Dealers can't pronounce "Auris"!

Henry Ford III

Auris leaves dealers tongue-tied
Toyota's Corolla replacement, the Auris, is proving a real tongue-twister for puzzled sales staff

19th December 2006
Auris
The Japanese firm denied any confusion over the pronunciation of the name of its hatchback, which goes on sale in Feb*ruary. A spokesman said: "It's an 'ow' sound, as in owl, followed by 'ris'."

But when Auto Express called 10 dealers across the country, only three said it correctly. Other interpretations included 'O-ris', 'Or-rus' or a mix of the two. One dealer admitted she'd been sent a Toyota network E-mail with a phonetic guide to the car's name - but even she got it wrong!

colm_mcm

who really cares?
Customers have trouble pronouncing "Avensis" and "Rav4" - I get "Aventis" and RAVA on a daily basis. Who pronounces Renault or Peugeot the way the French do? How many pronounce Volkswagen or Audi, or even Mercedes Benz in the correct way.
It must be a slow news week if that's making the press!

Owen

Exactly, who cares? The amount of people who can't even get "3 Series" right is astounding ... "Do you have any of the Series with the 3 in stock?" ... how can someone about to spend approx 40k be that badly educated about the product they want to buy?

I have people who call Seat (Sayat) as if it's a piece of furniture (seet), people who Peugeot as Pugit. We're an incredibly primitive Motoring Culture in this country.

Don't even get me started on Daewoo (Or Chevrolet ... whatever they're calling themselves these days). Daewoo Nubira, Tacuma, Leganza, and Lancetti. No wonder they don't sell in huge numbers, customers can't pronounce, never mind spell what they're driving.

colm_mcm

ned78 wrote:

Don't even get me started on Daewoo (Or Chevrolet ... whatever they're calling themselves these days). Daewoo Nubira, Tacuma, Leganza, and Lancetti. No wonder they don't sell in huge numbers, customers can't pronounce, never mind spell what they're driving.

Maybe it's a reflection on their target market?

Owen

colm_mcm wrote:

Maybe it's a reflection on their target market?

PMSL

G Luxel

[IMG][/img]It isnt pronounced Auris in Japan either, its something like Altls, ok the
corolla Fielder is pronounced Karora Firuda,

pictured above is a derivative launched yesterday in Japan, called Blade, basically an Auris fitted with a 2.4 litre engine

colm_mcm

That blade is class alright. have you seen the Alcantara dashboard and the cool interior lighting? If they did it over here with the 2.0 D-4D I'd buy one,