Names in the News: Coda

If you live in California, by the end of 2010 you may be able to buy the Coda sedan, the new all-electric car from Coda Automotive. The company is based in Santa Monica; the chassis, a modified Mitsubishi, is from China, as is its lithium-ion battery, although Coda is hoping to build a new battery plant in Ohio (with a little help from the U.S. government).

I recognized “coda” from musical terminology: it’s the closing passage of a movement or composition. (The source is the Italian word for “tail.”) But I couldn’t get from there to “forward-thinking,” “innovation,” and “transforming the traditional car sales and service model.” Nor did I understand the all-caps spelling in the logo and throughout the website. Is CODA an acronym? For what?

I found an answer, sort of, on the AutoBlogGreen site, which posted a video from Coda (or CODA). There, the definition of “coda” is given as “a musical phrase that brings a piece to an end so a new one can begin.” And, the voiceover continues, “that is just what this car can do: usher in the electric car era.”

I’m still not convinced. When I see “coda,” I hear “The End.” Period. Unless I’m faking a New Jersey accent, in which case I’m really confused. Da Coda or Dakota?

And I’m still baffled by the acronym-like spelling, which only the company uses. Everyone in the media seems to be ignoring it.

In other respects, Coda fits squarely into what’s becoming a predictable naming convention for electric vehicles. So far we’ve seen the Chevy Volt, the Nissan Leaf, and—from Canada—the ZENN, which stands for Zero Emission No Noise. They’re all four-letter, one-syllable names*. Perhaps their brevity is meant to represent the short driving range of the cars.

I give other elements of the Coda verbal brand a B-. The Coda website is, for the most part a clear and effective blend of technical explanation and social conscience along with some clever wordplay such as “End Dependence Day” and “100% Fuel Deficient.” (But “Flip gas prices the bird” strikes my ear as both awkward and immature.) I saw some lazy writing, too, such as an overdependence on “actually,” which comes across as defensive. (“Actually, the CODA's 90-120-mile range will satisfy 94% of typical daily driving routines”; “Actually, about 35% of the components used in the CODA are manufactured in the U.S.”) The blog appears to have been delegated to a junior copywriter or intern (a sadly typical state of affairs for corporate blogs); its tone is simultaneously rambling and breathless: “Join CODA this Saturday in standing up for and supporting what we like to call ‘End Dependence Day,’ a day when we are no longer dependent on foreign oil and are free from all of the environmental degradation that it causes.”

In comments, perhaps you could suggest a suitable acronym for CODA.

To the ER, stat! We have a Coda Blue!

___

* Commenter Q Pheever correctly points out that Coda is a two-syllable name.

 

 

Comments

[Q. Pheevr]

"There, the definition of 'coda' is given as 'a musical phrase that brings a piece to an end so a new one can begin.' And, the voiceover continues, 'that is just what this car can do: usher in the electric car era.'"

That's a rather forced bit of reasoning, isn't it? After all, the coda belongs to the piece that's ending, and it has nothing to do with the piece that follows (if any). On the other hand, 'Prelude' was already taken.

"Coda fits squarely into what’s becoming a predictable naming convention for electric vehicles. [...] They’re all four-letter, one-syllable names."

Well, Coda is two syllables, but other than that it's consistent with the Volt/Leaf/ZENN trend.

[4ndyman]

"a musical phrase that brings a piece to an end so a new one can begin."

This isn't a very good definition of coda in a musical sense -- I get the picture that they're trying to mold the definition of coda to fit their brand. A better musical term to fit their definition is "cadence" -- but that also sparks images of soldiers in march-step, which would be counter to the idea of breaking out of the norm of gas-powered machines.

Keeping with the idea of stopping one and starting another, the first terms that came into my head aren't very good: attacca and segue. Both can be used to indicate that a musician should continue on to the next musical piece without any break. Attacca sounds like an Italian armored SUV, and segue is pronounce "seg-way," which is already taken.

No other good musical terms come to mind for the message they're trying to convey.

Although, if they or some other company wanted to create a car with a "back to the basics" (presumably safety, comfort, and fuel efficiency could be considered "the basics"), "solfeggio" might be a good name. Solfeggio is the do-re-mi singing scale that's used for teaching basic scales to young vocalists.

[4ndyman]

CODA could stand for California's Only D____ Automobile. I'll let you and your readers decide what the D stands for.

[Helen Howes]

Car Of Dubious Ancestry

Cabal Of Dark Arts

Cheese Or Dried Apples....

[Q. Pheevr]

CODA: One Doubtful Acronym

[Laura Payne]

Speaking of syllables, 'coda' is the name of the (optional) final consonant in a syllable.

[Nick]

"Car Of Dreams Almost"
Let's hope that the Coda company adds a model name such as "Coda Lectricar" or " Coda Catric" etc. "CODA" is worst than "BLAND" for me because it has absolutely no meaning ; graphically it looks like a parking space and phonetically sounds like someone's calling in sick,"I have a coda in my node" or making an excuse," I coda been a contenda."
I like " CODA BLUE ." It sounds French.

[AlexandraFunFit]

Can Only Drive Apres-Ski
(sorry, can't find the accent mark this morning - too early)

[liz.nicole]

Odd reasoning and wrong musical definition aside, it's just a weird metaphor. Maybe it works for a hybrid - but electric cars are the future, right?

In addition to words about beginnings, I'd like ideas of starting anew or growing. We already have cars; this is their evolution.

"Modulation" has zero ring to it, but "Crescendo" sounds nicer. It connotes movement and building up (eg, to new technology), and it means "growing."

"Da Capo" is also nice. It means starting over again, and the plosives sound snappy.

[Nancy Friedman]

Liz Nicole: Da capo di tutti capi?

[silke]

Well, you're quite right. No need to argue about.

But (BUT! ;o)) on the other hand, I think these are nice failures (name and "actually" in their spot).

Why?
Well, in which car would or even could you trust more easily:
In the one of a small company that is paying a great deal of attention (and money) to their engeneers and developers and so there's less for namefinding and advertising?
Or in the one from a small company that splits its etat into a slice for the tech, but a big piece for namefinding and perfect advertising?
Just my 2 cents...I love languages and thinking about their perfect usage, meanings, puns, a.s.o. - but I'm quite pragmatic when it comes to tech/innovation/etc.

(and I'm a non-native speaker, btw, so don't flame me for spelling or grammar, but only for the content, please ;o))

[Nancy Friedman]

Silke: Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. Of course product design and engineering are important--that goes without saying. But one's *first* impression of any company is likely to be its communications. Careless writing is the equivalent of careless personal grooming: a person may be a paragon of virtue, but if he doesn't brush his teeth or comb his hair, I may never learn about his good qualities . . . or even want to approach him. And when you're introducing a breakthrough product such as an electric car, it's doubly or triply important that you take pains to polish your message. Otherwise, how will consumers have confidence in you?

Compared to engineering or software development copywriting and editing are cheap and well worth the investment. Too many companies these days, however, regard language as a frill. I'm not saying that's true of Coda, which in general does a nice job with its copy, but it's an unfortunate trend.

And by the way, I happen to know that Coda paid a large sum for its name.

[Alan Palmer]

CODA = Califormia's own daft acronym?