You say Skoda, and I say Schkoda – to end the debate, we take a look at some of the hardest car brands to pronounce. With many cars on the market coming from elsewhere in the world, there was bound to be some confusion.
Fear not, with Lookers’ helpful guide to car brands you’ll now be able to put all future debates to an end with the car-rect pronunciation. You might even learn a few facts along the way.
Audi
We’ll kick off with a fairly easy one. It’s not pronounced “or-dee”, but “ow-dee”. The company’s name is based on its founder’s name, and is actually Latin.
August Horch’s surname means “listen” in German, which translates to “audi” in Latin.
Citroen
Another confusing accent that non-Dutch speakers might be unfamiliar with. So we’ll use three English words that might help you pronounce it correctly - try “sit-row-in”.
The name comes from Andrew Citroen, the carmaker’s founder, whose father was from the Netherlands. In Dutch, it translates as “lemon”.
Dacia
The Romanian manufacturer – that’s headed by Renault - gets its name from the historic region that included part of present-day Romania.
The correct way of pronouncing it is “dat-cha”.
Peugeot
Another French brand to get your head around. Although it might not be the most mispronounced manufacturer on the list, the spelling could make you second guess you’ve got it right.
The brand is named after the family who founded it, and is correctly pronounced as “per-zho”. Before manufacturing automobiles, Peugeot actually produced coffee, pepper and salt grinders in the 1800s.
Porsche
The brand is named after a German family, and although its commonly mispronounced as a one syllable word, it’s actually two.
Think of the Shakespearean heroine Portia, that might help – “por-shuh”. The manufacturer is known for high-performance sports cars, and more specifically the Porsche 911 that’s been in production since 1963.
Renault
Another on our list that’s named after a family, Renault was founded by brothers Louis, Marcel and Fernand. As well as being prominent on a consumer level, it’s also a big name in Formula One as the constructer to introduce the turbocharged engine in 1977.
As a French name, its pronounced without the ‘L’ or ‘T’ at the end – try “ren-oh”.
Škoda
Often seen with an accent above the ‘S’, and sometimes in caps lock, the Czech brand is often pronounced as “skoh-dah”. However, that accent mark – known as a ‘caron’ – determines the correct pronunciation as “shko-dah”.
Škoda was originally founded as Laurin & Klement, an automotive manufacturer that was acquired by Škoda Works in 1925.
Volkswagen
Probably the most German sounding car brand in this list, the manufacturer is commonly pronounced as “volx-wag-uhn”. However, when pronouncing in the German language, ‘V’ can often sound like ‘F’, and ‘W’ sounds like ‘V’. This means the correct way to say it is actually “folx-vag-uhn”.
Volkswagen itself is a combination of words meaning “people’s car”, as the original VW was created as an affordable alternative.
Now, spread the word. Just make sure it’s the correct pronunciation.
