Can You Identify These Cars If We Give You Their Foreign Market Names?

AUTO

By: Ian Fortey

6 Min Quiz

Image: The Dutch Texan via YouTube / Matt Maran Motoring via YouTube / Redline Reviews via YouTube

About This Quiz

Every so often you'll see a car somewhere, and you'll be sure you know what it is, but then you'll realize it has a totally different name. It's not that you don't know what you're talking about; it's that car manufacturers have a habit of doing something called rebadging. Oftentimes it's easier for a car manufacturer trying to gain or maintain a foothold in a foreign market to simply rebadge the car. 

Starting a new brand is hard to do, as you can imagine. Consumers don't readily trust a new product because it has no history that they can rely on. It has no established trust, and that's a huge financial risk when you're talking about products like cars that cost tens of thousands of dollars. So the easier route is for one manufacturer to sell the design to another manufacturer, or even manufacture it on their behalf, and just rebrand it for that foreign market with a name customers know and trust. That way, everyone wins!

If you have an eye for cars, then we're pretty sure you'll recognize some of these rebadged foreign market versions. But can you get all of them? One way to find out — take the quiz and see!

Which of these cars is marketed as the Opel Antara?

In America and Canada, the Opel Antara was sold as the Saturn Vue. In the U.K. it was the Vauxhall Antara; in the Middle East it was the GMC Terrain; in South Korea it was the Daewoo Winstorm MaXX.

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If you buy a Mitsubishi Precis, what are you actually getting?

The Mitsubishi Precis was just a relabeled version of the Hyundai Excel, available in the mid-'90s. It sold very poorly, likely due to the fact that no one liked the Hyundai Excel either, so a rebranded one did nothing for anyone.

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Renault is pretty big in Europe. What did they call the Renault 21 in North America?

The Renault 21 was marketed by Jeep-Eagle dealers as the Eagle Medallion. For a spell, the car was also sold under the Renault name in North America, but it was the Renault Medallion because 21 apparently meant nothing to anyone.

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Rover isn't just a dog, it's also a car. What was it called in the United States?

The Rover 800 series of vehicles were manufactured by Austin Rover and included the Rover 820, 825, 827 and some others. In America, they rebranded it as the Sterling 825 and 827, plus the Oxford Edition. They were sold from 1987 to 1991.

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The Chrysler Horizon was sold in the U.S. and Canada under what name?

The Horizon hatchback was sold in Europe as a Chrysler, a Simca and a Talbot. For the North American market, they opted to put it under the Dodge label as the Omni and later the Plymouth Horizon.

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You might know the Holden Astra Sedan better by what name?

The Chevy Cruze was sold in Australia as the Holden Astra Sedan and also the Holden Cruze. It was also released in South Korea under the name Daewoo Lacetti a year before the Cruze came out in North America.

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The Mitsubishi 3000GT is a nice looking car. Looks just like this North American version, in fact! What is it?

The Dodge Stealth was the North American version of the Mitsubishi 3000GT, which was also sold in Japan as just the Mitsubishi GTO. There were also a few tweaked variants that carried the name Spyder.

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What do they call a Holden Monaro in North American markets?

The Holden Monaro was better known as a Pontiac GTO in the mid-2000s. There was an earlier version of the GTO manufactured by Pontiac from 1964 to 1974, but that had nothing to do with the Monaro.

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If you don't know the name Daewoo Matiz, you might know this name. What is it?

The Chevy Spark is made by GM Korea and sold as the Daewoo Matiz overseas. There's an all-electric version of the Spark that was marketed as the Chevrolet Spark EV in the U.S. as well.

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Which of these cars was the North American version of the Mitsubishi Starion?

The Chrysler Conquest was also called the Dodge Conquest and the Plymouth Conquest in North America. Whatever Conquest it was, the original design came from Japan as the Mitsubishi Starion.

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In most countries, this is a Toyota 86. What is it in North America?

The Toyota 86 was rebranded as the Scion FR-S in North America. Scion, if you recall, was Toyota's kind of edgy, kind of hip brand that didn't last for too many years overall.

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What does the Fiat Viaggio look like to you?

Though it was sold as the Fiat Viaggio in China, in U.S. markets it was sold as the Dodge Dart from 2013 to 2016. Dodge also sold another car under the Dart name, but that was back in 1960 to 1976 and was unrelated to the Fiat.

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In European markets, this car was the Opel GT. What was the North American version known as?

The Saturn Sky was manufactured from 2006 to 2009 for sale in the U.S., while in European markets it was the Opel GT. It was branded for sale in South Korea as the Daewoo G2X as well.

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If the Nissan Navara looks familiar to you, it might be because you know it as this vehicle. Name it?

In Asia, Europe, parts of Africa and Australia you could get this under the name Navara, but in North and South America Nissan marketed it as the Nissan Frontier or the Nissan NP300. Production began in 1997.

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In Canada, this was called the Pontiac Sunrunner. What was it south of the Canadian border?

The Geo Tracker was also sold as the Chevrolet Tracker in American markets and was actually manufactured in Canada. Canada didn't have the Geo label at the time, so it was never marketed as that in Canada, but they did give it the Pontiac Sunrunner name for some reason.

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In Europe, it was the Opel Omega. What was it stateside?

The Cadillac Catera was based on the Opel Omega, one of many cars that Opel had rebranded for the U.S. market. Whatever the case with the Catera, it proved to be not particularly popular.

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The Buick Allure was sold in Canada, but what was it called in other markets?

The Buick LaCrosse was marketed for a brief period of time in Canada under the Buick Allure label for what's arguably a ridiculous reason. In Quebec, the word "lacrosse" means more than just a sport (Canada's national sport, incidentally); it is also obscene slang. Buick opted to call it the Allure to save trouble.

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In Portugal, this car was called the Kauai. What was it called in most countries?

The Hyundai Kona is an SUV that you can even get as a fully electric model. In Portugal however, they had to market it as the Hyundai Kauai for an embarrassing reason: in Portuguese, the name "Kona" sounds very much like some vulgar slang.

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If you drive a Honda Jazz in Europe, what would you be driving in the U.S.?

The Honda Jazz is sold in Europe, the Middle East, India, Africa and elsewhere, while it is labeled the Fit in Japan, China and the Americas. Why the difference? Well, one story goes that it was meant to be called the "Fitta," until someone clued in that it had an offensive meaning in some Scandinavian languages.

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What else is the Mitsubishi Pajero known as in the U.S.?

The Mitsubishi Pajero had about as many names as a vehicle can get. Dodge Raider was one of its stateside monikers, while in the U.K. it ran under the name Shogun. It was also the Montero in Spanish-speaking countries, thanks to "pajero" being derogatory slang.

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Tell us what the Holden Commodore was better known as in North American markets?

Fitting in between the Malibu and the Impala, the Chevy SS is the American version of the Holden Commodore. The name sounds more like an eccentric character from classic literature than a car, so it's probably for the best that they changed it.

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The Aston Martin Cygnet sounds pretty fancy. What name did they use in North America?

The Scion iQ was the American version of the Aston Martin Cygnet, while the Toyota iQ was the name used in Japan and parts of Europe where the Cygnet name was not being used. The vehicle is a very small four-seater.

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In the 1990s, Australians could have bought a Holden Nova. What was everyone else buying?

Arguably one of the most popular cars ever designed, the Toyota Corolla E90 has been sold under several names around the world, with only minor changes to differentiate them from the original. The Holden Nova and the Toyota Corolla were actually for sale at the same time in Australia.

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The Pontiac Acadian was only for sale in Canada. What was it called elsewhere?

The Chevrolet Chevette was one of those cars you saw everywhere, and there's a good reason for that. It was rebadged as several different cars, including the Pontiac Acadian, Pontiac T1000, K-180 and Isuzu Gemini.

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The Pontiac Tempest was sold in the late '80s in Canada. What was it called in America?

The Chevy Corsica, available as either a four-door sedan or a hatchback, was one of those fairly forgettable cars of the '80s and early '90s. It was marketed in Canada as the Pontiac Tempest, which had also been a Pontiac model from 1960 to 1970.

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Ford Maverick is the European version of what vehicle?

The Ford Escape SUV has been sold since the year 2000 and is marketed in Europe and China as the much cooler sounding Ford Maverick. It has also been tweaked to become the Mercury Mariner.

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So do you know the alter ego of the Mazda Soho?

The Ford Fiesta has been produced since the mid-1970s and exists pretty much all over the world. In Europe, it was marketed as the 121, and in parts of South Africa, it was the Mazda Soho. It was also branded as the Ford Classic and Ford Ikon, among others.

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In Mexico, the Volkswagon Caribe was a popular model for a few years. What name did it sport in other countries?

The Volkswagon Golf, the Volkswagon Rabbit and the Volkswagon Caribe are all the same car. The Golf was sold as the Rabbit for a number of years in the U.S. and was the first iteration for the Caribe name in Mexico.

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Which name did the Kia Avella go by in many markets?

The Ford Festiva was marketed in Korea as the Kia Avella for some reason. The Spanish-inspired name "Festiva" comes from the word for "festive," and "Avella" included the Spanish words "aveo" and "ella" to make something that roughly translates to "she desires." Later, the Festiva was replaced by the Ford Aspire.

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Tell us what the Hillman Avenger was also called?

The Hillman Avenger was a '70s family car that after a few years became not only the Chrysler Avenger but also the Dodge Avenger and the Talbot Avenger. In North America, it hit the market as the less-intimidating Plymouth Cricket.

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Which of these vehicles hit the roads in Russia as the Volga Siber?

The Chrysler Sebring showed up in the mid-'90s and was also sold as the Chrysler Stratus/Dodge Stratus in Europe. In Russia, however, the tooling and assembly were purchased by GAZ, and they turned it into the Volga Siber.

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Tell us another name for the Ford Laser?

The Ford Laser sounds awesome, but sadly it didn't make it stateside. However, the Mercury Tracer was essentially the same vehicle, just as a hatchback or a wagon. The whole car was a rehashed Mazda Familia.

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The Mitsubishi Galant Lambda is a bit of a mouthful, so maybe it's a good thing this car was also known as what?

The Dodge Colt Challenger was one of the North American versions of the Mitsubishi Galant Lambda, but it was also sold as the Plymouth Sapporo. Only minor cosmetic changes marked any difference between the vehicles.

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Does this Daewoo Kalos look like something else to you?

The Chevrolet Aveo T200 was branded originally as the Daewoo Kalos in South Korea, and then that name was dropped in favor of the Daewoo Gentra. It was sold under the moniker Holden Barina in Oceania and Ravon Nexia in Russia.

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The awesomely named Mitsubishi Mighty Max had what name in North America?

The Mitsubishi Mighty Max has had more names than oil changes, including the Mitsubishi Triton, the Mitsubishi Forte, the Plymouth Arrow, the L200, the Strada, the Rodeo, the Colt, the Magnum, the L200 Strakar and, in North America, the Dodge Ram 50. What an identity crisis!

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