Is it a new drug for a medical condition you’ve never heard of, where the pharmacist’s ad tells you to “see your doctor”?
Is it a new application or social media platform that your children enjoy before their parents discover it?
The name was released on Wednesday night. The company said it comes from the “Latin verb ‘stello’, which means ‘to illuminate with stars.'”
“Inspired by this ambitious new lineup of historic automotive brands and strong business cultures that, by coming together, create one of the new leaders in the next age of mobility while preserving all of your parts exceptional value and values constituents, “the company’s statement said.
However, you won’t see Stellantis in the company’s cars or dealerships. It will simply be the corporate name.
The brands of Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Jeep, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Maserati, which today are part of Fiat Chrysler, will continue. So will Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel and Vauxhall, which are the PSA Group brands, none of which is available in the US market.
It is unusual in the automotive industry to have a corporate name that does not include one of a company’s brands. Until now, General Engines (GM) and Daimler (DDAIF) they were the exceptions among global automakers. Both names date back more than a century.
All other major automakers, such as Toyota (TM), Volkswagen (VLKAF), Ford (F) and the rest – they have names that reflect their best-selling brands. All but Tesla (TSLA) have other car brands that are not in their corporate names.
Chrysler has been through two Other mergers in the past 25 years and the name of its most famous brand remained in the corporate name on both occasions, with DaimlerChrysler and Fiat Chrysler. In between it was owned by a private equity firm and used only the Chrysler name.
An uneven history of creating new corporate names.
Proposing new corporate names can be a tricky business.
Often during a merger, a company simply chooses the brand that it believes is strongest, even if the company is not buying.
America West bought US Airways bankrupt and took the name of US Air. So the new US Air bought American airlines (AAL), again bankrupt, and took the name of American Airlines The recent merger of Sprint and T-Mobile was made under the T Mobile (TMUS) Name.
But often a new name is invented as part of a merger. Verizon (VZ) was formed in 2000 Bell Atlantic and GTE merger. That made-up word raised his eyebrows, just like Stellantis this morning, but in the last 20 years it has become a major established brand that few think twice about today.
Other names have not aged too. Verizon created a subsidiary called Oath in 2017 to hold the assets of Yahoo that it had just purchased and the assets of AOL that it already owned. The name was dropped in December in favor of Verizon Media.
Kraft Foods chose the name Mondelez International (MDLZ) for the snack division that emerged in 2012, rather use the name of any of your well-known brands like Oreos, Ritz or Cadbury. Kraft also pointed to Latin as the reasoning for the made-up word, saying that “monde” derives from the Latin word for “world” and that “delight” must be a fanciful expression for “delicious.”
Coach, a brand famous for its handbags, changed its corporate name to Tapestry (TPR) in 2017
Google’s corporate name became Alphabet (GOOG) in 2015, in an attempt to better represent your non-Google brand divisions such as Nest and Waymo driverless car unit. But the name has not been realized as well, as many people still use Google when referring to the company as a whole.
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