Study finds 95% of UK drivers can’t pronounce BMW correctly – are YOU saying it right?

When scowling at the stubble-chinned business exec weaving through motorway traffic in his flash car, you may find yourself uttering a few choice words from behind the wheel.

As you sit stewing while he meanders to the front of the queue, you can at least be smug with the knowledge you’re among an exclusive group of UK drivers who are pronouncing the name of his car brand correctly, thanks to this article.

Research has shown that nearly all drivers are pronouncing the word BMW wrong, with a similar amount failing to voice Hyundai, Lancia and Volkswagen in the correct way either.

With there being approximately 80 major car manufacturers worldwide, it may be hard to know all the correct pronunciations.

However, according to the survey of UK motorists, the names of some of the biggest car companies such as Porsche, BMW, Skoda and Hyundai are regularly butchered. 

Following this, we have revealed exactly how 10 of the major vehicle brands should be pronounced, and how many people get their elocution wrong. 

Select Car Leasing has revealed that, based on a survey of 1,000 UK respondents, 95% of people do not know how to pronounce BMW correctly. 

Pictured: A Porsche 959. Most people immediately assume that Porsche would have an English version pronunciation, but it should actually be said as “Porsh-ah”

Because there is an accent in the S in Skoda,  89% of people were not able to pronounce it properly. It should actually be said as ‘Schkoda’

The company, Bayerische Motoren Werke, revealed that the correct way the brand should be pronounced is ‘Bee-em-vee’. 

The second manufacturer that Brits have a hard time articulating properly is Hyundai, which should actually be pronounced as ‘Hun-day’.

Just six percent managed to successfully pronounce Hyundai.

Meanwhile, the easiest motoring company for Brits to say is Renault, with 44% of Brits pronouncing it as ‘Reh-noh’.

Common mistakes seem to include pronouncing the brands the way it seems like it should be done in English.

For example, Skoda is actually pronounced ‘Schkoda’, as 89% of people were not able to pronounce it properly.

Meanwhile, what is arguably the most difficult pronunciation of all is Volkswagen, with only nine per cent of Brits pronouncing it correctly.

What seems to throw people off is the fact that the V should actually be pronounced as a “F”, as the full name of the car brand is “Fokes-vah-gun”. 

Here’s the full list of the 10 car manufacturing companies that are mispronounced:

Speaking about the survey, Mark Tongue, director of Select Car Leasing, said: ‘For all the exposure that car manufacturers are subjected to in the digital age, there’s still a gap in understanding when it comes to how they’re pronounced.

‘Many of them have become household names across the globe, but according to our research, that doesn’t make mispronunciations any less likely.

‘Thanks to Friends’ Joey Tribbiani in part, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Porsche features on our list, but the same can’t said of BMW – a huge 95 percent of people are unaware it’s actually pronounced bee-em-vee.

‘We’ve found that even the automotive stars are being caught out, with Jeremy Clarkson and James May mispronouncing the likes of Koenigsegg and Dacia for years.

‘Our survey reveals the car brands that are most confused and, for the avoidance of any doubt, the proper pronunciations via professional, regional voice actors.’