What’s in a Name?
The fact of the matter is, no matter how we look at vehicles, they are first and foremost products. Products, as we know, are made for the specific reason of fulfilling a need, which entails development and production costs, not to mention marketing.
Believe it or not, a brand like Tesla, with a very simple product nomenclature, probably spent countless hours of billable manpower to come up with the names its cars have. Yet, it seems that they felt the need to (possibly) rethink some of the naming already in place for a specific variant.
Model Y Standard to Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive?
A CarsDirect report claims it has it on good authority that Tesla is considering a name change for the base Model Y variant. Currently, the base Model Y is aptly called the Standard—very simple, and very basic. It’s being reported that the name change will go from Standard to just Rear-Wheel Drive. While that sounds fine, it might actually be confusing.
Let’s first take a look at the base Model Y, which is currently listed at $39,990 with a $5,000 difference compared to the mid-variant Premium. Most of the savings come from the lack of a panoramic sunroof, cloth interior, fewer speakers, and less overall range. Here’s where things get confusing: both the (current) Standard and mid-variant Premium are rear-wheel drive, with the differentiators coming purely from the range and features that come with the car.
Looking at the current lineup name on the Tesla website, there are three variants: Standard, Premium, and Performance. This is a very straightforward and easy-to-remember model name structure. It also helps with marketing and sales: name recall is everything, and customers are more likely to remember a non-technical term like Standard than a technical one like Rear-Wheel Drive. While the sales team won’t have to spend more time explaining to confused customers why the Premium and Standard are both rear-wheel drive but the Premium isn’t called it… (I’m already confused just typing this article)
Tesla
Reasons
As of writing this article, Tesla hasn’t confirmed the name change yet, and a visit to the dealership or website will confirm the status quo. Again, companies spend millions on products, and it’s a given that this rumored name change was given much thought and that the brand must have come up with very valid reasons for it.
While some of you may scoff and say that it’s a minor change, name is everything for products, and something this simple could impact the identity for good or for bad. It’s not as if people have stopped buying the Model Y. Could it be a case of why fix what ain’t broke?
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