BLOG - Auto Acrynoms for Dummies

11-June-2008

Frustrated by automotive acronyms?

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BAIC. Translation – boy am I confused. Yes, that is a real-life (and apparently well-known) acronym, but of course you knew that.

FYI, I think the automotive industry should become an AFZ (acronym free-zone). It's bad enough that we have to decipher acronym-laden text messages in our everyday life (e.g. CUL8R = see you later) without the automotive industry also getting in on the act, baffling us with their secret language, packed with abbreviations harder to crack than the Da Vinci code. It's enough to drive you to AA.

Now, at the risk of disclosing my Gen-X status, I long for the good old days when life was simple and so were the acronyms (aka – I understood them). I'm talking back when JT was a still a member of NYSNC, P Diddy was Puff Daddy and Jennifer Lopez hadn't also jumped on the band-wagon to become J-Lo. Back then, I knew what an LBD was, and I sure didn't have to worry about fitting into that darned thing into after eating KFC. *Sigh.

But has the world gone MAD? (*Not an acronym). Example? ESP. This acronym is dropped like it's hot, all over print, television and radio campaigns and even given away free with new cars. Now I hate to be the bearer of bad news, and certainly after millions of dollars have been spent on these three little letters, but I'd like to 'offer' some 'free' advice – the high majority of consumers have no idea what ESP actually is.

We recently conducted a survey on this very topic and not one participant had a clue what ESP stood for. Not one person i.e. no1. So the dealerships had better brace themselves because according to our research, there are a whole lot of consumers about to roll up to buy a new car from them who will be expecting to receive either a free clairvoyant reading, some type of ethanol petrol or some form of extra-snazzy security system. OOPS! (outrageously, offensively, and profoundly stupid).

Personally, I for one don't relish the thought of playing a cryptic game of 'guess what this acronym stands for' what I'm buying a car, yet it seems we have little choice as the car manufacturers continue rolling them out faster than Paris Hilton can pick up at a singles bar. LOL.

So for all those of you out there who may be as lost as I am with these clever abbrevs, I present to you below the 'GPS' of automotive acronyms to help navigate your way through the word short-cuts and lingo that everyone else seems to know but us.

SYNT (see you next time).

Juliet x

PS – *ESP (of course) stands for Extra ESP: Electronic Stability Program/Control, but you knew that, right?

Common Automotive Terms

ESP/ESC:

Not the sixth sense variety but Electronic Stability Program/Control – it helps prevent the car careering out of control, by reducing the ability to skid! It can reduce single car crashes by up to 67 per cent. Also is known as Dynamic Stability/Traction Control.

GPS:

Not to be confused with GDP, is actually Global Positioning System, commonly referred to as satellite navigation, a modern day digi-map. It can find you any location in any weather.

AWD:

Is an acronym for All Wheel Drive. It is a four-wheel drive term and is when all the wheels received electricity from the engine together.

BA:

Can mean an Arts degree but we're talking Brake Assist. BA is "braking technology that increases braking pressure in an emergency situation."

ABS:

Is common after a few sessions at the gym, but we mean the Anti-Lock Braking System that "prevents the wheels from locking while braking" variety.