Manfred Gotta is a master at coming up with car names. Mégane, Smart, Twingo, Vectra, Cayenne, Panamera: they were all created by him. But how does he do that?
His company is located in a historic half-timbered house in the Black Forest. Because Manfred Gotta, who came up with resounding names for numerous car manufacturers, believes that “atmosphere is important for creation”. The 74-year-old German has not only created numerous car names with his company Gotta Brands, he is also not afraid of names for detergents, furniture or cat food.
Gotta started coming up with car names in the second half of the 1980s, having previously worked in advertising. It was a period when many car manufacturers abandoned cold numbers as type designations and opted for a word instead of a number combination on the tailgate.
His big breakthrough came with the name Vectra for Opel. “Out of financial need I came up with the idea to write a book about building brand images and it sold out in a flash. Then Opel called, where my name went around.”
“Arrogant as I was, I put a hefty price tag on coming up with a new car name: 45,000 German Marks.”
The call would prove to be a turning point in Gotta’s career. “Opel worked feverishly on the development of a successor to the Ascona. Because that car had to usher in a new era, the management wanted a new name. However, that was not ‘so said, done’. Arrogant as I was, I hung there a spicy price tag: 45,000 German Marks. The offer was initially not honored, because it was too high. But apparently Opel felt the pressure to come up with a name in time.”
Gotta kept his leg stiff. “A month later I still got the assignment,” he says with a laugh. His fee at the time was hefty for just a name. But Gotta kept his word and came up with a fantasy name that signals novelty and sparks interest: Vectra.
More and more people in the car industry heard that Gotta was good at coming up with product names. Following Opel’s lead, Renault knocked on his door. It led to his probably best-known feat of arms: the creation of the name Twingo.
Manfred Gotta is now 74 years old.
Manfred Gotta is now 74 years old.
‘Sometimes we test three hundred names’
Gotta had already discovered during his work as an account manager at an advertising agency that he is good at coming up with names for products. ”It starts with listening: what does the customer want? What kind of company are we going to come up with a name for? What kind of culture is there? A company consists of people; we sometimes forget that. So we have to click, build a relationship.”
A team then gets to work on the creation: about twenty employees who come up with ideas. Gotta: ”We combine all possible letters using the computer and we discuss in groups. Then comes a long process, in which sometimes as many as three hundred names are tested. A name should sound good anywhere in the world. On the one hand, it should polarize, but at the same time not evoke aggression. And he shouldn’t mean anything inappropriate. That way, only the striking names remain.”
“A name has to sound good all over the world. On the one hand, it should polarize, but at the same time not provoke aggression.”
Visualizing the selected names is also important, says Gotta. That is why he often wrote such a name in chalk on a blackboard and asked employees for a response. He also wanted to see the car in question as early as possible. Then I walk around the car. Check out the headlights, the grille, the face. For me, a car has a soul. I even let myself be locked in it. That’s how I absorb the scent, I feel the materials.”
‘This profession always requires innovation’
Gotta not only came up with dozens of model names such as Panamera and Cayenne (Porsche), but also model names such as Smart (for Daimler-Benz) and Xedos (for Mazda). Sometimes he was also commissioned to come up with the name of a gearbox, such as Tiptronic (Porsche) and Sensonic (Saab).
The German is in favor of fantasy names instead of existing boy or girl names. He also denounces modern designations such as E-tron (turd in French) – while Audi uses the name for its electric models. And he finds it incomprehensible that costly mistakes are made with trivial type names, such as with the Toyota MR2 (merdeaka poo in French) and the Mitsubishi Pajero (Spanish for masturbating).
“Isn’t it cringe-inducing to call a truly innovative product AXR?”
Gotta is now officially retired. He now mainly leaves the work to his son, who now holds sway over the company. But he can’t help but get involved every now and then.
“The interesting thing about this profession is that it always asks for innovation. My challenge is to set new standards every time. I like companies that dare to stick their neck out. Because it is cringe-inducing to call a truly innovative product AXR “Isn’t that creative poverty?”
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