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If Tesla Motors created a sub-brand, what would it be named?

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The idea for this thread is taken from a few posts in the Predictions thread (mostly from posts 28-31) that got slightly off topic.

There are a lot of car companies out there that have multiple brand names for their vehicles. Mercedes has Smart, BMW has Mini, Audi has VW, Chrysler has Dodge, etc. If Tesla eventually decides to make a sub-brand to use when creating a larger variety of vehicles like Pickup Trucks, lower-end sedans, non-luxury vans or suvs, etc. what do you think they could or should name the new sub-brand?

Here are the brand names that I came up with:

Newton - Taken from Sir Isaac Newton for his work in physics among other things. At one point I remember Elon saying that he's a bigger fan of Newton (I think he said Newton) than Tesla, but Tesla invented the AC Motor, so that's why Elon went with Tesla for Tesla Motors. With a sub-brand maybe he could go with Newton.

Franklin - Taken from Benjamin Franklin for his discoveries in electricity.

Volta - Taken from Alessandro Volta for his invention of the first battery. This does sound a lot like the Chevy Volt though, so maybe not...

Mars - Taken from the planet, Mars. Elon has said that he thinks it would be cool to retire there, so I figure it's on his mind. Also Saturn and Mercury are already taken, so planets have been used in the past.

Who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to afford a Franklin Roadster :cool:
 
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Toyota already used the Volta name...
Toyota Volta | Concept Cars
But with Tesla/Toyota together maybe it could be reused?


Hmm... With Th!nk having gone bankrupt, maybe you sell this under another brand name: Think Ox Concept (KickingTires)

The Nikola Roadster... that has a ring to it :)
Wouldn't Tesla want to keep the Tesla name for their top line models? (Or maybe Roadster moves down market a bit?)

Toyota has Lexus/Toyota/Scion... Maybe there is room for more than 2 brands?
 
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A couple years ago, I made this nerd post listing SI (mks) E&M units of measure, named for scientists, and being used in the EV sector:

...
Volt (Volta): unit of electric potential
Ampera (Ampere): unit of electric current
Tesla: unit of magnetic field
Coulomb: unit of electric charge
(any others?? Ohm, Siemens, Farad (Faraday), Weber, or Henry yet?)

...
Any cars named after cgs units yet, e.g., Gauss, Oersted, Biot, or Maxwell?

Shortly after, during an interview at the Churchill Club, Elon suggested (perhaps apocryphally) that the namesake of the company was between Nikola Tesla and Michael Faraday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1j0yHOxcL0#t=0h47m26s
If they used Faraday for a sub-brand, maybe they could say the car is able to go far a day.

Anyhow, if they made a Tesla Truck cool enough, there'd be no need for another brand.
 
I think a sub-brand is essential if Tesla is going to market to the "sub 3" market (i.e., competing below the BMW 3-series). As I've argued elsewhere, there are no examples of a car company using the same marque to span the full gamut from sub-compacts to luxury sedans to sexy sports cars to pickup trucks. Brand image is important, and customers want and need to be able to identify themselves with a brand. The Tesla marque is a high-end performance label; neither Rolls Royce nor Chevy. When Tesla decides to move into either of those market ends, it should do so either with a separate marque or through contracting arrangements.
 
...there are no examples of a car company using the same marque to span the full gamut from sub-compacts to luxury sedans...

What was Aston Martin thinking? :
Aston Martin Cygnet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
250px-Aston_Martin_Cygnet_(82).JPG

(Or should I say "What were they smoking?")
 
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Always thought Tesla would *want* to use "Tesla" for its mass-market cars, to benefit from the established brand name. I'm expecting the mass-market car to be "good enough" to reinforce the brand also in favor of the high-end cars, so that there will be a mutual benefit of high-end and mass-market in terms of marketing.
 
..... there are no examples of a car company using the same marque to span the full gamut from sub-compacts to luxury sedans to sexy sports cars to pickup trucks.

Daimler sells A class through S class passenger cars, and commercial trucks and busses, under their Mercedes brand. Likewise BMW sells 1 series through 7 series cars. Audi has a broad range as well. Honda does not use the Acura brand in other countries, selling pickup trucks, Fits, luxury cars, and NSX sports cars all as Hondas.

GSP
 
Some units used by electrical engineers (some cgs, and some just plain obscure)...

  • ampere
  • angstrom
  • bel (decibel)
  • biot
  • calorie
  • coloumb
  • darcy
  • debeye
  • emu
  • erg
  • farad
  • franklin
  • gauss
  • gilbert
  • henry
  • hertz
  • jansky
  • joule
  • kayser
  • lambert
  • line (of flux)
  • maxwell
  • micron
  • oersted
  • ohm
  • phot
  • siemens
  • statvolt
  • stilb
  • tesla
  • unit pole
  • volt
  • weber
 
An interesting idea: Edison

If Tesla were to choose "Edison" for a down-market car, it would be an interesting turn of events. Tesla and Edison were fierce competitors, with Edison being better at gaining public image.
 
I think a sub-brand is essential if Tesla is going to market to the "sub 3" market (i.e., competing below the BMW 3-series). As I've argued elsewhere, there are no examples of a car company using the same marque to span the full gamut from sub-compacts to luxury sedans to sexy sports cars to pickup trucks. Brand image is important, and customers want and need to be able to identify themselves with a brand. The Tesla marque is a high-end performance label; neither Rolls Royce nor Chevy. When Tesla decides to move into either of those market ends, it should do so either with a separate marque or through contracting arrangements.

Hyundai has a pretty wide range of models... From econo boxes all the way up to the range topping EQUUS @ 72k!

- mnx
 
I think a sub-brand is essential if Tesla is going to market to the "sub 3" market (i.e., competing below the BMW 3-series). As I've argued elsewhere, there are no examples of a car company using the same marque to span the full gamut from sub-compacts to luxury sedans to sexy sports cars to pickup trucks. Brand image is important, and customers want and need to be able to identify themselves with a brand. The Tesla marque is a high-end performance label; neither Rolls Royce nor Chevy. When Tesla decides to move into either of those market ends, it should do so either with a separate marque or through contracting arrangements.

Now that I think about it, in a lot of ways Tesla is a lot like Apple. Simple and powerful (even if that means proprietary). Another brand would convolute a company that is trying to remain as simple (yet powerful) as possible. I think they will create a sub-brand eventually, but somehow I feel like it's going to take them a while before they do. I bet they'll go with the "don't do it first, but do it best" policy, and they'd put a huge amount of thought into creating a sub-brand. I would also guess that that sub-brand would almost certainly be created by Tesla and not bought or contracted.

Either way, I just hope they make the Chevy-equivalent brand next (not the Rolls-equivalent brand). I just think it would help electric car adoption. They say that bluestar will be for the masses, but they also say it'll rival the 3-Series BMW. What kind of average Joe owns a 3-Series BMW? I agree that bluestar should be a 3-Series competitor, but I also hope that eventually they really do make a vehicle for the masses, maybe starting at $15,000, not $35,000. Perhaps that vehicle would be under a new brand name that would make cars and trucks for the "average Joe".