Draft: Why are manufactures stopping using their logo on the rears of their cars?

"Kar Wai Wong" (kingawesome467) 11/10/2020 at 17:56 • Filed to: unfinished drafts, logo, logos, automotive logos, Automotivedesign, Car Design

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!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! has been posting their   !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , I thought I’d join in with a few drafts I wasn’t planning on posting anyways. This one is around 70% done. I started this in April 2020, expect typos, inaccuracies and incomplete sections, so not much difference from my regular posts.

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First you remove the distinctive green from your logo to bland monochrome...

Škoda have started removing the their logo from the rear of their cars. For me it only looks good on the Scala, which was actually designed with it in mind, so maybe it won’t be as bad in a few years. Maybe this is an attempt to get people to stop misspelling their name by leaving out the caron. And it seems this may !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

South American designed Fiats haven’t used the Fiat shield on the back for several years now, although it’s more of a secondary logo, than their name in script. They’ve recently switched ditched the shield completely in South America. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Seemingly wanting to be more like it’s Volvo subsidiary, Geely have begun removing the rear badge of their models.

Here the ass looks especially like ass, with all that unfilled blank space.

And they’ve been also doing the same to Proton, which Geely owns, probally for easier rebadging.

Genesis models are starting to have their own unique sense of design direction, but that also means big GENESIS script on the rear.

Lada models no longer have the viking ship on the butt anymore.

Roewe are removing it from their models.

In conjunction with their new logo, Nissan seems to also not want to use it on the back of their new cars. The new Z Proto still has a Nissan badge on the back, but like how the Dodge Challenger has no crosshairs, it seems to be an exception with it’s retro design, it also doesn’t have a V-motion grille.

It looks like their subsidiary Infiniti might be switching too, with their recent concepts. Now their most recent concept, the QX60 Monograph still has their logo on the rear, but that’s a very close to production concept that’s just a continuation of their current design language, while these models appear to showing what their future design language could look like.

Chery are removing them from some models, but there coverage is a bit spotty, as they’re kept on others.

So why is this a trend?

Could this have been inspired by pickup trucks? Massive text on tailgates have long been a staple of pickup truck design, and look undeniably cool. Ford and Ram use large text on the tailgate of their special off-road trim levels, and Chevrolet have ditched the bowtie from the rear of their trucks completely. It this works because a tailgate is just a large, blank, flat piece of sheet metal, and you can’t really do much else to make it more interesting, like dramatic curvatures, overlapping taillights, or even a number plate recess. It’s big and in your face, and is perfect for projecting that strong masculinity people expect for trucks. But that doesn’t seem to be what these companies are they’re going for. I do have another theory though.

With a big exception of Ferrari, pretty much every sports car manufacture doesn’t use their logo on the rear of their cars. I’m guessing that with the engines often in the back, lower height, huge vents and diffusers, means that there’s just not a lot of vertical real estate for a decent sized badge, so they just use script. Therefore this is seen by other designers as a hallmark of special or luxury cars, and seek to copy them to make their models seem more special or luxurious.

In their home market of South Korea, the Kia Stinger and Mohave have unique badges, to differentiate them as special models.

Yet these logos aren’t used at the rear, they both have the model names on the rear.

The Ssangyong Rexton also has script in the back instead of a logo. This is just for the Rexton, other Ssangyong models have the logo on the back. I’m guessing this is because in it’s home market of South Korea, like the Kias, the Rexton as it’s called is branded differently as a special model with a unique logo. In fact, it’s an updated version of the one they used in their Chairman line of luxury limos. And the G4 Rexton (as it’s called there) is effectively replacing them as their flagship luxury model.

This kinda falls apart when you find out South Korean Rextons do have a badge at the back, but that’s my best guess.

I guess it could be a callback to the previous generation Rexton, where before it seems like the wiper got in the way for a conventional badge placement, but SsangYong does not need any reminders of it’s past models.

To be fair I’m not sure where I’d put the logo either.

And the few remaining sport car manufactures that do use logos on the back, appear to be switching to using script. The Bugatti EB logo is missing from the rear of some of their more recent designs, the Divo and the Centodieci. The latter makes sense as a tribute to the EB110, which didn’t have a logo on the back.

In fact the DBS Superleggera OHMSS editions have the Aston logo on the rear to match the original DBS.

The Aston Martin DBS Superleggera has the word Aston Martin on the rear instead of their logo. The Valkyrie and the Valhalla also don’t have logos on the rear, but on those models it seems more like there is no room anyways. (The original AM-RB 001 concept did have a badge on the back though.) Now it doesn’t seem this will apply to all future Astons, later revealed models like the DBX and the Vanquish Vision keep the wings on the rear though. Maybe it’s only for their more intense performance based cars, while their more mainstream Grand Tourers keep the wings.

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I first noticed it on Škoda and Proton, thought it looked bad and wondered why? I didn’t think that two examples would be enough to call it a trend, but after that I could not stop noticing it and finding more examples! Everyone is doing it! It was pretty simple to explain why I stopped working on this one, because I found an answer: China.

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I don’t get the logic, but yeah, it’s a direct answer from a head of design of a major car company. There are still questions, a few of these makes like Lada don’t even operate in China, and is Aston really banking on Chinese sales of the DBS Superleggera ? Still I was both glad for an answer, and pissed off, after making so many of those side by side comparison images.

jminer > Kar Wai Wong 11/10/2020 at 18:05

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My thought was due to easy recognition. Most people can’t tell you what one car is from another so if they see a car they like and only see a logo they still don’t know what it is.

If it has the name on the back though they know now what it is and might buy it as their next car.

flatisflat > Kar Wai Wong 11/10/2020 at 18:11

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Difficult for people to research what they’re looking at after seeing one on the road?

User googles: “circular emblem with winglets and some bits” and “car” might not be terribly succinct.

And perhaps it’s also a statement in reflection to how many cars look alike nowadays, so they may as well state it plain as day what the manufacturer is.

ranwhenparked > Kar Wai Wong 11/10/2020 at 18:30

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Manufacturers want their cars to be rolling billboards for future car buyers, and think people are too dumb to realize that that car in front of them at the red light with a Skoda emblem on the back must b e a Skoda, so they have to spell it out.

Add it to the list of things done to accommodate stupid people. Like when Boyds put concrete planters in front of their store to stop stupid people from running out into Chestnut Street and killing themselves, but now you can't park on the sidewalk to keep an eye on your car while you're shopping.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Kar Wai Wong 11/10/2020 at 18:48

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I’m gonna go with “it sells in China”

I just hope BMW doesn’t resort to this. The roundle being replaced by a big chrome B M W would be pretty lame 

Amoore100 > Kar Wai Wong 11/10/2020 at 19:02

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It’s funny that Volvo was one of the early progenitors of the trend considering they didn’t even start centering their badge until well after 2000!

The S80 was known for being the first center-badged Volvo, though I can’t recall which car debuted the spaced center badging that they use today .

Jb boin > Kar Wai Wong 11/10/2020 at 19:08

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The Porsche Cayenne was one of the first offender and i always hated the read of those (first and second gen especially ) :

Urambo Tauro > Kar Wai Wong 11/10/2020 at 20:13

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I’m kinda torn. One one hand, I really like how the proper logos can serve as a subtle little stamp of authenticity. But there’s a kind of modesty and maturity that comes across when it’s just text and I appreciate that too. Of course that modesty goes out the window when the text is enlarged to outrageous proportion...

It’s funny that you bring this up because I’ve been thinking about this as applied to models rather than makes . Most models don’t have their own unique logo, but the ones that do are often “ halo brands” that are supposed to stand out from the rest. Come to think of it most of them seem to be the animal-based names (Mustang, Flacon, Viper, Impala, etc.)... In contrast, i t would be interesting to try to think of what are the most mundane non-halo cars that somehow also ended up with their own model iconography.  

facw > Amoore100 11/10/2020 at 20:17

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I’m not sure exactly when the spaced wordmark happened in general, but I’m pretty sure for the S60, that was one of the changes for the minor 2008 facelift (basically just that and moving the side indicators from the fenders to the mirrors) .

Brian McKay > Jb boin 11/10/2020 at 20:26

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Brian McKay > Jb boin 11/10/2020 at 20:27

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Amoore100 > facw 11/10/2020 at 21:01

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Looks like MY2009 on that facelift, but yes!

I do believe I’ve found the first car   to have “V O L V O” with the spaces: it’s the third-gen (P3) V70! Twas sold starting 2007 as MY2008.

Interestingly the V70's sister car, the P3 S80 didn’t get the spacing until after a 2009 update, probably in a similar update as the S60.

facw > Amoore100 11/10/2020 at 21:03

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I think it was 2008, for example this one has it (same photo set as yours but identified as a 2008): https://carbuzz.com/cars/volvo/s60/2008

I’m actually seeing 2008s with both badges, so it might have been a mid-year upgrade.

Also 2009 was the last year for the first-gen S60, and a single year facelift (for a car that was already selling poorly) wouldn’t make much sense.

fintail > Kar Wai Wong 11/10/2020 at 21:04

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One designer does it, a ton eventually follow - it is a very copycat vocation.

Thankfully, Mercedes-Benz has too many letters, probably on a 50/50 chance some sycophantic dork will try it.

Amoore100 > facw 11/10/2020 at 22:01

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You’re right! I wonder why they waited on the S80 for so long, then. Its platform-mate got it in ‘07, the rest of the lineup in ‘08, and then the S80 and XC90 in ‘09. Perhaps it was just parts availability at its various production sites. 

Amoore100 > fintail 11/10/2020 at 22:10

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Well, MB generally don’t have the identity issue that many modern, more regional brands do. Everyone knows the three pointed star, but show this to your grand mother (or other non petrol-head family member) and they’ll be up a creek without a paddle:

Amoore100 > Urambo Tauro 11/10/2020 at 22:16

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I think it’s especially good when it references historical (i.e. “retro”) cues, but as with any type of graphic design (in this case, creating the rear fascia of a modern vehicle) there will always be good and bad visual decisions. I think unfortunately because these kinds of things aren’t integral to the function of the car they tend to come off as sloppy on non-legacy marques, especially when they’re stuck on as a response to the trend without care for finesse.

As mentioned above, this is one of the most egregious to me personally because the Lada logo is so iconic and the four-letter word has such negative connotation outside Russia that its perceived recognizability isn’t exactly in their favor. If they wanted to do it the right way, perhaps  would have been a rather unique alternative. 

Shoop > Kar Wai Wong 11/10/2020 at 22:21

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It helps the cars look wider and lower, and thats always good

fintail > Amoore100 11/11/2020 at 01:26

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Yeah, I remember some claim that people who lived way out in the bush somewhere, who had never seen a M-B, knew the star . Maybe the most recognizable logo (lacking letters or words) in the world. Still, who knows what a trendy copycat designer linked to a suit with a cereal box MBA might try to do.

For that one, especially on this continent where the brand has never officially been sold and likely never will be.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Kar Wai Wong 11/11/2020 at 02:52

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sometim es car manufacturers are like lemmings

Kar Wai Wong > Amoore100 11/11/2020 at 05:13

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I think it coincided from when they made the Volvo logo on the grille bigger and lost the box.

Kar Wai Wong > Urambo Tauro 11/11/2020 at 05:36

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Is it cheating to say JDM Toyotas?