I don’t know if you saw the news this week, but British marque Jaguar unveiled a fresh new look ahead of the launch of its new battery-powered cars and people on the internet had some opinions about the refresh. Personally, I think it looks alright, it’s a bit flat and I prefer some texture in my logos, but it was definitely needed for a company that has basically peddled the same British stereotypes for 100 years now.
The rebrand got me thinking, though, and I started considering the other automotive rebrands we’ve seen in recent years. Rebrands like the revolutionary new Porsche logo, or the flat text that Skoda is now sticking all over its cars. Then I wandered down a real mental rabbit hole and wondered, what’s the worst automotive rebrand of all time?
So, dear Jalopnik readers, what car company design direction would you like to submit? Maybe you never forgave Kia for changing its logo to just say KN, or perhaps you’ll opt for something older, like Auto Union’s evolution to become Audi. Whatever automotive rebrand you actively dislike, we want to hear about it.
Personally, I think the worst attempt at reinvention has to be Volkswagen for its whole Voltswagen palaver. It ended up being an April Fools joke but it was definitely an almighty cock up. The automaker should have just owned it and been Voltswagen, we’d all have moved on pretty quick because it’s just VW either way.
But that’s just my pick for the design refresh that I think went most awry, what would you choose? Head to the comments section below to let us know your picks for the worst automotive rebrand of all time and we’ll round up some of the worst offenders in a slideshow next week.
