In the days when there were literally hundreds of motor manufacturers, you simply drove a Ford, a DKW, a Pontiac or a Wolseley. Then, as the industry rationalised into a score of major groups, model names took over from makers’ names and today people own Mondeos, Clios, Evoques or Golfs.
A few upmarket manufacturers still manage to project their brand first, Mercedes or Audi for example, but on the whole, the fashion for calling mass-produced automobiles after their makers has died out: nobody drives a ‘Ford’ or a ‘Renault’ anymore – it sounds too ordinary, though you can still hold your head up to owning a Lotus or a… Porsche. From time to time, manufacturers have tried calling their products after numerals: for a decade, Fiat successfully sold an ‘Uno’…
