At the end of a busy week, AsiaPundit often finds himself thinking “I need a Life Dunk.“.:

The Nissan Moco is unlikely to be successful anywhere that speaks Spanish. When the Japanese carmaker showed off its first entry to the minicar market, its small round green car prompted surprise from those who knew that “moco” means “snot” in Spanish.

But the Japanese, broadly speaking, appear to be happy to buy cars with foreign names that sound absurd in their native languages. The Daihatsu Naked, Mazda Bongo Friendee and Suzuki Joy Pop are never going to be sold in English-speaking countries. But the Honda Life Dunk almost sounds like a 1960s hippy van from California. Sadly, it won’t appear outside Japan.

The Nissan Cedric (apparently inspired by a medieval knight) was another unfortunate choice, with many blaming its name for its initial failure in export markets. “Its only serious problem was that it was given one of the most ridiculous names in the history of the motor car,” says one devoted owner on his web site.

There is an almost limitless supply of Japanese car names that sound odd in English. The Daihatsu Move Latte is described by one reviewer as having “the street cred of a shopping trolley” to go with its silly name, while the Mitsubishi Delica Space Gear and Honda That’s appear to have been picked at random.

“We do tend to have wacky names, I must admit,” says Takeshi Sumita, director of PR for Honda Europe. “They sound pretty exotic in Japan, but no one would dream of using them in Europe.”

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