Volkswagen vehicles are blessed with some of the most interesting model names out there. At one time or another, you’ve probably heard something about them being named after a tribe in Africa or a Greek myth. As told by the automaker themselves, here are the origins of their vehicle names.
Arteon
Photo courtesy of Volkswagen AG
Volkswagen: “The Arteon takes its name from the Latin word for art (artem) and alludes to the emphasis VW placed on its design. The four-door coupe includes features such as chrome strips on its frameless side windows and a wraparound grille."
Atlas
Photo courtesy of Volkswagen AGVolkswagen: “Technically the third VW named after a Greek titan; in ancient myth, Atlas held up the sky – which is appropriate for Volkswagen's first seven-passenger SUV."
Atlas Cross Sport
Photo courtesy of Volkswagen AGVolkswagen: “The Atlas Cross Sport is a two-row, midsize crossover based on the Atlas that's sportier (hence 'Cross Sport')."
Beetle
Photo courtesy of Volkswagen AGVolkswagen: “Not long after it first appeared on German roads, the Volkswagen Type 1 was dubbed the Käfer – or Beetle. That name survived the translation into English and dozens of other languages and became the model's official moniker by the late 1940s. (Other nicknames: 'the bubble' in Denmark, 'coccinelle,' or ladybug, in France, and 'turtle car' in Thailand.)"
CC
Photo courtesy of Volkswagen AG
Volkswagen: “Originally known as the Passat CC, which has been taken to mean "comfort coupe." Although coupes are generally two-door cars, among modern designers the word "coupe" can also describe cars with the sloping roofline of a coupe, regardless of how many doors they have.”
Corrado
Photo courtesy of Volkswagen AG
Volkswagen: “Derived from the Spanish verb "correr," meaning to run or to sprint. (Prototypes had a different, wind-related name that was nixed during development.)”
Eos
Volkswagen: “Eos is the Greek goddess of the dawn, an obvious reference for a hardtop convertible.”
GLI
Volkswagen: “Following the debut of the GTI as a sport version of the Golf, Volkswagen chose "GLI" to indicate the sport version of the four-door Jetta sedan.”
Golf
Photo courtesy of Volkswagen AG
Volkswagen: “Several VW models take their names from winds, a pattern that's more of a historical accident than a planned strategy, and you many think that trend continued with Golf. But "Golf" isn't a type of wind – it's the German word for the Gulf Stream ocean current. It also happened to be the name of a key manager's horse, which appears to be the real inspiration."
GTI
Photo courtesy of Volkswagen AGVolkswagen: “Originally inspired by the Italian designation for high-performance luxury cars with fuel injected engines: ‘gran turismo iniezione.’”
Jetta
Photo courtesy of Volkswagen AGVolkswagen: “A proper example of the wind motif on Volkswagen models, the word Jetta comes from the German name for jet stream."
Passat
Volkswagen: “Launched in 1973, the Passat was the first modern-era Volkswagen, and took its name from the German word "passatwinde," or trade winds.”
Phaeton
Volkswagen: “Another in the Greek mythology series, Phaeton was a god who almost lost control of the chariot that pulled the sun across the sky. In the 19th century, a phaeton was a specific type of carriage, one with large wheels and an open body designed for speed. In the early days of the auto industry, the name was sometimes applied to open-topped, powerful vehicles – and while the Phaeton has never been built as a convertible, the powerful sense of the name made it a natural for a luxury sedan and wagon.“
Scirocco
Photo courtesy of Volkswagen AG
Volkswagen: “The VW sports coupe took its name from the ‘sirocco,’ a hot, powerful wind from the Sahara that blows northeast across the Mediterranean Sea.”
Taos
Volkswagen: “The Volkswagen Taos SUV designed specifically for North America, shares the same name as the New Mexico town. Home to 6,000 people, Taos has been known for centuries for its breathtaking views, its traditional culture and the artists who have set up colonies there since the turn of the 20th century.“
Tiguan
Photo courtesy of Volkswagen AG
Volkswagen: “Ahead of its launch in 2009, Volkswagen teamed with a German automotive magazine to poll readers about what the new compact SUV should be named. The choices included Namib, Rockton, Samun, Nanuk and Tiguan – a portmanteau of the German words for tiger and iguana. It's also the latest in a series of animal-inspired names, along with Rabbit and Fox."
Touareg
Photo courtesy of Volkswagen AGVolkswagen: “One of the most challenging names to appear on a Volkswagen was inspired by the Tuareg people, known mostly as a tribe of Berber nomads who live in the northern Sahara Desert.”
Up!
Photo courtesy of Volkswagen AG
Volkswagen: “The city car sold in Europe has had the punctuation mark included with its proper name, much as #PinkBeetle serves double duty as a social-media hashtag. "‘Up!’ also happens to be the middle two letters in "Lupo," one of the vehicle's predecessors. (‘Lupo’ is Latin for wolf, while ‘Amarok’ means a similar animal in Inuit – both nods to VW's hometown of Wolfsburg, Germany.)”
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