- Bugatti’s “Tourbillon” name sparks online confusion, focusing on watches instead of the car itself.
- The name clashes with Bugatti’s existing watch collaborations with Jacob & Co.
- The overlap between hypercar and watch identities raises questions about strategic brand naming.
What’s in a name? When it comes to christening a car as significant as a new Bugatti, we imagine it took months of deliberations. Yep, naming a hypercar isn’t something taken lightly.
And, on the face of it, the Tourbillon is a great name. Rather than representing some focus-group-honed nonsense buzzword, in the horological world, a Tourbillon is a respected and intricate complication. Invented by Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet, it aims to improve accuracy by counteracting the effects of gravity on the watch’s movement. It all ties in with the car’s theme nicely.
More: 1,775 HP Bugatti Tourbillon Hybrid Gives Us V16 Reasons To Hate On Electric Hypercars
But the name’s association with the watch complication loses Bugatti several internet algorithm points. As the model was launched, web searches continued to focus on wristwear, notably with some of Bugatti’s own watch collaborations being catapulted to the top of search results.
We even found many searches with sponsored ads for cheap imitation watches from Ali-Express (and now I’m actually curious to find out how a $500 knockoff compares to the genuine article that is 750 times its price).
The initial confusion primarily stemmed from Bugatti’s partnership with Jacob & Co. The latter is a Manhattan-based watchmaker that has managed to make a name for itself in the enthusiast world with its celebrity-endorsed, outrageous, and often complication-laden timepieces.
Aside from Bugatti, they’ve also created a watch celebrating the Fast and The Furious franchise, a Scarface watch, and their signature Five Time Zone watch.
With the Bugatti name so closely associated with a Tourbillon watch already, was it the best name for their latest and greatest V16 creation? To put it another way, it would be like Stuttgart coming up with a new model called the “Porsche Chronograph” and being surprised when most of the web traffic is directed towards Tag Heuer. In contrast, their timing-themed Sport Chrono packages have little danger of being confused with anything else.
Read: Latest Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon From Jacob & Co. Costs $1.5 Million
Or perhaps we’re missing the point entirely. Either way, it’s hard to imagine that Bugatti’s clientele is of the “add to cart” demographic.
But was the Tourbillon the best name that they could have come up with? Is it as timeless and as distinctive as the Veyron and Chiron? Perhaps not — but let us know your take in the comments below.
