Ford Fiera – In Spanish-speaking Latin American countries Fiera means “ugly old woman”.
Chevrolet Nova – In Spanish “no va” means “it won’t go”. To get around this, in Latin American countries the Nova was renamed Caribe. In Spain it was sold as the Corsa.
Ford Pinto – When Ford decided to market the Pinto in Brazil they had to perform a hasty name change. Because in Brazil the word “pinto” is a nickname for the male member.
Toyota MR2 – Who could be offended by MR2? Well the French it would seem. When spoken, “MR2″ would be pronounced “me-re-de”. Or in other words s**t. Toyota’s practical solution. Remove the 2 from all French-market cars.
Mazda Laputa – In Spanish “La puta” means “The Prostitute”.
VW Jetta – In Italian the letter J is rarely used. Meaning that in some dialects, especially near Naples, the name is pronounced “Letta”. And that translates as “throw away”.
Mitsubishi Pajero – In Spain the Pajero is sold as the Montero. Pajero in Spanish is a crude word for masturbation.
Buick LaCrosse – The car is being renamed in Canada, and that’s because in the area around Quebec lacrosse is a slang word for self pleasure.
Honda Fitta – In Scandinavian countries the Honda Fitta was hastily renamed after the company found out they’d effectivley named their car the Honda c**t.
Nissan Moco – In Spanish “moco” means “mucus”.
Opel Ascona – In Galician, a language spoken in the north of Spain, “ascona” translates as a lady’s private area.
Rolls Royce Silver Mist – Almost! Rolls Royce dodged a bullet by renaming the Silver Mist to the Silver Shadow just before launch. In Germany “mist” means “manure”.
Mitsubishi Starion – Not a bad name, just an accident. It is said that when Mitsubishi were looking to name their new car, they wanted to continue with the horsey theme they’d started with the Colt. However when “Stallion” is said with a heavy Japanese accent it sounds like “Starion”. The badges were ordered and stuck on before anyone spotted the error. And the name literally, and figuratively, stuck.
Ford Probe – Oh come on! Do I really need to explain why this was such a bad choice?
http://www.diseno-art.com/news_content/2012/06/whats-in-a-name-the-worst-ever-car-names/ (Archiv-Version vom 22.09.2013)