Have you been to the East?
I would guess that well over half of the vehicles on the road here are SUVs, mostly larger ones. And overwhelmingly Jeeps of every model.
Traveling in my old stomping grounds last summer made me think of some of these names: Starvation Creek, Deadmans Pass, Dead Ox Flats, Devils Lake, Rattlesnake Springs, etc.
Jokes aside, it’s obvious the marketers are circling round the branding-iron fire and choosing names that resonate in that Bonanza/Marboro-country sort of way. And yeah, it’s a little tedious. But then, branding is sort of like being a rebel in high school: you want to be totally different, just like everyone else.
I’m looking forward to the Pontiac Deadwood.
Honda Ridgeline? I know it’s not specifically western, but perhaps meant in invoke the high mountains of the west?
Incidentally, the Ford Bronco and Ranger are supposed to be making a come back - those for sure are western names.
It’s good one of the darts never landed on Oxnard.
Unnamed so far, not strictly geographical but still West-referential: the Ford Ranchero and Chevy El Camino (obviously derived from El Camino Real) odd combination sedan/pickups; and the Toyota Sequoia SUV.
FWIW there have been vehicles named after locations out West that are not so for the sake of evoking the open range but some other vibe such as the Malibu.
Appropriate for a defunct brand, indeed.
Although Cadillacs are mostly not SUVs, many of their names are Spanish. Being from the Waspish east, this invokes a western image to me:
El Dorado
Seville
DeVille
Cimmaron
Dennis
Nissan Pathfinder.
Not sure what’s up with the Armada.
I think Armada just sounds big. There is the Nissan Frontier which evokes feelings of non-city specific western ruggedness.
Wait 'till you grip your hands around an Oxnard!
I can’t remember if it was when Ram was still part of Dodge or after they went on their own but they had/have a Bighorn Edition.
How about the Limon?