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A look at some car companies logos design evolution
The evolution of big companies logos is always interesting, and I found car companies logo designs to be among the most interesting to inspect. One of my favorite aspect of these is to see how logos are handled when two or more brands are merging (see Audi, Mercedes-Benz or Mitsubishi).
Renault
Audi
Volkswagen
Mercedes-Benz
I also can’t resist to share this fabulous vintage ad.
BMW
Ford
Alfa Romeo
Mitsubishi
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The current Mercedes-Benz marque is missing (updated in 2007):
http://www.mbusa.com
Great post, Thanks!
Inspired post it’s always good to see how logos have evolved especailly those that appear so much in the public domain. It adds another layer to the history of a company. The Mitsubishi evolution is amazing to see.
Is that sledgehammer in the MB ad for smashing the state, or what?
Love seeing the transitions through the years of different car logos. It really is an interesting look in to the past of graphic design.
Great post! Every time I see Ford logo I remind of that great Paul Rand’s redesign, which unfortunately was never used..
I heard that Mitsubishi translates into “three diamonds.” Their partnership with Chrystler was called “Diamond Star Motors” and various mitsu-mad Chrystler-badged cars were known for this reasons as DSMs.
Love posts like these. Gotta give some credit to logos that don’t morph as much as the competition. BMW’s is very consistant.
Volkswagen appears to be the most confused
Anyone else notice that the first VW logo (before 1939) looks strikingly similar to a Swastica. Note that VW is a German manufacturer as well and you got yourself a nice little story presented in logos.
Interesting to see that VW’s logo evolved from a stylized swastika- being that Hitler was the one who started the company.
Mirko! This is incredibly one of a kind
Great round up. Thanks for sharing.
It’s interesting to see how those logos have been evolved throughout some decades!
Ford needs to get rid of that old-fashion script.
Many of the auto company logos really suck, I think they’re hesitant to change, afraid of losing brand identity-too bad
Inspiring! Thanks
It seems almost all evolved into a 3-d element.
Yeah at first I also saw a Swastica in that first VW logo but I would rather say it’s just very big coincidence.However Charles Weber might have a point, I don’t know much about the company’s history.I’ll check it out.
Hitler did not start VW.Although he did colaberate with Dr.Ferdinand Porsche on bringing a cheap,dependable,econimic car to the people of Germany.That is what Volkswagen means,peoples car.
You can go to thesamba.com,there is some history on the early VW’s there.It is a site about VW’s by VW owners and people who own,drive and restore classic VW’s.Paticulary the VW Samba (bus oe van),and the Type-1 (beetle).This is a really good site if you like the classic VW.There are forums,tech articles,historical pages,loads of information if you are restoring a classic VW,an area for buying or selling VW,and many photos of classic VW’s,restored and customized.
Actually VW started out as KDF.and as another poster said Hitler had a hand in the idea of an inexpensive automobile for the masses.He didn’t start the VW company.As a side note,did you know that the first Poesche cars were basically a VW Beetle with a hand formed Porsche body?The whole chassis,motor,suspension,brake system,tires and rims,everything but the body.Makes you wonder,a new VW is $25,000,But a new 911 is $100,000+.
Great post…….
too bad no cadillac but still a great post
Interesting, but is there a point you’re making?
Some of these logos were not improved by the successive re-designs – Alfa in particular. Cadillac has not been improved IMHO by the recent redesign and has lost its character. Porsche hasn’t been redesigned that I know of and works as well today as ever. Lexus, Mazda, Toyota and other Japanese have no character either which is surprising since calligraphy and design are so important there. I’ve always thought the Renault logo suffered by comparison with Citroen’s two cheverons.
BTW: To my eye the early VW logo is a clear reference to the fact that the car was AIR COOLED.
Great post that deserves a lot more investigation.
so vintage so cool!
great logos
GREAT GREAT GREAT POST! one of the best I’ve seen in quite a while, it’s so wonderful to see how these logos have evolved over the years.
You can ad SAAB, GM close it down now
Great post with interesting automotive nostalgia
It’s interesting that the 1919 Renault logo looks like the logo to newgrounds
Very interesting, like how all but mitsubishi look a bit 3dimensional today. Guess it means mitsubisshy got it right from the beginning.
Great Post thanks for sharing!
Really interesting article – seeing that I’ve been a car designer for the last 19 years and 10 of those for VW! Did u know that Volkswagen wasn’t even called Volkswagen before WW2! It was called “KDF Wagen” (Kraft durch Freude) which basically means “Strength through Joy”! Which brings me to the fact that the VW name was invented by a British Officer in charge of getting the Wolfsburg factory to produce the first Beetles in Lower Saxony. He asked what the translation for People’s car was….! There’s also really interesting graphic and other design news on dande-services.com.
Great post. Thanks
Great post .. thanks
Good efforts.
Thoroughly enjoyed watching these famous car logo branding evolution.
I have especially enjoyed watching this rare vintage Merc ad.
If you take a look at the door handles on small (8-10hp) British Fords from the 1930s you will see that their shape is a stylised version of the top flourish from the letter ‘F’ in the word “Ford”
So you’re a journalist for ynet, but you can’t type proper English.
stick to Hebrew please
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Audi logo is not the current one. As far as i am informed they have developed a new type, a long with some minor tweaks to the mark.
not a great re-design imo.
Nice post. I love the Volkswagen and Ford logo evolution.
Never knew that Audi was made up of four seperate companies, thus the four rings! Great article
@ Arthur,
The point wasn’t to show how things improved over the years, but simply how such things change over the course of time.
Some things change greatly, while others are hit with little effect.
That was the real point.
I thought the mitsubishi symbol was supposed to be a propellor because they made prop planes in WWII
Very cool.
@ rish: if the british officer really invented the name Volkswagen, why does the 1939 emblem have the letters VW in it? KDF was just the name for the beetle not for the company. and the 1939 emblem shows a swastika , because the company was founded through the nazi party. Mr.Porsche worked for them.
greetings from Germany
I love how the Mitsubishi logo doesn’t look shinified like the rest. Simplicity is that Japanese characteristic that’s powerful and never fails.