Rhetoric by any other name

FRANKFURT: Anyone tracking trends in the car industry would have been struck by the number of new positioning statements carmakers are espousing.

At this month's Frankfurt motor show, catch lines were almost as thick as new cars. The sad part is, if we listed the catch lines without the carmaker's name tagged on, you'd never guess.

Well, all right then, you twisted our arm.

Match the catch line to the maker:

1. The future of the car.

2. Contrasts in harmony.

3. Automotive joy of life, driven by imagination.

4. Highly personal.

5. Future in new dimensions.

6. Reduced to the max.

Full marks if you spotted, in order, Mercedes-Benz, Mazda, Seat, Audi, Skoda and Smart.

While we're talking hype and marketing gobbledygook, the ball seems to have been passed by the Japanese to the South Koreans.

Hands up all those who can work this one out, from the pages of the Hyundai Atos brochure:

"Through a careful study of the interplay between angular and curved design elements and careful experimentation in the juxtaposition of positive and negative space, Atos dimensions are perceived to be larger than they actually are."

Hmm, exactly. But wait there's more.

"A study of the interior reveals stylistic continuity: simplicity is wedded to high functionality."