Car naming for Volkswagen

Volkswagen boasts some of the auto industry’s most iconic and distinctive cars and car names, from the Beetle to the Touareg. So we were thrilled when they called on us to name their 7-seat crossover SUV, positioned between the long-wheelbase Tiguan and the more upscale Touareg.

Working with VW’s US, German, and Chinese marketing teams, Catchword explored a broad range of messaging themes—including geometry, T words (to fit in with the two existing model names), uncommon animals, and names of cultural import—and developed more than 2,500 name candidates. The global nature of the project meant we also carried out linguistic and cultural screening in 19 different languages, including Min Nan and Kejia Chinese.

Atlas reinforces the vehicle’s size and strength and implies a titan among SUVs. Launched in 2017, the model has become a bestseller recommended by Consumer Reports and voted “Best Family SUV of 2020” by Cars.com.