Brand name translation for the Chinese Market

Some well known non China brands actually sound as if they originated from China. In fact, they do strike a cord with the market audience when translated.

Heres a few I can think of  with the loose translation:

Mercedes Benz     - 奔驰 Ben Chi (Speed ahead)

BMW                      - 保马 Bao Ma（Precious horse)

Carrefour               -家乐福 Jia Le Fu (Happy and fortunate house) 

Coca Cola              -可口可乐 Ke Kou Ke Le (Tasty and Happy)

Ikea                        -宜家 (Ideal home)

Tesco                      -乐购 (Happy buying)

Samsung            -三星 (Three stars)

Hyundai               -现代（Modern)

 

Comments

[vivian]

I'm a native Chinese speaker. Samsung (I assume that's what you meant) and Hyundai are from Korea, it's possible that the Chinese translations are in fact the characters in Korean. I know that's the case with Japanese brands in China -- same characters, different pronunciations.

[Lilian]

Brand translation is more about marketing and get the market recognition.

So it's more tricky, it's not to contact a translation agency and ask them to translate them into Chinese. This needs to get people who knows local culture and the product, and try to find a name that's meaningful and attractive to customers.