Big and bigger.
That’s becoming the norm for nameplates adorning the newest crossovers, SUVs and even minivans.
Already routine on pickups, a fierce segment where owner loyalty runs deep, big, bold badges are now gaining popularity on other light trucks.
Call it pride. Or just Marketing 101.
But when you are a challenger brand such as Rivian, with only two models, you gotta go big with the badging to get noticed by the public.
In the case of Kia’s Telluride, introduced for the 2020 model year, the big badging appears both on the hood and around back on the liftgate.
At Ford, CEO Jim Farley wants to create passion brands under the Blue Oval — thus the oversized Bronco name on the new SUV.
But even established SUVs with some of the industry’s most dedicated owners are mixing things up.
Chevrolet has moved the badging on its redesigned Tahoe and Suburban from its tasteful spot in the past, the lower left corner of the tailgate, up to the center high post above the license plate bracket.
And big fonts may be de rigueur for nameplates making a comeback.
Jeep, with its Grand Wagoneer revival, and GMC, with its returning Hummer, now electrified, have embraced big lettering, front and back, on those large SUVs. And on the Defender, the SUV that Land Rover revived for 2020, the word mark appears not only as an identifier across the hood and at the rear of the vehicle, but also as a subtle styling note on the side vents and even on a bespoke wheel design.
Inside, the Defender badge appears on the steering wheel, the tread plates and, in case the customer still hasn’t noticed it, the instrument panel beam.
“As a new vehicle, it’s important to us and our customers that we signify what it is,” a Land Rover spokesman said. “Firstly, that it’s a Defender, and secondly, that it’s a Land Rover.”
For the retooled 2022 Pathfinder, Nissan’s designers were inspired by the “tens of millions of people who love Nissan and have deep attachments to specific nameplates,” said Alfonso Albaisa, Nissan’s head of global design.
“This was so genuine, so passionate,” Albaisa said, “that we wanted this expressed in our new vehicles by celebrating Nissan and celebrating the specific car they love with bold vehicle identification on our newest models.”
Urvaksh Karkaria, Michael Martinez and Richard Truett contributed to this report.