The all-electric E-tron is expected to make production in the next few years, promising to be an efficient alternative to those who value performance but have a concern for the environment and how much they spend on gas. It is said to have similar performance of the Audi R8 but uses absolutely no gas. Cool idea.
What wasn’t a cool idea though, was naming it E-tron. While the name sounds cool and futuristic, obviously the whole world doesn’t speak English. Which means that different words have different meanings in cultures across the world. Audi is finding that out the hard way.
Turns out in French Etron is slang for feces. Obviously having a car named after excrement is not ideal. It would give way to way too many puns such as “that car is a piece of shit.” This isn’t the first time Audi has screwed up names. Remember when they insensitively created the Green Police? The same guy responsible for that in Audi’s research department must’ve come up with the Etrons name.
This also isn’t the first time a new car’s name meant something hilariously different in another language. GM came to the startling realization that the name of its top selling sedan, the LaCrosee, means rather crudely to masturbate in la Francais Quebecois. Luckily for GM, they came to this realization before the LaCross went on sale and named it the Allure in our market. Since then, GM has decided that LaCrosse will be the name of here and Canada too. They apparently don’t care about Quebec culture or references anymore.
[Green Car Ports]
