Naming cars has been described by our co-founder Beau as “the sport of kings,” and I think he’s right, though you don’t technically have to have royal blood to name a car. It probably wouldn’t hurt, though? It’s not easy, which is why I’m always a bit surprised when I see a car that, thanks to the confusing magic of badge engineering, has multiple names. This usually happens when one basic car is sold in different markets through different subsidiaries of a given company, and it can lead to a single car having a lot of different names. I used to think I knew the car that had more aliases than any other, but I now realize I was wrong. I think there’s a new champion, a car that I suspect most of us know best as the Suzuki Swift.
Specifically, I mean the second-generation Suzuki Swift, which we knew here in America as the Geo Metro, still the darling of charmingly weird hypermiler obsessives everywhere. Based on my count, the Swift is known by 15 different names in different markets across the globe. Fifteen! Fifteen different names, different badges, different marketing, different identities! Why? Wow!
I used to think the Hillman Avenger was the most badge-engineered and re-named car ever, with 13 different aliases:
- Hillman Avenger
- Chrysler Avenger
- Chrysler Sunbeam
- Sunbeam 1250 TC
- Sunbeam 1300
- Sunbeam 1600
- Talbot Avenger
- Plymouth Cricket
- Dodge Polara
- Dodge 1500 (Argentina/Uruguay/Colombia)
- Dodge 1800 (Brazil)
- Dodge Avenger (New Zealand, built by Mitsubishi)
- Volkswagen 1500
I mean, that’s a hell of a lot! But I still think the Swift has it beat. I’m also realizing I’m calling it the Swift, but I’m not even sure if that’s the “orginal” or “base” name. It may be Cultus, which is what it was known in Japan, its country of birth. Anyway, here – I put together a chart of the 15 Names of the Swift:
- Suzuki Swift (Global)
- Suzuki Esteem (Indonesia, sedan only)
- Suzuki Forsa (Ecuador, Indonesia)
- Suzuki Avail (Asia, somewhere I think)
- Suzuki Margalla (Pakistan, sedan)
- Changan Suzuki Lingyang (China, sedan only)
- Geo Metro (America, Canada)
- Chevy Sprint (Canada, Chile)
- Suzuki Eleny (Indonesia)
- Holden Barina (Australia)
- Maruti Suzuki 1000 (India, sedan)
- Pontiac Firefly (Middle East, Canada)
- Subaru Justy (Europe)
- Suzuki Amenity (Indonesia)
- Suzuki Cultus (Japan)
These names were sometimes used in combination (Forsa Amenity, for example) but I’ve also seen examples of the names used alone. It’s all a bit confusing, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find I’ve missed one or misused one or some combination of all of that, because this is, fundamentally, 15 freaking names for what is, essentially, the same damn car.
This isn’t even really a situation like, say, the Ford Mustang/Mercury Cougar badge engineering, where there were a lot of trim changes and design detail changes, and the cars were marketed at slightly different target markets; in the case of these 15 cars, aside from the names and a few badges, they’re all still pretty much identical!
Why did Suzuki feel so compelled to give this car such wildly different names? I mean, Firefly and Sprint and Metro and Swift are all damn fine car names, but it’s not like there’s one conceptual theme that could be considered a through-line here. They’re truly different, distinct names!
It’s baffling. And amazing. I’m decreeing the Suzuki Cultus/Swift/Esteem/Forsa/Avail/Margalla/Lingyang/Metro/Sprint/Eleny/Barina/1000/Firefly/Justy/Amenity the most re-named car of all time. If anyone has anything that can beat this, please, let me know in the comments! Because maybe there is a car out there with, say 20 names! I want to know!
(Also, for you geeks: see if you can tell the significance and order of the colors used in the chart!)Â
The GMT360 suvs of the 2000’s always crack me up.
Chevrolet Trailblazer
GMC Envoy
Oldsmobile Bravada
Buick Raineer
Saab 9-7x
Izuzu Ascender
Mainly cause these were all sold in the USA and are the same damn thing minus the front clip styling and some trim bits. Oh and some models got completely different interiors that were supposed to be more “upscale” but were really just as shitty as the base Trailblazer.
All that money wasted on the different variants(including marketing costs) could have gotten these things an actual nice interior. Mechanically they were pretty stout units.
I can’t read all 52 other comments to see if someone else said it first, but you missed one – Chevy Metro.
Officially a “Chevrolet Geo Metro”, at least, mine is that way on the pink slip. You are right, add that to the list! Or were all Geos listed as Chevys on their registrations?
I just want to know why that Suzuki Eleny has what looks like OZ or Compomotive rally wheels. It looks awesome
So sometimes I see a word that looks wrong and my brain tries to turn it into something it isn’t. So today that was turning Suzuki Cultus into the Suzuki Cletus. Now I want to know what the Suzuki Cletus would look like.
It would probably be a Swift Special Dukes of Hazzard Edition (basically orange paint, stickers and doorhandle delete!)
Remove the base from the L and put it on the U you have the Suzuki Coitus.
Sorry, I’m kind of a word nerd with a twisted sense of humor.
Don’t forget the FWD GM T body.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_T_platform_(FWD)
The same basic design had these names:
-Opel Kadett
-Opel Astra
-Opel Monza
-Daewoo Lemans
– Daewoo Cielo
–Daewoo 1.5i
–Daewoo Fantasy
-Daewoo Pointer
-Daewoo Racer
-Daewoo Nexia
-Daewoo Racer
-Daewoo Heaven
-Daewoo Espero
–Asüna GT
-Asüna SE
-Passport Optima
-Pontiac LeMans
–Guangtong GTQ5010X
-Vauxhall Belmont
-Vauxhall Astra
-Chevrolet Kadett
-Chevrolet Ipanema
-Chevrolet Viva
-Holden Astra
That’s 24 names for the same basic car!!
And it was a similar situation for the RWD GM T-Body cars
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_T_platform_(RWD)
-GMC Chevette
-Opel K-180
-Opel Kadett
-Holden Gemini
-Holden Piazza
-Chevrolet Chevette
-Chevrolet Marajo
-Chevrolet Chevy 500
-Chevrolet San Remo
-Pontiac Acadian
-Pontiac T1000
-Aymesa Condor
-Isuzu Bellette
-Isuzu Gemini
-Isuzu Piazza
-Isuzu Impulse
-Isuzu I-Mark
-Vauxhall Chevette
-Vauxhall Chevanne
-Saehan Bird
-Saehan Max
-Daewoo Maepsy
-Daewoo Max
-Bedford Chevanne
-Grumette 250m
-Grumette Chevette
-Grumette Sport (LOL)
THAT’S 27 names for the same basic car!!!
You missed the Iran Khodro Paykan as one of the Hillman Hunter derivatives, so that narrows the gap to 14-15… I’ll bet if you did a little bit more crawling through the more dusty and sordid corners of Rootes Group / Chrysler Europe / PSA history you might find some more to even it up.
Aha! You missed the Singer Gazelle VII and Singer New Vouge also. That brings the Hillman back up on top at 16.
Oh, and you missed the Humber Sceptre MkIII completely, too! 17! Pfft, the Hillman Hunter scoffs at the Suzuki Swift’s mere 15 variants. Those are rookie numbers!
Team Hillman Hunter 4-lyfe! 😉