains and drumming up interest. Plus, it lets automakers ride a wave of “Make Model Is Coming Back” headlines.
Maybe more to the point, the risks of trying to launch something with no name equity are very high. Remember the Acura ILX? No? Neither does anybody else. But the Integra took the same idea (compact platform plus luxury and available manual transmission) and suddenly everybody lost their minds over it.
Ford, of course, has been particularly bullish with its old-model-name revivals. The hugely successful Ford Maverick looks absolutely nothing like the Maverick from the ’70s. The Mustang Mach-E, well, would people have been nearly as excited about an electric crossover from Ford if it didn’t evoke one of the best-known sub-brands in cars?
So, yeah, shameless cash-grabbing is a big part of it. But another huge factor is the complicated corporate ecosystem in which car-naming takes place. Check out the video to walk through some history and context of zombie car names coming back.
Check out The Drive‘s YouTube channel for more videos like this and other automotive shows!
Automotive journalist since 2013, Andrew primarily coordinates features, sponsored content, and multi-departmental initiatives at The Drive.
