Who's your market?

A marked difference between Singapore and the States is what we choose to name our cars. In the U.S., cars are named Expedition, Land Rover, Explorer - anything to make you feel like you are on some grand adventure, instead of what you are really doing, which is driving to the library to drop off some books. They should call them what they are - the Toyota Grocery Getter or the Mazda Carpool.

Here, we're trying to figure out who their market is when cars are named Jazz, Stream, Sunny, Wish, and my personal favorite, Picnic. These cars would never sell in America. They just don't sound tough enough for the man who wishes he were climbing mountains but is instead just driving a mile to work.

So today we went car shopping. Well, you could maybe just call it car looking because we're in the curious stage still. We're interested in the Hyundai Matrix (which is about the fiercest name you get here) but like I said, we're just looking right now. With names like the Nissan Prairie, (this is a tropical island - where's the prairie?) I wonder if everyone everywhere is trying to live out their dreams vicariously through a car.